Sweet............design of the universe? Silver lining? You
decide..........each to his own. Trip report, of a sort. Kinda long - feel free to skip if so
desired.
I did have an interesting & beneficial experience at Harrahs when I went to
Vegas in July. I had reserved 2 comped nights for their Summerfest slot
tournament for a Wed. & Thurs. I asked about the rates for both Fri & Sat at the
time of reservation. They quoted me something ridiculous like $159 but offered
Sun. for free. I went ahead & booked the comped nights under one reservation
number & did a temporary hold on the other 2 nights while I checked out other
marketing offers I had for the same time frame. Right next door at IP, I could
get the 2 weekend nights for $69 apiece with a bunch of free stuff including an
upgrade so I cancelled the Harrah's temp. reservation figuring I'd move for
the 2 nights. Now comes the fun part 
I made one last call to Harrahs on Monday before I left just to see if
anybody had cancelled out at the last minute & maybe I could get at least a casino
rate (I really hate to move during a 6 day stay) Tho the rates had not dropped,
I had a very helpful agent who suggested I ask again when I checked in & said
I had more than enough reward credits to cover the 2 weekend nights -
regardless of rates - and to ask that the charges be removed from my credit card at
the end of my stay. So..........when I checked in on Wed. afternoon (104
degress), it was totally empty at the front desk (I missed the Platinum check-in
room but everything happens for a reason right?) I was wearing a very noticeable,
knee length foot brace as a result of my injury last year, & I was alone.
The front desk agent watched me stuggle thru the ropes, limping along & hauling
my luggage (I am 49 & don't weigh but about 100 pounds). I got lucky & got a
real live human being who must have felt sorry for me and maybe was granted
some assignment discretion during mid-week.
There was some initial confusion in the computer because I had 2
different reservation numbers. I got the impression that they still had me down for
those 2 weekend nights, but we didn't go over that specifically and exhausted by
the heat & whole luggage experience, I forgot to ask at that time about the 2
weekend nights as suggested.
The gentleman that helped me to my room with my luggage told me I had the
"WWF suite" on the way down the hall (a serious haul from the elevators).
When he opened the door, I almost fell over. You shoulda SEEN this room. The
employees call it WWF because there is so much floor space (it's in a corner
overlooking the Mirage volcano) that you could wrestle in there! A really beautiful
space. I am someone who is usually perfectly content with your basic room
because I do not spend alot of time in the room, but I decided to make an
exception this time around.
After seeing the room, THEN it occurs to me that I didn't ask about the
weekend nights so I made a beeline back downstairs. This time, I saw the
Platinum room & headed in there. I had a great gal who I explained the situation to
based on the suggestions of their own reservation agent. She agreed to leave
me in that room for the entire stay for the casino rate of $89 for the 2
weekend nights & then reverse the charges when I checked out using my reward
credits. SOLD!!! Went back to the room & called IP to cancel the weekend stay &
unpacked - giggling all the way.
But my favorite part of the story is that a friend met me out there on
Friday for the weekend. He is Diamond+++ and had been invited to a WSOP
tournament to be held on the property that very weekend. The place was a zoo at
Diamond check-in on Friday - the line was out the door. He told me that everybody &
their brother in that room was asking for upgrades to a suite & they had to
make an announcement that no suites of any kind were available for the weekend
due to the tournament. He got a room down the hall from me - but standard it
sure was! LOL............little ol' me - peon Platinum player managed to sneak
in the door before the bigshot crowd arrived - and had myself the nicest room
I've ever had for the full 6 days. So even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in
a while - even at Harrahs. It's all luck after all right?
LK
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