I got the $40 returned and told I could pay an extra $30ish a night to move to the same room at the newer tower. Did, got there, it was awful compared to the standard rooms, so went back and took original room reserved.

LAME.

Got there around 8pm. Went up to desk and asked for complimentary upgrade. She offered a junior suite, but when I asked for “something in the fantasy tower”, she obliged happily. This was very easy! She didn’t even notice that I had put a $20 in between my CC and ID until after she gave me the room. Of course, she pocketed the cash after giving a quick look around.

We checked in about 1pm and I walked up to the guy and asked him if he had any upgrades available while flashing the $20. He pecked away for a second and said that he had a Salon Suite that would be available in 20 minutes at no additional charge if we were willing to hang on.

We had no problem waiting since we hadn’t eaten anyway so I gave him my CC and the $20 and he gave me the room key. It was a great room.

Here are a few pics;

http://aycu10.webshots/image/20169/2002980160410045850_rs.jpg

http://aycu16.webshots/image/18935/2002904058273517103_rs.jpg

http://aycu40.webshots/image/20279/2002997181811781714_rs.jpg

I put the $20 with my ID and credit card and asked if there were and upgrades available. She asked about the room and if King bed and non smoking were still required. I said yes. She then said NO PROBLEM SIR I HAVE AN UPGRADE FOR YOU. What was interesting was that right next to me the clerk was telling a guest checking in that they were out of king bed rooms and they do not guaranty a bed type as it is only a request. The $20 worked!!!

Okay so I couldn’t wait to try this trick. I checked into Rio on Thursday night and didn’t try it cause all their rooms are pretty big but when I went to the Palms to check for the weekend I had to try it. It worked!! I put the $20 between my DL and credit card when I checked in and asked if they had any complimentary upgrades and she quickly checked and then told me they had one avail. She said we would love it….when we got there it was over 1000 square feet with a separate bedroom and two bathrooms. It was perfect….I will try this every time now. Good luck!

I though everyone that wanted a non smoking room got the new tower, and smokers got the old tower. I have stayed there may times, even with my inlaws and we as non smokers got the new tower and inlaws – smokers got the old tower. The new tower is much nicer.

We went to check in when we first arrived, around 11 AM. The guy said there wasn’t anything available yet, but we should try back around 1 in the afternoon. We went and attempted to check in at 1. I asked the clerk (Jana) if we could check in now, and she said sure, no problem. Placed the $20 between the credit card and the id, then asked if there were any complimentary upgrades available. She said ” let me check,” as she obviously knew what was up. She gave us the new room, the passes to the clubs, and also got us a limo set up for tuesday when we check out of the Palms and into the Luxor. She also comped our internet usage ($11 a day) and set us up with food coupons as well. Definitely a success for $10 a night. I will have to see how it goes on tuesday at Luxor now, can only hope it goes as well as it did at the palms.

I thought the Fantasy Rooms were supposed to be a bit bigger than the regular rooms so at check-in, I asked if there were any available. She started typing and said “No, I don’t think that would be possible tonite.” I handed her my CC with a $20 and waited for her response.
“Room service is finishing up with some rooms right now, so let me just keep checking”. Two minutes later – she found a room in the Fantasy Tower, so I guess it was a success.
The room itself was very nice, brand new, contemporary – but nothing extraordinary. There was NO view – just some construction. Can’t really say if it was worth it or not, b/c I don’t know what the older rooms in the original tower looked like, but I’m assuming for the “extra” $10 per night, it was worth it to guarantee a brand-new room. I WANTED a Superior Room in the Fantasy Tower, but she didn’t give me that.

Upgraded to the Fantasy Towers. Had a jacuzzi and Flat screen TV. Down sheets and larger then average room size. I figured for 6 nights it was worth it to try and work a C-note in to assure success. Worked. Room was nice, nothing too special, but definitely worth the extra 10 dollars a night for the tip.

On Sunday, we switched over to the Palms. I figured that things would be slow and an upgrade would be simple (based on the $49/night room rate). I forgot that the NBA Vegas Summer League was in town and the hotel was crawling with 6-7 teams. I tried the $20 trick again (had all my cards out ready for the check-in clerk) and she happily upgraded us to a junior suite at the end of the hallway with a strip view. Another successful attempt! I’m sure we’ll try again during future stays.