Two Harrah's Questions - Room Level and Upgrade "Bribe"

Hi,

I get to travel to Vegas in early April on the company dime for the first time in order to assist with a conference being held at Harrah's. The conference attendees are encouraged to use the "conference rate" of $129/night, but since I'm staff I can make my own reservations. As of late last week the prices for the three room categories were $41/51/61 IIRC, but this week they have risen to $60 (classic), $80 (luxury) and $90 (deluxe) pre-tax. FYI the room the Wizard stayed in during his excellent review (https://wizardofvegas.com/hotels/harrahs/) was "deluxe." I have two questions:

1) What room category should I purchase? I'll be by myself and not spending a lot of time in the room, I also don't want to book the basic category and wind up in the original motor-inn style wing, like at the Trop or Circus-Circus. It isn't immediately clear to me where on the property the three room tiers are located, so I don't know if that's something that should impact my decision. Incidentally the "conference rate" rooms booked by the attendees are for the "classic" entry-level rooms.

2) Since the room upgrade prices are rather modest, is there any point in trying to slip $20/$50 to the clerk at check-in? Do I remember correctly that the technique doesn't tend to work at Harrah's properties?

Thanks for any and all advice, as well as any other Harrah's tips you might have.

PS - If it somehow matters, I am a Total Rewards member, but only at the entry tier.

Quote: sunrise089

Hi,

I get to travel to Vegas in early April on the company dime for the first time in order to assist with a conference being held at Harrah's. The conference attendees are encouraged to use the "conference rate" of $129/night, but since I'm staff I can make my own reservations. As of late last week the prices for the three room categories were $41/51/61 IIRC, but this week they have risen to $60 (classic), $80 (luxury) and $90 (deluxe) pre-tax. FYI the room the Wizard stayed in during his excellent review (https://wizardofvegas.com/hotels/harrahs/) was "deluxe." I have two questions:

1) What room category should I purchase? I'll be by myself and not spending a lot of time in the room, I also don't want to book the basic category and wind up in the original motor-inn style wing, like at the Trop or Circus-Circus. It isn't immediately clear to me where on the property the three room tiers are located, so I don't know if that's something that should impact my decision. Incidentally the "conference rate" rooms booked by the attendees are for the "classic" entry-level rooms.

2) Since the room upgrade prices are rather modest, is there any point in trying to slip $20/$50 to the clerk at check-in? Do I remember correctly that the technique doesn't tend to work at Harrah's properties?

Thanks for any and all advice, as well as any other Harrah's tips you might have.

PS - If it somehow matters, I am a Total Rewards member, but only at the entry tier.

I have had similar situations in the past. The first time, I polled my coworkers. They were almost exactly torn between two lines of thought:
1. Take the room that is identical to where others will be. It's a bonding thing.
2. Take a room that is approximately the same cost as the group rate. Maybe you'll have a reason to entertain/host people, and a Jr. Suite could be beneficial.

Also, I definitely wouldn't pay my own cash to try to get an upgrade on a room that the company is paying for.

There are no "motel-style" rooms at Harrah's. All rooms are in two towers: Mardi Gras and Carnaval. They are all pretty much the same. I wouldn't put much stock in the distinctions Harrah's makes on their website.

Go to TotalRewards.com and sign in using you Total Rewards number and PIN. Start a reservation and see what your options are. I've stayed at Harrah's, Flamingo, Imperial Palace, Caesars Palace and Paris. All are within walking distance (except maybe Paris). All are fine except the Imperial Palace. Make no attempt to stay at IP. I got better rack rates that what you're saying for Super Bowl weekend. I'm certain that you can do better.Keep in mind that the Mirage is directly across the street and probably two stars better than Harrah's.

Here's an update, but the summary is I'm an idiot and Harrah's is worse.

I did log in as a Total Rewards member, and the rates did go down. Not the $45/night I saw publicly available, but lower than the advertised rate. As of last week the Total Rewards rate was around $65 night, but I still wasn't 100% on my dates since I'm going to stay elsewhere for part of my visit. Tonight I finally had things nailed down, so I went to book, only to find my TR rates were $120+$70+tax. This seemed REALLY high for the Sunday+Monday night, and in fact when I checked the non-TR rates there were $104+$64+tax. The hell?! I called TR and got a human, hoping they would at least give me the lower public rate. No dice, in fact she assured me I was still being offered a "TR discount" at $120+$70 and that my play didn't warrant more. I explained it seemed to last week when the TR rates were much lower than the public ones, but she wasn't budging.

So I ask here whether I should just cut my losses and lock in these terrible non-weekend rates at a mediocre property, or if there's any chance I'll see a TR discount again. Did I fall afoul of some harsh 55-day window rule or something?

The CSR at HE is an idiot.

Two solutions:

1. Book one night at one rate, and book the other nights at the public rate. When you get to the front desk, given them your two reservations, and ask them to link them for you.

2. Expedia and other sites are able to discount the hotel rates below the hotel rates as they can offer any price they want on the rooms (down to their cost price). If you really want Caesar's to book your site for you, just tell them that you have a rate at xxxx site and ask them to match it citing the lowest rate guarantee that they should have on their website.