By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Las Vegas Blogger
Resort fees, the bane of travelers everywhere, are getting even more costly. And the benefits are not keeping pace.
Take MGM Resorts International in Las Vegas, for example. It has raised its resort fees at its various properties ranging from $45 to $55 a day. The hotels are Bellagio, Aria, Vdara, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Delano, Park MGM, Nomad, The Signature, New York-New York, Luxor and Excalibur.
For that, MGM boasts that guests get unlimited local and domestic long-distance phone calls, in-room Wi-Fi access, digital newspaper and magazine downloads through PressReader, access to the fitness center, Paramount+ with Showtime On Demand and boarding pass printing.
Unlimited local and domestic long-distance phone calls? That might have been a nice perk in the 70s, but when is the last time you used the hotel phone to make a local or long-distance call? About the only time anyone I know uses a hotel room phone is to call down to the front desk.
And printing of boarding passes? How archaic! Paramount+ with Showtime On Demand on the TV? Yeah, right, we all go to Vegas to sit in our room and watch TV.
About the only benefit if free WiFi and with cell phone service that’s hardly necessary. Unless you’re like me and have your laptop there for work reasons,in my case, writing blog posts for PubClub.com.
MGM claims that pricing decisions are based on local and nationwide marketplace standards, including the bundled costs of amenities and services included with a stay. Huh?
Oh, and parking fees are increasing, too. It now cost $25 on weekends for self park and $40 for valet.
These so-called junk fees for travelers – I addressed airline junk fees in this post – are taking a lot of the fun out of traveling. They are certainly making it more expensive, with few benefits to travelers.
Leave a Reply