Posted inEverything Vegas

Coming Soon From MGM: FREE ROOMS (+ $100 Resort Fee)

4 Comments

Yesterday, Vegas Chatter, revealed that MGM Resorts is raising their resort fees across the board at their Las Vegas hotels and casinos.

Bellagio, MGM Grand, Aria, Vdara, The Mirage, Mandalay Bay — now $25 (previously $20)
Monte Carlo — now $20 (previously $15)
New York-New York, Luxor — now $18 (was $15)
Excalibur — now $15 (from $12.50)
Circus Circus — now $8.95 (up from $7.95)

Hotels charge a separate resort fee to give the illusion of cheap room rates. As hotel companies continue to raise resort fees in an effort to make their room rates look more competitive or cheaper than other hotels in the market it’s hard to imagine that one of these companies won’t discount their rooms so much that it looks as if the room is free.

Imagine this scenario in the future: The fee for your room at Luxor is $1 but it actually costs $100 after the resort fee. Meanwhile, down the street, you’re much newer room at Cosmopolitan also costs $100 and the don’t charge a resort fee.

Your net room fee is the same at $100 in this case. Where will you stay? A lot of people would choose the $1 room even if it’s the same price as the newest rooms in Vegas because of the fee they see up front. People are, generally, lazy and  simply didn’t do the math.

Resort fees suck, but we all have to deal with it. When pricing rooms you should always add the resort fee to the room rate to get the actual price you’ll have to pay for the room. It’s a pain in the butt, but it will give clarity when comparing room rates. Check here for a list of current resort fees and what you get.

At the end of the day the power is always with the consumer and your money. It is your choice to spend, or not spend, money on resort fees and the companies that charge them. If you don’t like the MGM resort fees then you probably shouldn’t stay, eat, drink or gamble at their properties. The dollar speaks louder than words.

On a personal note while I don’t like resort fees, per se, they don’t really bother me. I don’t mind doing the work to come to an all-in price to see if I’m getting a good or bad deal when going on vacation. Sometimes the resort fee that covers in-room wifi for an extra $10 is fine. Other times it’s not. I depends on the purpose of the trip and location.

There have been trips where I don’t mind paying $20 to sit in my Palazzo suite and use wifi because I’m feeling lazy, while there are other times where I’ll stay at a Caesars property and don’t mind going somewhere off site for wifi.

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4 Comments

  1. Rob L.
    March 9, 2012,

    Marc,

    I couldn’t have said it better. They suck because they make finding the best deal harder but I am with you… I will end up spending the cash for the wifi so if its included, the resort fee doesn’t bother me. What pisses me off more than the resort fee is the concept of having to pay at all for wifi at a place like Wynn when I get it for free at even the lowliest Motel 6!

    • Marc
      March 10, 2012,

      Rob, I agree. $12-20 for Internet is just silly. That also bothers me as much, if not more, than a resort fee.

      That’s why I don’t hate Palazzo for work trips. The room is comfortable enough to work (which is rare for me) and the wifi is in the resort fee. In the past I’ve actually streamed boxing since they weren’t showing it @ Lagasse.

  2. girlygirl
    March 10, 2012,

    Takes the sting out of higher resort fees if I can get a good room deal or a comp but the higher resort fees still bother me. It seems that most of the time it affects the guests that can least afford it.

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