Las Vegas Strip resort casinos add outrageous ‘new’ fee | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Las Vegas has taken its success as an excuse to jack up prices.

All the major casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, for example, charge for parking. Yes, certain loyalty-level members get exempted as do (in some cases) people with a Nevada license, but parking used to be a free perk designed to get people into a casino.

Both Caesars (CZR) and MGM Resorts (MGM) have adopted this policy while also charging hefty resort fees. Again, top-tier loyalty-program members don’t pay resort fees with either company, but most people do.

Las Vegas has been booming and hotel occupancy rates have been high — and with demand that strong, prices have increased across the board.

💵💰Don’t miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet’s free daily newsletter💰💵

On a recent trip, for example, the Starbucks shaken espresso drink I buy most days — just over $5 for a grande in Port St. Lucie, Fla. —cost more than $11 at Harrah’s on the Strip.

You expect to pay airport prices in a hotel Starbucks, but the stand-alone ones were just as high, and that’s a massive markup.

Now, social media has gone crazy over a post that shows a new fee that may have been hiding in plain sight for a long time.

Caesars has offered late check-in at a cost for years.

Image source&colon; Shutterstock

Caesars-owned resort casino shows off fee

A social media post on X went viral, showing off what some see as a new fee at the Caesars-owned Flamingo. The post shows a picture of a screen on one of the resort’s self-serve kiosks.

“Our standard check-in time is 3:30 p.m. Would you like to check-in early for an additional charge of $60 plus tax?” reads the kiosk.

Social media blew up over the post, but what it’s showing is not actually new or unprecedented.

Caesars has been offering early check-in for $60 via its app for many years. In many cases, it waives those fees for higher-level loyalty-tier members or at the discretion of the hotel.

More Las Vegas:

Sixty dollars seems high for the oldest property owned by the company, but the fee appears to be the same no matter which Caesars property you stay at. In many cases, the hotel will have your room ready before 3:30 p.m., but paying the fee guarantees early access.

In many cases, a traveler may want the guaranteed early check-in time to rest, shower and recover from their travel.

Caesars did not return a request from the Las Vegas Review-Journal to comment on its early check-in fees.

Caesars has a strong Las Vegas Strip business

Caesars Chief Executive Anthony Carano discussed his company’s relatively strong Las Vegas results during the first-quarter earnings call.

“Despite a tough comparison in Las Vegas against the Super Bowl last year and weather disruptions regionally, combined with one less operating day this year compared to last year, our results reflect stable trends within the brick-and-mortar segments and continued strong growth in digital despite poor hold during March Madness,” he said.

In Las Vegas, same-store adjusted Ebitdar of $433 million was essentially flat versus the year-earlier period and was the third best Q1 Las Vegas performance on record. Ebitdar is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent/restructuring costs.

“During the quarter, our Las Vegas team did an excellent job navigating through a tough Super Bowl comparison to deliver exceptional results,” the executive added.

“Occupancy and [cash average daily rates] were both down slightly. Slots and [electronic table game] volumes grew year-over-year. Convention room nights were 20% of our mix and the Forum convention center delivered a Q1 Ebitda record.”

Same-store operating expenses were down 3% year-over-year, “a testament to the strong operating discipline of our teams in Las Vegas.”

He took note of some risk moving forward.

“While we recognize the tremendous uncertainty surrounding the economic impact of potential policy change in the US, we remain encouraged regarding the forward outlook of Las Vegas,” he said.

“We continue to experience solid occupancy trends driven by both leisure and the group and convention customer.”