10a. Palms...How stupid can you get?
Date: Fri Feb 26, 2010 9:32 am ((PST))I have a comp room reservation for the Palms on Sunday.
Just called to cancel because a friend is in town and I will be staying with her
at Wynn.
They tell me I will get charged $100 for not enough notice of 72 hours prior to
reservation.
I say nevermind, I will come check in, but do not need the room and ask if I
should just check in and then check out so that they can have the room
back....and she says.. No, if you do that, you will get charged $100 for an
early checkout!
So I say OK, I'll just check in. Good grief!
Glad you got your problem worked out -- here's another solution if you need to check in and don't plan to stay at the hotel. My "reason" is that, in the past (don't go to Vegas often enough anymore), I'd get offers, including freeplay, from more than one place (not in the same casino group; they'll know). I've never had any other reason to get out of a comp'ed reservation before.
I'd check into #1 where I was really staying, go to #2 and check in (I sometimes dragged a duffle bag with me, but if not, just say a friend is picking up your bag for you because it didn't arrive yet). I go to the room, mess up the bed, move the pilows and rumple them up a little, open the soap, wet some towels and throw them on the floor or in the tub, put out the do not disturb sign, and leave - I don't REALLY make a "mess", just try to leave some signs of use. Then I get (and play) my freeplay, get my duffle if necessary, leave. If the key is a credit-card type, I keep it with me in case I go back again, in which case I make a return visit to the room and renew my mess-up; if it's a more expensive (real) key, I just leave it in the room.
On the day you're scheduled for check-out, if you don't go back for some reason, call the front desk and tell them you've just left, but were running late for your flight and didn't have time to stop at the front desk to check out, and make sure they know you've left (if you don't do that part, they might think you're still in the room beyond your comped reservation, and charge you). If you didn't leave the credit card key, ask if they need you to mail it to them (that makes you sound stupid enough to remove any suspicion of what you did).
This has ALWAYS worked for me; only time I ever encountered a problem was when I forgot to call. Of course, using up a comp and freeplay without any additional play will eventually get you off their list for such comps -- and some casinos now make your comp conditional on your play on that particular stay, rather than really "giving" it to you based on prior play, so read the fine print.
Without free play being a factor, I think you were being quite reasonable and the casino was not, so I'm glad it worked out. At least one employee there was capable of rational thinking, apparently.
--BG
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