Couldn’t target a specific clerk. Around 1230 on a slow Wednesday. I just asked if there were any complementary upgrades available. Her upgrade was the same suite higher floor strip view which is $30 more per day but I’m only staying 2 nights so it’s not really worth it. I think 20 dollars could’ve got me the same “upgrade.”

I checked in at around 2pm and did not target a particular clerk. I asked if any complimentary upgrades were available. I had the $50 in my hand with my CC and DL but didn’t offer it to him until after he said “let me check”. I slid him the $50 and said “I would really appreciate anything he could do for me”. He said he could give me a higher floor with a better view that is normally $55 dollars more per night and I said sure, sounds good to me. It was a company trip and I had 3 colleagues check in at the same time without doing the trick and they got rooms on floors 6, 8, and 14 facing away from the strip. I ended up on 34 facing the TI with a great view.

Was unable to Target a specific clerk but got an awesome guy. Slid him a $50 sandwich and he immediately went to the back to see what he could do. He reappeared and told us that he could upgrade is to the sienna suite for our stay. This room is insane and totally worth the 50.

Handed the guy at the front desk $40. Immediately got upgraded to a high floor room (44th floor) facing the strip with early check in (we checked in at 11am) and late checkout (until 2pm) waived. Also got one night’s resort fee waived due to a mishap with billing to room at a bar. I’d say that’s a fantastic value. Probably saved approximately $350.

BTW, I was on the fence between Venetian’s and Palazzo’s Luxury Suite. Glad I made the choice to choose Palazzo’s… It’s a far superior product, and as Palazzo is nearly twice as tall, you’re guaranteed to get a “higher” floor room (relatively), even at the most basic rate.

Checked in ~6pm on a Friday in November 2017, not many people in the check-in line at all, so could not target anyone. Sandwiched the $20 between ID and CC when we walked up and were asked for it. I think the guy asked if it was a tip, and I replied by asking if there were any complimentary upgrades available. We made some conversation while he checked us in.

Eventually after he checked us all in, he brought out a binder, showed us the room we originally booked, then showed us the room we were getting instead. Super nice guy and seemed to know the drill – loved our upgraded room.

As a IHG Spire Ambassador member I was expecting the Sienna Suite Upgrade on my two night BOGO cert stay, but for the 3rd night I used my Chase free night from my IHG credit card. I was told in advance that I would have to check out after two nights and downgrade to a standard luxury room. Tipped $25 at check-in about 9:30pm on Saturday and CSR made a quick call extending my Sienna Suite (37-705) for the entire stay! It’s an AWESOME suite…1,200+ sq ft.

Prestige lounge check in at around 10am on a Friday. Didn’t exactly target a clerk but the clerk who served us wasn’t the manager and looked quite frumpy. On the face of it, I thought she would be receptive. I slipped $50 in with my passport whilst mentioning that we were celebrating a wedding anniversary (true) and that if she could make our stay extra special we’d be very grateful. She took the money without blinking and hurriedly said that she could definitely help us out…

Well.

She did sweet FA. No room upgrade, no reduction of resort fees. Nada. Very disappointed.

Tuesday, April 24 approximately 1pm.
I didn’t target any particular clerk, I went to the next available clerk, that I was directed to.
I slid the clerk $50 under my license, and asked if there were any upgrades she could provide for the 2 Luxury suites I booked for 4 days. It was my father in law’s 74 birthday. I then told her if upgrades weren’t available, I would prefer a very late checkout. She told me my rooms were not ready, but I would get a text when they were finished.
This is what I recieved when I walked into the room:
A strip view for both rooms
A 2pm checkout for both rooms
A mini fridge in each room
One daily resort fee removed for each room.

Checked in initially at the wrong registration desk, as we had upgraded to the champagne check-in on the concierge level. First registration person just gave us the money and told us where we were supposed to go. Got to the right location on the concierage level around 4:00 p.m. on a Sunday. When he asked for license and credit card, we gave him the sandwich and he immediately started typing away, ultimately hooking us up with a massive room. Granted we were there in mid/late February from Sunday through Wednesday so not exactly a busy time but still, it worked and was well worth the $50.

Slipped our guy $40 and a big grin appeared. He said he would be happy to take care of us. I said it was our anniversary and wondered if there were any complimentary upgrades. Also said if there weren’t any… what would really be nice is a late checkout since our flight left in the evening. We got Both!