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?
Resorts World is a complex at the end of the strip with 3 Hilton brands under one roof: Hilton, Conrad, and Crockfords. They all share the same restaurants and casino facilities, and the rooms are surprisingly similar. You only check in at Crockfords if you’re booked into a suite there, and the check-in lobby is generally lowkey and peaceful.
Crockfords standard room guests check in at Conrad, which isn’t what you think a Conrad-branded property is like (way too mid). Hilton’s lobby is exactly what you think it’s like, except you stand there for seven hours:
People sometimes claim that Resorts World Las Vegas is *empty" but that's not true. In fact, eager hotel guests are waiting in line for up to 7 hours to check in! pic.twitter.com/kvXbd6ga21
— Las Vegas Locally (@LasVegasLocally) February 22, 2025
Here’s Hilton check-in on a normal day.
I really like the property. The restaurants aren’t amazing. Elite breakfast is lacking. The casino is often quiet, and the food hall is excellent.
No hotel is worth standing in line for seven hours for. Who would do that? Who wouldn’t just leave? Except that this is more common in Vegas than you’d think. You might book a room somewhere else and find check-in is just as bad!
Long check-in lines are a problem across Las Vegas, though a bigger problem generally Caesars hotel properties than at MGM hotels, and something that really accelerated in earnest during the pandemic 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
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
Bizarrely, Vegas-goers seem thrilled online when they only have to stand in line half an hour to check into their 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. You will still wait in a line but you will skip the worst 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. Yet while you’re standing in line that’s time you aren’t gambling or shopping.
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 or app 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.
I have been staying at Flamingo for years, and as Caesars Diamond could use the VIP checkin room. Now that I no longer ger Diamond status from the Wyndham biz card, I’ll be staying at RW (via Hilton Aspire credits) and Rio (Hyatt Globalist). I have two trips booked using both these hotels and will see if the checkin process is a problem. But I book only mid-week arrival on non-conference weeks.
“…. You may have to wait on hold for a bit, but that’s far better than standing around like a schmuck in the lobby.”
Or if you REALLY don’t want to be a schmuck, you’ll just avoid Vegas altogether.
Which is a shame, as I used to really like Vegas.
I’ve lived in Vegas since 2018, and I have never waited to check in for my many staycations. Mobile check in every time avoids the lines. Why aren’t more people taking advantage of that? (Also, Resorts World has several very nice restaurants. Wondering where you ate, because they have a little bit of everything.)
Anyone they care about coming specifically (as in a VIP, whale/big gambler, etc) has a host and doesn’t wait in lines at all. The people who are waiting in line are getting an experience that’s exactly proportional to how the casino/hotel views them: warm bodies.
I stayed at MGM Grand last year and was encouraged to use mobile check-in while standing in long line. Which I did and yes I was assigned 4th floor with a beautiful view of the AC units.
@Kirk
Rio has a VIP check in area to the right of the main entrance ( 30 yards) for globalists
You shouldn’t knock Circus Circus. I was there for a few days last year for two rooms (four people total). The check in process was pretty quick at the time I did it, about 20 minutes. Nothing fancy but not too expensive. Checkout was also easy. I think as a group we were up at the casino. The days were spent visiting several national parks.
It is amazing the patience and tolerance of the American people with poor service: we are treated like dogs by airlines, hotels, restaurants, etc… and yet we keep coming back for more.
Never have to wait more than a few minutes at Encore. Even less in the tower suites.
@Kirk doing the same thing in a couple weeks. Usually just stay at crockfords via FHR and get the upgrade to the suite and call it a day but Rio with globalist is interesting. Diamond status at crockfords doesn’t get you much but they are much more convenient if you need to get to the convention center. If Hyatt keeps the remodeling up it could be worth the daily Lyft trip.
Eh, my only complaint about the rooms I get from the kiosk at Harrah’s, the Linq, Flamingo, Horseshoe, etc is that they’re always as far as possible from the elevators. I don’t really care about the view, and always seem to get a pretty high floor. So it’s the kiosk every time. Your advice at the end of this article is absolutely solid. The advantage to having a human check you in is absolutely not worth waiting more than 20 minutes for.
When I was in Vegas last year for U2, a number of the resorts had been hacked and the check-in lines for many (including The Venetian) were hours-long as they were using paper. If possible, try to arrive on the last flight of the evening and check in after 11PM, usually little or no wait and you often get an upgrade if the hotel is remotely full.
“ 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).”
You hit the nail on the head here. People would rather wait hours trying to get something better than they paid for for free. I can get a lower-grade room for free, but I pay to book what I want. I just got back from Vegas. We stayed at the Flamingo and had booked a royal suite with a high roller view on a high floor. When we checked in, I went straight to the kiosks that had no line and was checked in within 2-3 minutes. I went up to my room and it was exactly what I’d booked/paid for, on the second highest floor.
If you choose to wait for a person to check you in knowing the line is long, that’s on you.
Don’t knock Circus Circus. Rooms are cheap, food is OK and the machines are loose. I won 10K on a slot machine there. Would you rather go to Caesars and pay 100 dollars a pull and win nothing? Remember suckers are born every minute. As far as Vegas is concerned, it was way more fun back in the 1960’s and 1970’s, catch a show by Elvis, get cheap food and lose that Disneyland effect it has now. I won’t mention all the gangbangers on the streets. I will never return. It’s been ruined by big corporations.
@Kirk @UnitedEF
I just used Rio’s mobile check-in this past week. I suppose I could’ve used the VIP lounge but the day before check-in I got an email with check in link. Filled that out. Then just scanned QR code at kiosk in lobby to get room keys. Easiest check-in ever.
On top of that, I got upgraded into a big corner suite using mobile check in. Though the property was low occupancy. The lounge would prob allow you to ask for an upgrade when occupancy is higher.
I wish all Hyatts did this … Other than when I’m lightly aggressive in asking for an upgrade I’d prefer no line or wait.
I just can’t imagine how this saves money. If you have 1000 rooms to check in, and it takes 5 minutes to check someone in, you have 10000 minutes of check-ins to do, and you gotta pay people for 10000 minutes.
Paying 40 people to check people in for 250 minutes isn’t any more expensive than paying 20 people to be there for 500 minutes.
Do they just not have enough positions at the check-in counter to get people through?
I suppose the line could be intentional to push people to the mobile kiosks. If you staff more people to make the line go away, more people use the manual check-in.
People do it to themselves. If people voted with their wallets and avoided Vegas altogether, these casinos would come back to their senses and invest in upgrading their infrastructure. But if you keep coming back like schmucks they will keep treating you like dirt while they are gouging you in every which way.
I used the kiosk for check-in at Flamingo last month. Got all the way through the process to room keys … and I was told to see a front desk person. So annoying when the technology fails. (Like AA’s voice system. I gave up a long time ago, it’s generally useless. I just say agent).
My son was there during this meltdown, which was due to Hilton tech failures. Front desk unable to communicate with housekeeping. My son was given keys to an occupied room and then had to wait in line again for another room. He said guests were not happy.
That’s a huge bummer, it’s like a whole day of one’s trip wasted. Doesn’t sound like it’s going to get better anytime soon. Vegas strip hotel check-in queues and DEN trains going down, like the gifts we don’t want that keep on giving.
I’ve always stayed off-strip when in Vegas with little to no queues checking in, but haven’t visited post-pandemic yet. Planning to visit next month though so hopefully the mobile check-in works (with the ability to choose your own room) and no such issues…
For both Caesars and MGM you can check in on the app them go to a kiosk to pick up a key. I’m VIP with Caesars and use that room with almost no wait. Anyone that stands in line is clueless and frankly deserves what they get which app based check in (even for those without status from gambling) make it so easy. Also, for a Hilton property you can usually check in, get a mobile key and not even stop by the lobby. Again, do some research and understand how to stop wasting time.