Showgirls from "Jubilee!" at Bally's march up the Strip during a publicity stunt Thursday, July 21, 2011, to praise Caesars Entertainment's policy of not charging resort fees.
It was just after 9 a.m., and the Vegas thermometer crept toward triple digits. Rick Mazur was at the mic, having introduced himself as the president of the five-hotel cluster of Caesars Entertainment properties that includes Harrah’s and Flamingo.
With growing verve, the dark-suited and certainly warming executive announced that the Caesars resorts offered “the best in entertainment!”
“Yay!” responded the crowd, populated primarily by company employees.
Then there was a pause. What now?
“That was the cue!” Mazur called out.
And with that, a large drape hanging behind Mazur and his fellow resort Presidents Gary Selesner of Caesars Palace and David Hoenemeyer of Paris Las Vegas, Bally’s and Planet Hollywood dropped to the makeshift stage in front of Bally’s Strip-side walkway.
Behind the execs stood many of the star performers performing in Caesars Entertainment venues, including Marie Osmond (Flamingo), Penn & Teller (Rio), Mac King (Harrah’s), Vinnie Favorito (Flamingo, who served as the event’s emcee and chief agitator) and Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees (guest star of Chippendales at the Rio). Also positioned at the stage were dozens of “Jubilee” showgirls, who sashayed up the Strip carrying signs with such messages as, "Just Say No to Resort Fees!" and "Our Money, Our Choice!" It was a fascinating and uplifting moment where nonviolent protest collided happily with Bob Mackie.
The purpose of the event, a finely staged affair that made passers-by gawk in amazement, was for Caesars to trumpet the fact that the company does not charge hotel guests hidden resort fees upon checking in to one of its Vegas hotels.
As the company stresses, the policy eliminates mandatory but concealed charges for hotel amenities. These are such services as access to the hotel’s business center, bottled water, entry to the pool area, fitness center access, boarding pass printing, valet parking and authorization to make local phone calls. These fees irk tourists to no end, as they properly reason that the printing of a boarding pass should be included in the fee they are charged for their room.
Essentially, in the Caesars reasoning, the parade was to remind potential guests that they would not be shafted by surcharges upon booking a room in Vegas. No-ShaftPalooza is what it was.
The company states that guests have saved $37 million in such fees dating to its inception on July 5, 2010. Osmond, the one person on hand who managed not to perspire during the event, actually counted down to the unveiling of a giant clock displayed on the Bally’s marquee charting the exact amount of money saved, which is $1.16 per second (I joked for each $1.16 posted, Donny & Marie should receive a nickel).
Wonderful. But something to note about Caesars Entertainment hotels: You do get dinged for Internet service at all of its resorts. This is still considered a luxury at its hotels, in the same way indoor plumbing was considered a luxury a century ago. Guests must “opt-in” for a service many businesses in Vegas -- The Beat Coffeehouse at Emergency Arts and Cue Club at the Commercial Center, to name a couple -- manage to provide for free.
The hotel notes that guests can be charged as much as $20 per night in unexpected resort fees, but at the Rio, for instance, guests are charged $13.95 for every 24 hours of Internet access. For a reference point, that happens to be the cost of a battery-operated, illuminated butterfly sold by the cigarette girl at Bally's, another overcharge that needs to be reviewed.
Caesars is moving in the right direction, proudly so, with its “no resorts fee” policy. But strip that infernal $14 Internet fee, and we can have another Strip parade. Make sure to invite Marie, too.
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