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Thursday, April 28, 2016

Planning the $1000 Las Vegas Vacation - part 4 Plaza Las Vegas Hides Resort Fees


The Scrounge trip is shaping up. I've got airfare booked, and I've got stays with freeplay book-ending the trip, start and finish.

There were still lots of details to be taken care of. I still had to find 7 out of the 12 nights I'm in Vegas. I needed to find a car rate. And I needed to look in to more scroungy ideas to extend my bankroll.

I wanted to stay downtown some more but the Downtown Grand isn't offering anything, I've sworn off staying at the Four Queens, the ElCo offers the Quad Queen comped nights but not me, and Boyd (MSS, Fremont, Cal) is out, because I want to keep my daily average at $10K coin in a day. And that ain't happening this trip. Never stayed at the D so no good offers there.

I got an email from the Plaza touting a 20% discount for Canadians. Sounded interesting. I'd enjoyed playing there last trip, although I hadn't won anything. They have full pay quarter Boner Deluxe (which, according to my guidelines, I won't be playing, because volatility). They have full pay quarter other things though, including Jacks and Bonus. And Double Bonus. And Joker's Wild. Neither of which I've learned how to play. But that's another story.

It's also a super easy move from the Rush Tower to the Plaza - not even a block away.

So I looked at the rates and they were really cheap. Super cheap. Like $22 a night cheap. I loaded the ticky boxes up for 4 nights and it looked like the entire stay would cost me $88.70 plus room tax.

That is an outstanding room rate. I stopped to wonder, what about resort fees? Does the Plaza have one? I didn't know. But I hadn't seen it mentioned anywhere.

I clicked through all of the booking dialog boxes and was greeted with a Rate Breakdown which totaled $88.70. Sweet! I put in the credit card and all the other information and booked it.

Doing a Googlygoogle search I found out that the Plaza does have a resort fee. $15 a night. Whaaaat???? Why hadn't it been mentioned?

I got a confirmation email from the Plaza and glanced through it.

And here's what I found:

Guest Name: ROYAL FLUSHER
Number of Rooms:     1

Daily Room Rates:
____________________
06/06/16 = $23.20
06/07/16 = $23.20
06/08/16 = $23.20
06/09/16 = $23.20

Total:       $ $92.80
Tax:         $ $11.12
Final Total: $ $103.92


Wonderful right? Wrong. ABOVE this in the fine print I found this.

We are pleased that you have selected The Plaza Hotel & Casino for
your upcoming visit to Downtown Las Vegas.  If we at The Plaza Hotel
can be of further assistance, please contact us at 800-634-6575.

* You must be 21 years of age to reserve a room and/or register.
* A valid picture i.d. must be presented upon check in.
* The 1st nights room & tax will be charged to the credit card on the
   reservation.
* Check in begins at 4:00 p.m.
* Non-confirmed rates are subject to change without notice.
* Rates are based on double occupancy.
* Additional guests (12 and older) are $20 per person, per night.
* The maximum number allowed in one room is 4.
* Reservations must be canceled 48 hours prior to arrival date for a
  full refund.
* To cancel this reservation, please call 800-634-6575.
* Rates are subject to change if you alter your arrival and/or change
   your length of stay.
* Room types, room locations, and requests are based upon availability
   at time of check in.
* Rollaways are an additional $20 per night and are based upon
   availability.
* Plaza guest will incur a $10 plus tax daily Resort Fee.
  Upon Check-In a $50 security deposit is due.
 REAL PEOPLE, REAL VALUE, REAL FUN, REAL VEGAS, THE REAL DOWNTOWN


Note the 3rd line from the bottom: * Plaza guest will incur a $10 plus tax daily Resort Fee.

OK, now I was steamed.

When I see Final Total I take that to mean just what it says - the final total for the stay would be $103.92. But they buried the resort fee above it.

And, being the Plaza, they got it wrong in the email and cited $10 a day, not $15.

I looked on their website and the resort fee is indeed mentioned. But its $15 not $10. And the path I took into the site from their marketing email never mentioned it.

Just to prove to myself I hadn't missed anything, I went through a pretend reservation again for one night to see if the resort fee is ever mentioned.

Here's the full offer - much as I love the Plaza Pool Booby Girl, there is no mention of a resort fee.
Here's the next screen:
On the next screen, you select a room.

I did so, and clicked the handy Rate Breakdown button. I figured this is where they would mention the resort fee.

Nope.

I entered all my personal information, just as I had before, and the total never reflected the resort fee - a fee which, with taxes, almost doubles the amount I'd pay for the room in total.

Note the Reservation Total in this next screen still does not include the resort fee.
And when you put your credit card info in (last chance) the resort fees are still hidden. Not until you have booked and paid your deposit do they mention it, buried in the fine print of an email, and incorrect.
The real cost of the four nights I booked is $171.12 with the resort fee added and the tax on top. Not the $103.92 mentioned in my 'Final Total' in the email confirmation.

But the Plaza never tells you that.

I think it is deceptive, unfair, and pretty damn lousy.

So, do I keep the Plaza reservation or not?! Forty bucks a night is still pretty cheap for Vegas, but I do not like how the Plaza hid the resort fee. It's the principle of the thing.

By comparison, look at the rate screen I was shown for Luxor:

Right there in the price breakdown, they state it, crystal clear. "A daily resort fee of $29.12 (tax inclusive) is added to all room reservations upon check-in."

Armed with that, you can take it or leave it.

Shame on you Plaza!





    1 comment:

    1. Have you tried urcomped.com? I've been reading good things about them on VMB.

      ReplyDelete

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