sneadhearn

I'm considering a trip to Vegas during the last few days of March with my wife & two boys, 7 & 11. I've toured the hotel and grounds several times but have never stayed here. At present, the hotel has a fair price of $109 quoted on their web site for my days of occupancy. I see in the small print, however, that they want an additional $35 per person for occupancy above and beyond 2 guests, and this reportedly includes "children of all ages". While I'm not shy about booking at the double rate and "sneaking" the kids into a hotel with thousands of rooms, I am curious how the hotel's inviting pool area monitors the number of guests. Do you simply show the attendant a room key or do they use some sort of wristband set-up, etc? Do they have knowledge down at the pool of how many guests are in a room? I'll pay $109 here, but darned if I'll pay an additonal $70 for my kids. I can see this extra per-person fee working to prevent a group of 6 college kids from crashing in a room, etc. It seems insulting, however, for a 4 person family and a big enough deterent to cancel a stay at the Mandalay Bay. Any input on this from people that have stayed here would be appreciated, especially those that have traveled with kids. Thanks a lot!!

travleis

First off, to enter the pool area EACH person must show a room key. No "I'm with her" bypasses allowed. Thus, for 4 people in a room you'll either need 4 keys or you'll have to try to sneak keys across the fence to other family members, which is not only silly but difficult to accomplish due to the pool's fencing arrangement.

Second, while you may feel it's insulting for the hotel to charge extra per person beyond 2, there is a reason the hotel is willing to risk losing your business over this add-on fee. Boils down to profit margins. You may have never considered how the overall operating budget of a major resort hotel works, but it's very simple to break down the amount of money it COSTS the hotel to house each guest. Don't forget that each person raises the cost: extra towels, extra toiletries, extra water, extra wear and tear on all the furnishings, extra housekeeping time, extra usage of facilities (including the pools, etc). You might be tempted to conclude that this extra cost per person to the hotel is trivial, maybe $1-2 per person per day. It's a lot more than that. The lion's share of the cost is wear and tear on the rooms. Replacement costs for mattresses, chair upholstery, carpeting, shower tile, etc etc etc is a HUGE part of the operating budget. And that's where most of the 'extra person charge' is rooted.

Is there some profit margin built into the $35/person fee? Probably a bit. But not in the range of 50%, for example. Those fees are there for a reason. And the hotel WILL accept some loss of business in return for protecting their margins by levying this fee.

On the other hand, if you are a gambler of record in their casino, they'll usually gladly waive the fee, and do so with a smile. (Because they know that on average they're going to get their money one way or the other. They're smart like that).

gail

We were in Las Vegas for one night last summer with our 2 teenagers. Every hotel I checked quoted a higher price for 4 versus 2 in a room. This is the first time I have had to pay extra for the kids in our travels, but I do not consider it unreasonable.

Patrick

I think you're looking at it all wrong, worrying about the extra fee. Even you seem to be saying that you're all going to be using the pool -- shouldn't you have to pay for that? Could all of you get into a water park and only pay for two? Look at it this way. That same room in any major city other than Vegas would be at the very least $400 a night. So with the fee it's still less than half price what it should be!!

emd

$179 (109 plus the 70 for the kids) still sounds like a good rate to me at Mandalay for late March for 4 people.
Other cities may have the "kids stay free" deals, but like others I think you may just have to get over it, as I also have been quoted the extra fee for more than 2 people at Vegas hotels. If it was me and I could get that $109 rate for one room and it was only for a few days, I think I'd pay a bit extra and get two adjoining rooms and give the kids their own room- it would cost $40 plus tax over the price of 4 in one room.
There might also be hotels off the strip that don't charge for kids, I don't know about that.

bri19sp

Just stay at a different Hotel. You are right that it is insulting to charge such a surchage for extra people. The majority of Hotel operating costs are fixed, ie payroll, property taxes, electricity, The variable costs associated with extra guest come no where near to a 35% marginal increase. If anyone on this board states otherwise, they have no concept of NOI urban land return for hotel investments. I don't think any other hotel on the strip checks at the pool.

nytraveler

"While I'm not shy about booking at the double rate and "sneaking" the kids into a hotel with thousands of rooms, I am curious how the hotel's inviting pool area monitors the number of guests."

So let me understand this - you don't mind cheating unless you're going to be prevented from using some of the services you're stealing? How is this any different from going into a store, switcing tags on clothing and then buying at a lower price? What kind of example is this for your children?

The hotel is a business and they have the right to set prices as they see fit. You have the right to stay there or not. You do not have the right to decide for them that their rates are inappropriate and you want to pay some other rate - that you think is OK.

And we wonder why our children are growing up with no morals or values!

MoniqueU

There are certain hotels that do not charge extra for the 3rd and 4th person in a room. Off the top of my head they are Excalibur, Luxor and MGM.

The reason they charge extra is to DISCOURAGE families.A few years back they thought of trying to get more families to vegas because they thought it would be more profitable. What they found was that families spend less time gambling and drinking and it hurt the casino bottom lines as well as alienated their core "gambling" customers. Vegas is an interesting city of supply and demand and the free market in action. What makes the hotels the most money is what they cater too. Kids don't seem to make vegas much money so they are not giving many rate breaks for them and in fact are doing anything they can to discourage them from coming at many properties.
This isn't all of them but the mood on the strip has shifted and now they are starting to charge for them, limit entry to the hotels to only registered guests if under 18 or not accepting guests that are under 18 at all.
Some other hotels that cater to the locals are better set up for kids though, such as the Orleans and the Palms that have kids programs.
I have taken my kids to vegas a few times so I am not slamming you for that but there may be better choices to take your kids out there.

rjw_lgb_ca

I am floored that you think that $109 double occupancy is only a "fair" rate for Mandalay Bay. That's a Fire Sale rate! We're not talking a Motel 6 off the Interstate-- this is a classy resort in an adults-oriented town. Your final cost, with kids, of $179/night is eminently fair and not at all unreasonable. That's a rate I'd happily pay for double occupancy at MB.

Others have already given you the appropriate tongue-lashing about being cheap and trying to circumvent the reasonable rules at a world-class resort (sneaking in the kids, trying to sneak them into the pool), so I won't indulge here. Other than to say: With two pre-teen kids, if you're hell-bent on taking them to Vegas, how about staying at Excalibur? Circus Circus, no, it's a dump; TI, no, it's re-branding itself as more "adult". Maybe Harrah's (vague theming, used to be a Holiday Inn, kinda inoffensive, if not particularly kids-oriented)? I'm not trying to browbeat you-- just offering better possibilities.

By the way, although it could get quite warm (it has in past years), the last part of March will more likely stay in the mid-60s during the day. The blast-furnace temps in Vegas don't come until May, usually.

clairelong

I'm thinking maybe Flamingo with the great pool that everyone talks about with the slides and ask for a renovated room. The Mirages' pool wouldn't excite kids. The Orleans is in the works on their pool and they have a bowling alley and movie theater...great for kids. In Vegas they have wet and wild that would surpass Mandalay Bay.

clairelong

I'm thinking maybe Flamingo with the great pool that everyone talks about with the slides and ask for a renovated room. The Mirages' pool wouldn't excite kids. The Orleans is in the works on their pool and they have a bowling alley and movie theater...great for kids. In Vegas they have wet and wild that would surpass Mandalay Bay. I think i have heard kids like the Monte Carlo pool also.

FainaAgain

So the college kids don't have the right to sneak in extra people, but for a grown-up it's OK to teach children to cheat?

If you don't agree with the room price check other hotels, you can find an inexpensive suite for your family or adjoining rooms. There is nothing wrong with travelling on a budget.

candygrrl

My husband and I just got back from Vegas, and for the life of me I can't understand WHY anyone would take their children, especially at such impressionable ages. It's not so much that there isn't alot to do (although it's getting harder and harder to find activities for kids), but it's the sleaze that you encounter in town.

As my husband and I walked the Strip during the day (along with a few families with kids), we were assaulted by hawkers shoving business cards with pictures of naked women in our faces. Every block was loaded with them and sometimes we would go through a gauntlet of 5 or 6. Add to that the 20-something girls (tourists and locals) who dress like hookers and curse like truck drivers, the overtly sexual shows made for adults (including Sirens), and couples practically having sex with one another. It was disgusting and degrading, and honestly, I'm no prude but this is too much. And what do you say to your kid? "Well, Johnny, someday you too can buy yourself a naked woman." If you don't think this kind of thing has an effect on children, you haven't been paying attention to what goes on in society.

milliebz

candygrrl,
We are taking our children to LV as part of a circuitous SW trip. We will not be gambling but find there are pleny of things to do. Sans the distribution of literature there is sleazy things and people everywhere. I took my son to a very nice French restaurant the other night before we went to a concert and every other word from the patron at the next table was profane. My 12 year old says he wants nothing to do with the girls at school because they look like hookers. This is in a suburban pretty wealthy area. Television at all times a day advertise Viagra. Las Vegas is a conscious decision and people make choices about what they think is appropriate for kids. Some think its okay to live in a house with guns, others let their young kids out alone and others think its okay for kids to ride bikes without helmets. I don't think my kids will be ruined because they see Las Vegas.

haynesfamily328

What exactly do you people he** bent on taking your children to Vegas want to show them. You can go to theme and water parks anywhere in the world. Please people, leave Vegas to adults. There are a billion places to thrill your children with. I hope Vegas (the strip) continues to discourage families. Try Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon. Camp and go rafting. When they are grown then go to Vegas, it will be much more special.

crazy4Hawaii

Chill out, people! Have you considered a lucrative career in the preaching business! Jeez...

rjw_lgb_ca

Yeah, I think the issue of "kids in Vegas?" has been beated into the ground a dozen or so times in recent memory. Like it or not, the OP wants to bring his kids to Vegas-- I guess because it seems to be like a big theme park to him (New York Land! Paris Land! Pirate Wenches with Big Fake Racks Land!). But he's chosen a notably upscale property with an adult clientèle, and this property chooses to charge for extra room occupants. His indignation at this charge is being ridiculed-- and it frankly should be. Let them stay at Flamingo (good suggestion!) or Excalibur or maybe the Mirage. Mandalay Bay is right to levy the charges it does. AND to restrict pool attendance to key-holding, paying guests-- which other resorts do as well (Caesar's does, as I recall).

Leona

I guess we scared sneadhearn off with some of our replies!

Truth is, kids of the tender ages of 7 & 11 don't belong in Las Vegas. They are too impressionable. There is very little for them to do there. Hotels such as the Mandalay Bay want to discourage guests bringing children, hence the $35 fee. Where would the children sleep? I assume all the rooms have just one king bed, since they don't encourage quads. In that case, the $35 fee could pay for rollaways & the additional housekeeping involved with making them up.

Whenever I see people with young children in Las Vegas, I wonder what the adults do with them when they visit a casino, or see a show that is not appropriate for children. Are they being left alone in hotel rooms? I somehow can't imagine arranging for an unknown baby sitter in a city like Las Vegas.

Bottom line - Las Vegas is not child-friendly, nor does it have to be.

travleis

Thanks for the chuckle, rjw_lgb_ca.
Nice description of the lands of LV.

Loki

They do actually scan your room card into the computer right at the pool entrance. Not sure exactly what it tells them, probably just that the card is currently active.

Almost all strip hotels charge for extra (>2) guests in the room. Most aren't as crazy about keeping outsiders away from the pool like MB. Caesars and Mirage let me bring outside guests into the pool this past summer. If you don't want to pay the extra $70, then sneak into one of those 2 and you'll have no trouble at the pool.