I stayed at the Venetian in September on points for 5 nights. Upon check-in I was asked if I wanted to pay $40 a night to upgrade to a room with a view, I declined, and then while assigning the room they noticed I was a plat member and gave the view upgrade anyway.

The view is of the pool which is nicer that than the rear of the hotel but even the standard rooms here are pretty good. I also used the dedicated desk to check-out which saved me 45 minutes at least so as far as recognising status goes I was more than happy considering the shun I'd read in other posts.

My only gripe coming from the UK was the smoking inside the casinos, WOW! I did t realise how much I appreciated being smoke free!