Slipped a $20 between id and credit card and gave it to the guy and asked if there were any ‘complimentary upgrades available’. He took the $20 and gave it right back to me and said let me check with my manager. I was a bit confused and embarrassed.

He came back and said that they would be able to upgrade me to the 2100 sq ft luxury king suite with two king rooms. I originally booked a basic room that was 500 sq ft.

I was only staying one night, so I assume that has a lot to do with it.

The guy mentioned that he couldn’t take tips at the beginning, because of security cameras but if I felt that the service went above and beyond, I could tip him after he checked me in, so I gave him the $20 after he handed me the room key.

I waited for the next clerk in line (they were all female), and she was young and friendly. I handed over the 20 dollar bill with my card and asked her to help me out with an upgrade. Like a couple reviewers before me, I got the upgrade to the bigger deluxe room. She stated that all the suites were sold out, which I’ll take her word for, since they were indeed completely booked when I browsed online.

In addition to the room size upgrade, she also provided us breakfast vouchers at the buffet for all three days we were staying – for all 4 people in our party! That was a nice bonus. I’m bummed that we didn’t get a suite, but zero complaints.

Checked in for a 2 night stay on mid week and put the $20 trick between My drivers license and credit card and the clerk said “Oh thank You let me see with I can do. Okay I have a room that is larger with no doors between any other rooms and at the end of the hall should be nice and quite”.

It was a nice big room but like Dave said it was a LONG walk to the room. The $20 dollar trick worked great and glad to get the larger room.

Arrived at 10:30 am and tried for a female this time.

Got one and slipped her the sandwich, and she said she’d try her best. Unfortunately, the hotel was oversold and nothing was available, however, she did give me a fantastic view on the 16th floor. The couple next to me was given a room on the 4th floor.

She also quickly mumbled something about a VIP elevator, and off I went. I discovered that she had given me access to the small bank of VIP elevators! Someone else who tried to use them couldn’t.

Not too bad for a $20 considering I didn’t have to deal with a crowded elevator after finding this out!

Checked in late at night, gave the $20 sandwiched between the DL and CC, she noticed and I then asked if any complimentary upgrades were available? She said it was late and not sure what she had but she would check. Found us a signature suite to upgrade us to. It was a really nice suite for the travelocity price of a deluxe room.

Worked exactly according to plan. I checked in around noon for a 4-day conference. I simply gave the clerk the $20 sandwich and asked if any suites were available. He never said what he was giving me, but I got a Canyon View suite on the 7th floor.

One caveat though. A coworker arrived on the same day and tried to do the same thing. I don’t know if it was the same clerk or not. The clerk took the money, and gave him a standard strip view room (ironically just across the hall from me). My co-worker thought it worked, though, because all the rooms here are fantastic.

Another co-worker tried to do the trick after the fact, but I think she called the front desk on the phone rather than walking up to someone. She was quoted $200 per night for an upgrade. She was also told that any front desk clerk caught giving out an upgrade would be fired.

So, this place is definitely YMMV.

Did what you suggested and the clerk went out of her way to find us the biggest room possible. Well worth the tip money for the size room we got. She was very nice and lefted the $20 in plain view until she found us a room.

There was no line, and several clerks available, so we chose the youngest male behind the counter. I handed him the $20 sandwich and spoke the magic words. I indicated I would prefer a larger room rather than a canyon view. He put us in a very large room (not a suite), quite a bit bigger than the standard room. The only downside is it was an absurdly long walk to the elevators, as our room was at the very south end of the hotel, and the elevators are at the very north end. Why the architects would not put the elevators in the middle of the hotel is beyond me…

Two couples did this. Both were asked if we wanted a strip view or canyon view. The other couple asked for strip view and got a larger room (but not suite). We asked for canyon view which was a standard room but since it was $25 more/night we got a little distance out of it.

Gave the tip as recommended. We checked in on a Friday for 5 nights. He didn’t have anything for the first two nights, but moved us early Sunday morning for the rest of our stay. The suite was awesome! Best $20 I’ve spent in this town!