Strip Casinos Raise Resort Fees

I just read an article about Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International raising resort fees for its Strip Casinos. Properties affected are Caesars Palace, Paris and Rio (Caesars), and MGM Grand, Bellagio and Mandalay Bay (MGM). Resort fees now range from about $30-$45 per night.

I don't think I've stayed on the Strip since they started charging a daily resort fee; and the last few trips I took to Vegas was via Vacations Hawaii, which doesn't include one.

I have mixed feelings about resort fees. The fee should already be included in the room rate vs. a separate charge. Or, if you're not going to use the amenities covered in the fee, you should be given the option of declining the fee. Otherwise, it seems like properties are just nickel and dime-ing you. I assume the fee also include parking at the property you're staying at, or else you'll also be paying the daily parking fee that was implemented last year! It would be really nice if the fee included parking for all casinos owned by the same entity, but I guess that would be asking for too much, right?

I don't play enough to get any hotel comps at these properties, but if you get your rooms comped, do you still have to pay the fee? I've used Starwood Points to stay at Hawaii properties, and I do know that the fee applies if you are using points, and you need to pay that separately (you can't use points to pay for the fee). Since I'm already getting the room for free, I didn't mind paying the $25 daily fee because $25 for a room in Hawaii is quite the deal.

I suppose I could apply that logic to Vegas prices as well. If you plan your trip accordingly, you can get a really good rate at one of the properties, and even with the fee, the room could cost less than $100/night.

What are your thoughts on resort fees? Is it just part of your vacation costs? Or does it bug you?

Vegas Trip Diary January 2017

This is definitely a late post. But better late than never, right? If anything, it's a nice way to reflect on a trip we took a couple of months ago.

We flew out to Vegas on New Year's Day via Vacations Hawaii. We actually planned to go right after Christmas, but flights were slightly cheaper the week after. It was actually a nice time to go, timing wise. It felt like we extended our holidays just a little longer. 

Flying above the clouds as the sun sets. I love flying east during this time of day.

Flying into Las Vegas.

We stayed at The Cal. The casino renovations are complete. It looks really nice and contemporary.

Rubbed the Buddha's tummy as much as I could.

My machine of choice on this trip. I watched a lady bet $.75 and win $4,000! I played a machine with a $8,000 jackpot and I was able to get to the bonus round where I could have won the $8,000. But . . . I didn't. 

"Showgirls" taking a break at the Holoholo Bar. They were actually street performers on Fremont.

Xing Yun, the Smiling Water Dragon. He serves as a mascot for KA, the Cirque show at MGM, and is located right outside the theater entrance.

At first, I thought this was in acknowledgement of the Consumer Electronics Show, which was going on during the time of our visit, but there's actually a VR thing that puts you right into KA.

Eeek! Beware of running bulls! This is at one of the men's bathrooms in NYNY.

View of Excalibur from the pedestrian walkway. 

Vegas was prepping for the Year of the Fire Rooster!

This KISS car was on display at Rio. Wouldn't you love driving this around?

Praying Mantis outside of Container Park. 

Meal from Shake Shack. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I gotta say, the burger and fries were really, really good. The burger was very juicy and the fries were very crispy. They are known for their frozen custard, but I thought it was just okay.

Biggest aloe plant ever! Okay, okay, I know it's not aloe, but it's probably from the same family.

The back side of NYNY.

There were still some remnants of Christmas around Vegas, including this tree (and accompanying ice skating rink) fronting T-Mobile Arena at The Park. 

Bliss Dance is a 40-foot steel sculpture at The Park.

Here she is from the back.

"Trees" at The Park. 

A bar at The Park included a number of activities to partake in, including giant Jenga blocks . . .

. . . bean bag tossing . . .

. . . and ping pong!

Comfort food from Market Street Cafe at The Cal.

The Venetian/Encore Conservatory had this amazing rooster as part of its Chinese New Year decorations. 

Here's a closer view. 

Just beyond was a dragon rising out of the water. 

Dragon, up close. 

I call this "Baby Bellagio" at Wynn. Wynn now has a water show near the entrance on Las Vegas Boulevard. It's very similar to the Bellagio shows, but on a much, much smaller scale. What I liked about it is that the fountain shows play continuously, unlike the Bellagio, where you need to wait 15 minutes or so for the next one.  

Christmas display at Wynn.

The best calamari I've ever had! We went to Lawry's for dinner one night. I've never been there, but always pass by and people always rave about the prime rib, so we made reservations. It didn't disappoint. 

The three of us shared a prime rib entree. This is my share. I normally don't eat prime rib, but this was really, really good. The meat was so tender. My portion looks small, but honestly, I couldn't have eaten one all by myself. 

In-N-Out! But I think I like the Shake Shack burger better! 

We went to Sam's Town to play bingo. I think this is the last time we'll be playing bingo as we didn't win anything again. There was one lady in the back who got Bingo four times! How lucky!

I love Sam's Town! Can you see the mountain lion with the Santa hat on it?

If you can't see the mountain lion, here's the bear wearing a Santa hat.

Hello, David. 

Haha. Just had to take a picture of this sign. 

I was super excited when I heard Avengers' Experience was opening up at Treasure Island. But I didn't actually go because I was too cheap to pay the $35 ticket. So I just browsed around the gift shop instead. 

Lucky Dragon is the newest casino on the Strip. It's located at the North end of the Strip, near Stratosphere. It's a boutique casino, catering to the Chinese market. In fact, all the signs are in Chinese (first) and English. It's pretty boutique. I want to say it's smaller than the Hard Rock casino. 

The casino opened in November 2016, and they're already making a number of changes to it. The main table game was baccarat, with a few black jack tables, but I read they will be adding craps soon. Also, the high-end dim sum restaurant that was located on the second floor is being converted to a VIP/high roller room and relocating to the space where the Night Market Alley (which I didn't think was very 'night market') currently is. The photo above show hanging lanterns in the Night Market Alley. 

Bicycle installation at the Night Market Alley seating area. I thought it was weird as it didn't fit with the rest of the decor of the casino.

Dog statue at one of the Lucky Dragon entrances.

Although cold, the weather was gorgeous during our trip!

 We found a poke bowl place at the Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood. Note how "poke" is spelled. I like how they turned the "u" into a little fish.

Definition of poke. I didn't try it because I was too cheap to pay $11 for a poke bowl. But I did buy a California roll from Walgreens for under $5. Haha!

I'm kinda glad that I delayed posting all these pics because reliving my trip has been fun! A hui hou Vegas! Until next time!