Originally Posted by
baccarat_king
Of course they are
You are missing a very big point here, unlike other IC hotels
THIS IS A CASINO PROPERTY! (sorry to shout)
The upper level suites ARE NOT (in 98% of the instances) controlled by the front desk!!! They are controlled by the CASINO!
The front desk has incentive to revenue upgrade (if they are light on players); for $400 to $1000/night for the Penthouse, and if they get a fish on the line for the revenue upgrade; the casino will release it... but, there are MUCH MORE powerful peeps controlling the rooms than the hotel GM. The hotel GM is just a paper-pusher. He/she has little 'real' control in a casino hotel; but he/she does have to have a nice smile.
Often, they use those upper level rooms to throw a
bone to a smaller player if capacity is light. Smaller player = $25K to $50K credit line.
RAs have to
embrace the (pretty decent) benefits (some limited upgrades, lounge, mini-bar, check-in efficiencies, gym/spa upgraded upgraded access etc...); but RAs also have
to be realistic that they are very far from the
'top dog' status they get at non-casino ICs.
Of course, everything is YMMV, and it never hurts to ask (beg!)
I agree with you as this has been the pecking order in Las Vegas even before loyalty programs came into existence.
Back then Las Vegas was a small exciting intimate city without too much traffic
Over the years we have seen a number of these partnerships come and go
Planet Hollywood and SPG had about the best going nice strip view suites for SPG Platinums.I'm sure the really good vip suites went to the high rollers
None the less it was a great situation while it lasted. The Westin on the other hand couldn’t compare as well as the property had very few suites to begin with. To their credit they did offer some interesting perks along the way to keep things interesting.
In the end the success or failure of this relationship will depend on the overall satisfaction and expectations of elite members