Plaza to start charging RESORT FEE

I am another resort fee avoider. I refuse to pay a resort fee especially for a hotel that is NOT a resort. Gold Spike is NOT a resort, Plaza is NOT a resort.

 

Just another mistake by a company that doesn't know how to manage vegas hotels. The gold spike charges a resort fee so that their rooms show up as the lowest price when searched online, the Plaza's reasoning is greed...it wont work at a place like the plaza, a resort they aint!

 

Four Queen's Wifi is $8.99 a day.

And it's optional.

There may be some value there for people that would buy wifi anyway but the point is that it is shoved down your throat. Rather than letting you nibble it as you need to.

 

they'll just start calling it hotel (or motel) fee to those adverse to the current name

 

I have to wonder how this will be handled for the guests who book themselves at Vegas Club, then are sent to the Plaza, as has been the case a lot recently. Can you imagine reserving at one hotel, being sent across the street, then being told "you now have to pay an extra ten dollars per night"? Last summer I was staying there for $18 a night. Adding ten more is almost doubling that rate. Hopefully they have considered this as well.

 

Well, this should be interesting. I made a reservation after July 24th and I have a confirmation that states "No Resort Fee". It's 2 rooms for 2 nights. Extra $40 would be a 20% up charge for stuff I don't need or want.

 

I stayed at the Plaza exclusively for years, right up until the remodel. I had hoped to stay there again this fall. After the Exotic Escapes fiasco, I was already a little hesitant. Now this? Really? That's a super way to build a customer base. They're knocking it out of the park so far!

 

I did this post for information. Not really a resort fee hater but a senior on a limited budget that loves Vegas. Most of the resort fee amenties I don't need so I stay away from places that charge them.

 

I dislike the resort fee but consider it in the total price... if the plaza with resort fee works out a better deal than elsewhere then I'll stay. Its just part of the price for me.

for my friend from england who can then check his work emails on the free wireless instead of paying stupid phone fees it becomes a big plus. probably worth more than $10 a day for him.


depends where you are coming from.


I'd prefer that you pay for the service if you need it...

 

When I'm in Las Vegas, I disconnect myself from the outside world. The only exception is, I bring a cell phone and check it each morning for messages. Otherwise it is turned off and not in use. The wifi has absolutely no value to me. I have a comped room for 5 days in the fall, but I will discuss this with my host before I arrive. I'm hard headed enough just to change properties over it. They will need 1000+ new reservations just to cover their potential loss in gaming revenue.

 

My comment was certainly not directed towards you and I'm not a promoter or "fan" of these fees by any stretch... I just knew it would bring those out who absolutley refuse to pay the fee for any reason... and it did.

When I find a place I like, I then take this into account. True many of my visits are reimbursed by my association, but not all. I just can't imagine not staying somewhere I really like because, in this case, of a $10 resort fee. Frankly, I think maybe the fee is a more important consideration to some than the property they stay at? I guess they're the "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything" crowd.

I get the whole "vote with your feet" mentality, but to me these are the same types of people who try to bring the oil industry to their knees each year by organizing the boycott of buying gas on a certain day... then they fill-up the next day. I just don't get it...

 

Ouch!

The "Resort Fee" really stinks since it is typically concealed once in place and not even shown in the fine print of many booking websites, which just generically say "other taxes and fees may apply" (or something to that effect). However, I've got to agree with previous posters who say that as long as you know what it is you just have to compare the total room cost against options elsewhere.

The Plaza has been such a bargain I don't know how they can be making money. The casino is not very busy, so it can't be coming from there. I was told last week by a casino host there that they are not a part of the Fremont Street Experience corporation, and thus cannot advertise across the street. She said that the simple fact that the stage blocks much of the end of Fremont keeps a lot of people from crossing over to the Plaza. Also, because they are not a part of FSE, they are not included in any FSE promotional activities.

While I hate resort fees, it'd be a shame to see the Plaza fail. It continues to improve, no doubt as finances allow. I guess they don't feel they can raise their bargain (IMHO) advertised rates, so they have to turn to the dreaded resort fee to conceal the price increase. I'll continue to stay there as long as the all-in cost remains competitive.

 

I dont think this particulary accurate. Last I heard, the reason they are not part of FSE, is because they quit paying dues....

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/may/04/fremont-street-experience-operator-sues-plaza-hote/

 

It would be a shame, but the reason they ran the old plaza into the ground(along with the western and vegas club) is because they make poor decisions, nickle and dime the machines, nickle and dime the tables, neglect the rooms and property, make penny wise, pound foolish changes that anger their "base" - if they have any of that left.

I was there a month back and they were slow, sure the place looked better, but it was not busy - the games had poor rules,the machines had inferior pay tables compared to most others downtown, I only made a token attempt to gamble there. It's not the nugget...it never will be, if you want to raise room rates, go right ahead, but masking it under a resort fee fools nobody and will only piss off the people that give them a try, only to be surprised by some resort fee fine print.

 

Hate to say it but I was wondering when they would implement this kind of thing. You have to figure they have to pay for the upgrades somehow. While the rates were cheap a few months ago I notice on sites like kayak that the plaza rates are going up and not as competitive as the lvc or el cortez anymore. Add another $10 a day and the plaza will be out of my price range, I will probably be skipping the plaza and just go to the el cortez or lvc with much lower rates.

The thing I'm afraid of is that the lvc is undergoing "renovations" (if you can call it that even). I just hope that they will keep their rates low and not charge a crummy resort fee but since the lvc and plaza are sister properties I would expect eventually that lvc would also charge a resort fee when their "renovations" are complete. :Þ I am also not sure, if the lvc moves people over to the plaza I can't see how they can charge the guest $10 a day, the guest paid a set rate and the resort fee wasn't included so he shouldn't have to pay it. I feel the same way about bookings, if you booked the plaza prior to this announcement I can't see how the plaza can charge you the fee since they had the no resort fee guarantee when you booked (make sure you screen print the guarantee before it disappears).

It is disappointing because people like downtown because they didn't do this kind of thing. This is such a big thing on the strip that some casinos (harrahs properties) claim is that they don't charge resort fees over the other properties that it is surprising that the plaza would also do this kind of thing.

As others have said, like the spike you just have to adjust when searching for hotel rates and add on the $10 a day resort fee now. IMHO they should just raise their rates already but they want to appear competitive and then get you with the fee when you check in. Yes, like merlin and others have said, the problem with the plaza is the gaming sucks there. Hard to be an upscale hotel when you act like a lower class hotel. btw, I stayed at the plaza in january but didn't gamble there.

 

At last! A resort fee!!

Can ice machines be far behind??

 

Tough Times

I don't know who handles their marketing, but they certainly could do a better job. Last week when I checked in I was offered an "Environmental Study" option (that's what she actually called it). She said that they wouldn't service my room for the five days I was there, and in exchange I'd receive $5 a day free slot play. It was really hard to keep from bursting out in laughter. I did compliment her on their creative tagging of an obvious economy measure, but said I'd prefer clean towels and straightening things up each day (and to their credit I've never had a problem with the maid service in the three times I've stayed there since the reopening).

Sad thing is that it clearly indicates they are under financial duress. They had a large "Teach For America" conference going on, indoctrinating the new arrivals who will be teaching in the Vegas area next year. Talking with some of the kids (who were there all week) the number was somewhere between 90 and 120. Problem is that that sort of group isn't much of a revenue generator. I only saw a few of them in the casino during my stay. I too didn't gamble there much because they don't have many video poker machines with decent pay tables and the table games are usually pretty dead. I played craps there one night but no one could get a roll going (not their fault) so it wasn't much fun.

I guess the owner (or one of the owners) is a performer on the strip according to a casino host (I forget who she said he is). Don't know how deep his pockets are but I still hope they can avoid driving those of us away who'd like to see the Plaza make it.

 

Here is another link. This one to the owners of Plaza. Deep pockets indeed, although not a performer on the strip....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamares_Group

 

That would be Anthony Cools, he of the Swingers Club and Avante Garde, which are both failed attempts at something different.

http://www.lvrj.com/neon/pair-hope-to-work-their-magic-at-plaza-143778236.html

 

Their problem is that they cant seem to understand that their economy measures cause reactions among players and guests. Some bean counter will say, "if we go to continuous shufflers at BJ tables we will increase hands played per hour by say 15%, and along with it profits", well, not if the dealers are standing there alone for 45 min every hour cause no one is playing their crappy game.

It's just sad that they cant just look around at the other casinos downtown that are doing well(compared to them), and emulate them, it's not rocket science.
A $10 a day resort fee...downtown at the Plaza...brilliant! Some guy probably said "we fill 250 rooms a night @ $10 extra each, that's $17500 a week!"