Vegas News October 18, 2020

Feature News: Virgin Hotels Las Vegas Fees?

Earlier this week, I went through the Momentum Rewards benefits for the Mohegan Sun Casino at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. They appear to be different than other markets, so I did a deep dive. Another point of interest is the overall situation regarding Vegas Virgin Fees.

During this casino loyalty program “deep dive,” I noticed some interesting information as it relates to staying at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. I’m looking at just a few standout items today. You can see a breakdown here.

Virgin Las Vegas Fees

Parking

First, all members receive “complimentary garage parking.” Only the top two tiers receive “complimentary valet parking.” Additionally, the resort fee includes valet parking. I would have to guess this information means there will be some kind of parking fee. 

Resort Fees – Virgin Vegas

Another benefit says “resort fee waived for complimentary rooms” to all members receive. This is a good benefit but it also says that Virgin Las Vegas will charge a resort fee. This is different than Virgin properties in other cities.

We were all hoping that Virgin would bring the fee-less practice to Las Vegas. Oh well. According to the Hilton Virgin Hotels Las Vegas website, the resort fee includes some different offerings than most Las Vegas properties. 

The resort fee includes internet access, valet parking, 15% off spa service, 2 for 1 drink at Commons Club, 1 appetizer with 2 lunch entrees at Commons Club, 2 bottles of water, live Streaming Access (Netflix, Hulu), and of course local and toll-free calls.

Pool Access

Lastly, the top two tiers of the Momentum Players club receive “complimentary access to the resort pool.” Does this mean lower tier members have to pay to use the pool? Is there a different pool for the high rollers?

This is language I haven’t seen before so I’m not entirely sure how to read into it. I’m also not as familiar with plans for the property as I should be so I’m not sure how to read this.

Pet Fees

Oh yeah, there’s no fee for pets as we shared a few weeks ago.

I’ll follow up on these fees after I catch up on my non-TravelZork deadlines. Wish me luck!

There’s so much more Vegas news this week.

Las Vegas Quick Hits

Quick Hits

Welcome to a newly expanded Quick Hits. We’ll dish you a tease of the Vegas news and you can decide whether or not you want to know more. 

• The ice skating rink is returning to the Boulevard Pool at The Cosmopolitan on Nov. 18. You can find hours and pricing here. 
• Speaking of things that we remember from last year…shows are slowly returning to Las Vegas! X Country reopens this week at Harrah’s. The following week Piff The Magic Dragon returns to Flamingo Las Vegas while Absinthe will open again in a tent outside of Caesars Palace Las Vegas. You can read more here.
• There are at least two show options if you like to laugh. Delirious Comedy Club at Downtown Grand and LA Comedy Club at The Strat are both open for small room chuckles.

• During the week, you may remember I shared renderings of the planned Atari Hotel in Las Vegas. There aren’t many details about the property. There’s no location for Las Vegas (they tell me that will be a separate announcement) but the Blade Runner-esque renderings are cool. This is a hotel concept and the company hasn’t released information about the potential of a casino. 
• People will be allowed inside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the NHRA Finals from Oct. 30-Nov.1. This will be the second sport(ish) event to have fans in Las Vegas. You may remember the Las Vegas Lights soccer club had 500 people attend the last game of the season in downtown Las Vegas. You can find more info on the NHRA event here.
• Wynn Las Vegas is closing the Encore tower during weekdays due to slow demand. The “poker room” is now at Wynn. Encore will remain open on the weekend so the jabronis from XS have a place to fight. Too soon? 
• Speaking of jabronis, aggravated assault on the Vegas Strip is up more than 35% since this time last year. That’s not good but if you were to guess a number based on reading Twitter and/or Facebook you may have thought the increase was 3500%. 
• Remember the last casino that had a massive billboard up the side of the casino? That same property was home to Cardi B. Hopefully, Circa and Area 15 don’t see similar results from their billboard or celebration of Cardi B, respectfully. 

• You can tell that Circa is about to open. The PR folks are running out of exciting things to share. Recently they revealed details about the art at the property. This week they released details about the retail shops. If nothing else, the latter gave us a new rendering of the casino.
• Time for another Boring update! Well, actually two boring updates. First, the Vegas Loop has plans to expand throughout Las Vegas. Also, Elon Musk might have exaggerated about how many people the people mover can move. 
• This was revealed last month but the Tropicana will be laying off people. The Penn National Gaming earnings call on Oct. 29 should be interesting. 
• The 2021 NFL Pro Bowl scheduled for Las Vegas has been canceled. If the game returns in 2022, it will take place at Allegiant Stadium. Yippee?
• Sticking to sports, Las Vegas will host an NCAA regional in 2023. This round has the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games. The Frozen Four, college hockey’s final four, will come to Las Vegas in 2026 for the first time. The state will also host college golf and bowling events. You can see specifics here.
• South Point opened a horse arena. Read more here.
• The best brunch in Vegas is back! Border Grill’s all you can eat brunch returns to Mandalay Bay. The first time I had brunch here, I won a couple of hundred bucks playing Top Dollar and paid for everyone. Ahhh…the good ole days.

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