Wanted to share a recent experience at the Palazzo/Venetian in Las Vegas.

We booked a 3 night stay beginning on a Tuesday at The Palazzo at the Venetian using Amex Travel and FHR. In advance, we communicated with the hotel twice via messaging/email that we would be arriving late. The hotel explicitly acknowledged this information in writing.

You can probably guess where this is going. Upon arrival around midnight, the front desk did the usual check in stuff and mentioned speaking to his manager about an upgrade, presumably as a FHR benefit. He continued chatting, including pointing out the "Invited Guest" counter (closed at that hour) where we would normally go to check in to avoid longer lines. OK. So after 20 minutes, he admits "we have no room for you". He then offers us a room at their sister/adjacent property The Venetian. A basic room, not an upgrade of any kind. Unless you consider a view of the pool an upgrade (and yes I know a pool view is an upgrade in the world of FHR).. And for those not familiar, The Venetian is NOT an FHR property. It is in their second tier "The Hotel Collection" basket.

So we were walked. In extensive travels over 40 years, I have never been walked anywhere. We have made 100+ trips to Las Vegas alone and have never been walked. And this was a Tuesday night.

Needless to say, we were extremely disappointed. A lawyer may disagree, but when you pay up front, in full and non-refundable for a hotel room, it should be there when you arrive. Whenever that is. There is NO legitimate or reasonable excuse for this practice. Someone at The Palazzo made a conscious decision to give away a fully-paid for room, knowing our arrival time. Shameful.

Yes, I called Amex Travel the next morning. After speaking to 2 different people and being placed on hold while they tried to find a supervisor, my call was disconnected (after 37 minutes, cell phones have all kinds of interesting data). And no, AmexTravel never tried to call me back, despite ensuring they had my number "in case we are disconnected". If you have ever called them, you know the drill.

Final postscript, I tried calling AmexTravel again solely to obtain an email address where I could notify them in writing of the shoddy practices of their FHR property. Again after 20+ minutes of waiting to find a supervisor, my call was disconnected and not returned.

So what did I learn from the experience:

• The Palazzo/Venetian will walk a fully paid FHR reservation
• AmexTravel is of no assistance and impossible to communicate with

That's it. Not trying to flame anyone, just stating facts. The Palazzo/Venetian did honor most of the other FHR benefits, including the $65/day for breakfast and the $100 resort credit, even though we ended up staying at a non-FHR property., As an accommodation, resort fees were waived as well. Now, The Venetian is a nice property so its not like we were walked to the roach motel on Koval or anything. Many would not be upset and that is completely understandable. My biggest issue is that we were not given the product we were sold, and it was an intentional act by the hotel. If the exact hotel and room type are important, be careful.

Safe travels,