Complimentary Doesn’t Mean Free at The Palazzo

I always went by the assumption that a comp room meant that the room was free.  After all, one of the definitions for “complimentary” is free.  Maybe there would be taxes, but that isn’t always the case.  On my last trip to Las Vegas I found that comps aren’t treated the same at all casinos.

PALAZZO – MANDATORY RESORT FEE

I had 3 complimentary nights at Palazzo and one that I would pay for.  While checking in the prices were $0/$0/$0/$149.  I forgot about those damn mandatory resort fees.  Palazzo has a $15 resort fee per day which is taxed for a total of $16.80.  I didn’t expect that comp rooms would have this tacked on to the bill so I was a surprised when I checked out.

Here’s what I go for my $16.80:

• In-room internet access
• unlimited local calls
• domestic long distance and 800 calls
• fitness center access for two
• daily local newspaper (I didn’t even see a newspaper)

Here’s what I used:

• In-room internet access

I didn’t like the fact that the resort fee was never mentioned at check in.  Thinking back, it was never mentioned when I stayed at Palazzo in December.  There’s enough free wi-fi in the hotel that I would not have chosen to pay for the service. Over the stay these fees were almost $80.

A cynic might also think that the reason there was such poor cell phone service in the rooms is so that it would force guests to use the house phones for calls and wi-fi for mobile data service so they think that they’re getting something from the resort fees.

PLANET HOLLYWOOD – NO RESORT FEES

I also had a comp night at Planet Hollywood.  Harrah’s properties are proud not to have resort fees.  I was happy not to pay a resort fee nor tax for my complimentary night at Planet Hollywood.  Total bill from Planet Hollywood = $0.

BOTTOM LINE

I had 3 comp nights at Palazzo, a hotel I really like, so I’m not sweating it.  At the same time, I feel my opinion is changing from moderately not liking resort fees to strongly not liking resort fees.  Additionally, there should be full disclosure of these fees at check in.

Check Vegas Chatter for a constantly updated list of Las Vegas hotel resort fees.

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Marc

Las Vegas Writer, Marketer, Consultant. I love Vegas and everything about it. When in Vegas do 3 things: eat, drink & gamble.

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