Long check-in lines are de rigueur in Las Vegas. People go to Vegas for a break, and the start of their trip is a queue – probably first for the ride from the airport to their hotel, and then to get into their room. What could be more of a mass experience, and what could make an upscale hotel feel more like Circus Circus than this?
This is reportedly a bigger problem at Caesars hotel properties like Caesars Palace and Planet Hollywood than at MGM hotels, and something that really began in earnest over the last couple of years due to insufficient staffing.
Hotel check in wait times are out of control in Las Vegas, especially at Caesars owned resorts like Horseshoe, Paris, Planet Hollywood and others. Its no secret that these videos put me at odds with the two major corporations who own the majority of the resort hotels on the… pic.twitter.com/QlK02dAMVR
— Jen G. (@vegasstarfish) August 15, 2024
This is hardly new. Last year we saw several hours-long lines checking in at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. That was both during the day and even in the middle of the night. One guest noted, “it took..9.5 hours” to get a bed.
Waiting in line to check in at Caesar’s Palace. I first tried checking in at 7 pm. The line was approximately 3-4 hours long. I left (and hopped around town with luggage) and came back at 1.40 am. It’s 2.50 am. Still waiting. pic.twitter.com/jk3Vl8Cxhs
— Benjamin Lee (@blankcheckben) July 11, 2023
This was the original line at 7 pm. Each check-in took about 20 minutes. pic.twitter.com/G4aMZ7W2Ox
— Benjamin Lee (@blankcheckben) July 11, 2023
Judging by comments online, people seem thrilled when they only have to stand in line half an hour to check in at a Vegas hotel.
Some suggest using a chain’s mobile app or kiosk for check-in, but reports are that those assign the worst rooms (low floor, view of the HVAC), whereas when you check in with a person they’ll usually try to give you the best thing they can within your category (and you have the opportunity to slip them $100 for an upgrade).
Status helps. Plenty of folks used the Wyndham business card to match to Caesars Diamond (mid-tier). You will still wait in a line but you will skip this mess.
Las Vegas has interesting economics. They could charge you more, and provide proper staffing, but then they wouldn’t fill the rooms. And filling rooms is the goal, more than the rate, in order to earn off you because you are there in their complex – from shopping and dining to gambling.
That’s also why it makes so much sense to shift room rate into resort fees, to make it look like rates are low since that helps them fill the rooms And for guests booking through third parties, comparing properties, it makes the hotel look cheap relative to other hotels, plus they don’t pay commission on the resort fees to online travel agencies.
Yet hotels have probably made a mistake in the shift in recent years to charge for parking, which discourages driving, which depresses people coming from short distances mostly Southern California.
A check-in experience like this one may help contain costs, but in the long run surely it costs the hotel revenue? It’s a good reason not to return to a hotel, and indeed when guests share what check-in is like it’s a reason for others not to book in the first place. But since it’s infrequent guests bearing the brunt of this check-in process, perhaps the bet is there’s not much future business to lose?
If you’ve made the trip to Vegas, maybe you’ve paid to park, and you’re faced with a super long check-in line my advice is:
- Use a mobile kiosk for check-in
- Take the keys to the inferior room you’re probably assigned
- Then call down from the comfort of your room to complain.
You may have to wait on hold for a bit, but that’s far better than standing around like a schmuck in the lobby.
How does this even cut costs? It takes X minutes to check someone in. That means you need # of checkins*X minutes of check-in staff time to check people in.
Obviously you’re “wasting” money if your check-in agents are idle, but there is a LOT of room to staff more agents before any of them have idle time if you have multi-hour check-in lines.\
I might even argue that it’s even costing you revenue as people in line aren’t gambling, eating, etc.
I used to enjoy going to vegas even I don’t do gambles… especially during pendemic… no lines, no crowd anywhere but post pendemic… I don’t get why so many are so eager to go there. I really don’t get it… unless you are so addicted in gambling. Overpriced food factory buffet, hours of wait everywhere, packed pool, so much crowd and nasty weed smell on the street at night. Why?
I have status with MGM and Caesars based on my gambling action (not some lame status match). I simply check in on the app, confirm on day of arrival then use a kiosk. Even though I can check in at the VIP desk (usually separate room from the mad house that is the front desk) I still prefer to just go to my room. Frankly I don’t care what room I get within the category I selected (almost always comped). I’m there to gamble and experience the city, not stare out my window (although last trip I had a nice junior suite facing the Sphere and was fixated on watching it a lot). If I want a nicer room I upgrade it (usually a suite when I take my wife) and it is confirmed before I get there.
Also, the “$20” (or as you list more like $100) “trick” is so lame and pathetic. Please people don’t lower yourself to that. Both chains have ways to proactively upgrade your room and it usually is only $20-$75 a night so you get the same thing and have it confirmed.
On the other hand I’ve been to Las Vegas somewhere around 150 times so maybe I’m just an old jaded gambler.
This is the new way of the world. It start with massive inflation and pressure on companies to reduce costs. Also, the cost to fully staff the front desk plus the housekeepers needed to keep the flow of rooms ready to occupy is likely a lot higher than most think it is.
I have an even better suggestion…avoid Vegas like the plague. It’s a shit show now compared to the late 90s and early 00s. I’ve made my last trip there
Well mgm actually has a ditigal key you can use and never even have to go to the front desk. Caesars doesn’t so that is part of the problem for sure. But yes this is a big issue if they cant get it under control.
I stayed at Circus Circus two nights a couple of months ago. Checking in didn’t take anywhere near that long. Maybe the long wait is a feature of fancier hotels.
Stayed at Bellagio a few weeks ago and did the mobile check in. It was a huge time saver getting in at 7p with kids in tow. MGM does advertise the kiosk to print a physical key but legit just one machine hidden behind a giant plant lol.
I am always amazed at how long it takes people to check in at airports and hotels. First they don’t have their credit card and license available when they step up to the desk and then they have conversations with the desk clerk about everything under the sun. Finally after getting checked in they have to put everything put in their wallet/purse before stepping away from the counter.
I’m surprised they’re short on staff. Imagine how much cash tips these folks get if they’re able to score guests an upgrade!
I always stay at a non-gambling hotel. Motel 6 for instance. Embassy Suites if I have extra bucks. Never a wait to check in.
I remember some long lines years ago, but nothing like this. Since I don’t gamble, I generally will do one of the Marriott properties off of Paradise Rd instead. Sometimes a night or two higher end – Cosmo, Venetian later in the trip, not fresh off the plane.
Amazing this even generates a discussion. This isn’t new. The pandemic riffed millions of jobs across the hospitality industry that will NEVER come back. It is a race to the bottom across the board regardless of parent company to get to the smallest FTE footprint possible. For the last few years and for the foreseeable future, none of these companies give a damn because demand is still unbelievably strong. They’ll give it to you how they like it and you’ll take it because you’re realistic alternative is……nothing because again, the staffing will not come back. All they will do is push/force more app, AI and chatbot use which you will be forced to use/interact with before maybe, dealing with a person. Good luck.
This is completely inaccurate. I was in Vegas yesterday and waited less than 10 minutes at an MGM resort. I went to Caesars for dinner, walked through the lobby, very small line.
In the 90’s I recall arriving at my hotel at 10:30 am & being allowed to check in..Now they tell you you can’t check in until 3 pm. So everyone is lined up at 3. All the rooms magically become available at that hour. It is the hotel’s own fault.
I go to Vegas almost monthly because it’s the easiest city for me to get to from my remote western Colorado location. Yes, I have that Caesar’s Diamond status match and get a room at Harrah’s, the Flamingo or the Linq for $10-15 a night midweek, no resort fees. I can absolutely confirm the insanely long check-in lines at any hour and yes, even at 1am on a Monday in July. I really don’t care about the view from my room or anything like that, as long as nothing I need is broken. I always have a fridge arranged for medical needs, and most of the Strip hotels don’t have them in any room below a suite, so I figure I’m getting the same room from the kiosk that I would get at the human check-in anyway. I don’t see how wasting an hour or more of my trip by having a person check me in could possibly be worthwhile. Harrah’s has a ton of the kiosks too, and no one was using them but me.
I hate Vegas and only go there for group events like conferences that I must attend for work. The event organizers always pre-check-in the attendees and give out room keys at tables dedicated to the event.
Simply put, this is bad business! The more time people stand in line waiting to check in the less time they are spending their money in your clubs, restaurants, casinos. An average guest has to be worth $50 +/- per hour in revenue during prime hours 7pm-2am. You can pay a lot of service reps for the lost revenue. With the added cherry of actually providing a better experience which will result in repeat business.
Everyone standing in line is occupying space while producing no revenue.
Business must be very good if these places can be so lazy about maximizing profits.
Used to live in San Diego 25 years ago, and headed up to Vegas most weekends during the summer with our ski boat in tow. MGM Grand had free safe parking for boats, we would get up early, head out to Lake Mead and boat for a few hours with the kids, come back and go to the water park for a couple hours, and head to the Rio for buffet. Evenings walk up the strip, take in the pirate show at Treasure Island. Vegas had a big push at that time to be “family friendly “. Sadly, those days are long gone. Been there a few times since for business conferences, and have been shocked at the transformation. Vegas is a ****-show with zero redeemable qualities these days. People that go to Vegas are the same low-life’s that fly Spirit. We will never go there again.
Wow, a public admission to conspiracy to bribery (giving someone a payment for special consideration which other people have to pay for).
I would edit out the part where you suggest bribing the front office worker, who could lose his or her job as a result of bribery (yes, they have a camera on them).
If they let guests reserve a check-in time, or gave them a buzzer like some restaurants, or a number at the kiosk or a call/text when the guest could check in- guests could/would spend all that time gambling/shopping/eating- probably at that venue so as to be close when their time came up. Current system is a stupid way to simultaneously irritate customers & lose revenue.
Guess those people don’t have the Wyndham business earner. Like monorail recording says I wouldn’t be caught dead in a line.
How does it take 20 minutes per guest to check in? I don’t get it.
Lately bane of my existence has been arriving into small airports without a dedicated preferred line at the car rental at night (or at all) and waiting 45 minutes with just 2 people in front. When all I need to do is flash my ID and get the keys. How does it take people 20+ minutes to rent a car? Have they never done it before?
I mean, our public schools don’t equip people with book knowledge. Maybe we should teach young people how to navigate daily life.
I operate a few small hotels +/- 100 rms ea. If people have their license and credit card in hand, it takes at most two minutes to check someone in. The PMS scans the ID, locates the reservation (unless you’ve used some odd variation of your name), assigns the room (housekeeping enters clean available on their phones), collects the CC and issues the keys. It’s people who have to find their ID, tell you their confirmation number (we have it and use names, not numbers), give you a complete rundown of everyone they’ve ever known, and generally confuse checking in with a coffee klatsch, that grinds the desk to a halt. There are times people are so slow I’ll run two terminals at the same time.
i hate the strip. But I do enjoy some of the off-strip casinos. Some of them are really great.
A variation on supermarket lines. It seems some are constantly surprised that they have to pay for their food at the check-out. Oh, right, let me find my card.
Trash people going to a trash location to act like trash amd throw what little money they have away. Hotels are basically manipulating them, telling them FU, even though they’d make more money off them if they were in the casino. It’s a power play, just like keeping lines outside of crap nightclubs. Because stupid people who go to Vegas are easily manipulated.
“Las Vegas has interesting economics. They could charge you more, and provide proper staffing, but then they wouldn’t fill the rooms.”
A higher profitable business doesn’t staff appropriately and you think it’s because they don’t charge a high enough room rate?
Sadly I feel this, whilst a unique to Vegas example, is a reflection of the entire US tourist experience now. Overpriced, treated with contempt by hotels and airlines too in many cases. Just look at tipping, the business owners support aggressive demands for tipping so as they don’t have to pay their staff living wages. The people at the bottom of the chain support this as they’re desperate for money and don’t care where it comes from. Service went off a cliff edge long before Covid, although post Covid there was another sharp fall, and it is not improved by tipping, where there’s expectation without service. I feel many wait staff and housekeeping people in hotels are so focused on the need to collect tips that they’re actually unaware of their primary purpose, or what their primary purpose originally was.
I’ve been coming to the US for 40 years, and the overall experience and value proposition has never been poorer.
I think if US citizens discovered more of South America and Asia they’d be amazed at the value, hospitality and levels of service.
I still enjoy visits to the US, but each one brings some new poor experience that diminishes my desire to return.
Caesars LV resorts are the Frontier/Spirit hotels of Vegas.
If people are standing in line for hours, they are not gambling. I would think this problem would be solved toot sweet.
In addition to your observations, The Horseshoe is a DUMP! Their rooms are disgusting and their bathrooms are a throwback to the sixties! Little tiny toilets that are about a foot off of the floor! Binion’s and Guy Fiere’s restaurants are both two of the worst dining venues in all of Vegas. How do they get away with it? Then, when you add on the prices of these restaurants, it’s truly absurd! I won’t go back to any of Ceasar’s properties.
This is awesome. The more Americans stay home and use their little vacation time they get on trash places like Vegas, the better it is for the rest of the world.
I stopped going to Vegas years ago. It’s no longer even trying to be nice.
This article doesn’t touch on a big part of the problem – why does it take 3x as long to check into a Vegas hotel as it does anywhere else in the world? Even when they have a reservation with my personal + credit card info, they apparently need to re-enter it all and spend 10 minutes typing into the screen while I stand there just waiting.
It’s almost as wildly inefficient as rental car counters. At the occasional small airport where I can’t just go straight to the car, the desk clerk often appears to have no idea what is involved in renting a car.
I haven’t been to Vegas in years, after reading this I’m in no hurry to go again.
Why do they lead with a picture of Trump International?
Just saying.
I’ve never had a wait problem there, other than the usual 10/15 minutes or so
Las Vegas was a lot better when the Mob owned it in the 1970’s
I go to Vegas several times a year for conferences and otherwise. Long check in lines are nothing new – they were there before COVID. Caesars Palace (they do have 4000 or so rooms) seems to be hit or miss on the main front desk lines – sometimes you walk by and there’s no line and other times there are several dozen people. But you see the same things at MGM properties like Bellagio sometimes too.
The key as mentioned is to have status. For Caesars Diamond and above guests, there are always separate check in areas that usually have no or very short lines. If those aren’t open, there are always separate lines at the main front desk that go very fast. Vegas is all about status and priority lines/service (whether at the front desk, the buffet, the cashier, the taxi line, or while ordering Starbucks). Diamond and above status usually also gets you a comped room or a very low rate.
As a Caesars Diamond guest, I never waited more than 5 minutes or so to check in with a human (over dozens of stays) even when the main front desk lines were very long. Likewise, for MGM Gold or above or with any other casino property.
All the casino programs do status matches for other casino programs but also offer status matches for certain programs from hotels (Gary mentions Wyndham), cruise lines, rental cars, airlines, credit cards (the big programs also have their own), etc. It varies by program (Caesars, MGM, etc.) and year. Apparently, you can even buy Caesar Diamond status with a certain membership card program without having gambled a cent.
So doing a little homework (Google) and leg work ahead of time could pay off. Or maybe if the check in line is long, go to the rewards/loyalty desk first and negotiate for a status match. If that fails, I agree you may possibly get a better room in-person than at a kiosk or mobile app but those seems like a much better option for those without status vs. waiting in line for hours.
Better still don’t go
James, you are so right.
Understaffing is rampant just about everywhere, as well as only part-time, no benefits, low wages.
Vegas is horrible. I will never go there again. Almost 4 million people now in the Valley and most hate life and drive terrible also. Vegas is a complete rip off now.
The woman in front of you in line always has to tell the guy checking her in about their flight, how awful their taxi ride to the hotel was, then talk about her grandkids, the cruise they took to Barbados last year and all of the other womanly small talk that is expected. MAKE A NEW RULE, ONLY MEN CAN CHECK IN, WIVES GO TO THE GIFT SHOP UNTIL THE MAN HAS THE ROOM KEY IN HIS HAND!!!!
It’s been like that in every hotel I’ve staying in the past 20 years. I absolutely hate it!! Luckily for me I’m not going to gamble, just attend some conference I need to attend. Although I’ve also stood there wondering why the lines are so long–wouldn’t it be better financially if people got to their rooms quickly and then hit the casino? But I guess the casinos figure their facilities can only be so gaudy.
Even though I live on the East Coast, I used to visit Vegas 3 or 4 times a year, After the last few trips, I’ve decided not to come back. Long lines for check in, overpriced unappetizing meals, casino odds that are much tighter than they used to be and the casino staff no longer treats you like a valued guest except when your bet size of is astronomical. I’ve overcome my gambling addiction along with my Vegas addiction. For the past few years, I’ve learned how to go other places and to enjoy the company of my wife and friends when I travel.