Arrived at the hotel early our room was not ready, I told the clerk that we were there to celebrate two birthdays. He stated we would love our room and they would send champagne. We also received comped buffet, VIP club passes (which are available everywhere, $20 house credit. I did not offer the tip and received more than most do when they do off the tip.

Check in on a friday and did what everyone else had done, put the $20 between my credit card and the license and asked if they had any complimentary room upgrades. Right away she said sure and gave us a strip view on the 23rd floor. She also put us on the champagne list and we got a free bottle of champagne. It was the easiest thing I have done and will do again, definatly worth the $20!

No problem at all.

Worked like a charm, they gave us a room with a panoramic view (normally an additional $40/night) – a corner room with windows on 2 walls to see even more of the strip, on the 21st floor. He told us to call room service for a complimentary bottle of champagne. This was easily a $250 deal for $20 bucks – and turned out to be the best gamble we made.

Worked like a charm. I checked before we left if any suites were open but none were. She was very happy to help us out. Panaramic view of strip and mountains, 29th floor. Also free champange.

I think I may have been too subtle at first — I folded the 20 in fourths not half so it wasn’t sticking out — and was originally offered an upgrade for $30 a night. But eventually was told there weren’t suites available Saturday night but she could upgrade us to a view room. We wound up on the 30th floor and also got a complementary bottle of champagne.

Very nervous. I was in line so I didn’t get to pick the attendant, but I had a stern looking Asian man so I didn’t think it was going to work. I just laid the 20.00 in front of me and he asked me if I needed change, I said “No” and that I was wandering if I might be able to get a free upgrade. He said since I needed double beds that he couldn’t do “as much” for me, however he was able to upgrade us to a deluxe room on the Penthouse floor. We accepted. When we went to the room the view was looking over the parking lot. So in about an hour we went back to the front desk and got a very nice lady (and without the $20.00) told her we just checked in and was wandering if there were any other rooms with a strip view. She put us in a strip view over looking Sirens Cove. Very beautiful and very satisfied. Would try this again. (I wish I was able to give HER my 20.00)

Got to hotel and there was a line up a mile long to check in so I didn’t think we stood a chance of getting an upgrade…but tried anyway and it worked like a charm. She took money and put it away very quickly. Made a quick call to someone to free up room. Gave us a choice of rooms with panoramic strip view and included a comp bottle of champagne!! Two night stay well worth the $20. Can’t wait to try it again!!

Checked in Tues. mid-afternoon for a 4-night stay. Slipped $20 between cc and dl. Clerk was quick to make the $20 disappear. We told him we were celebrating a birthday and would appreciate an upgrade. He gave us a room assignment implying that it was an upgrade but on looking at the category, it was exactly what we had reserved and we informed him of that fact. He said larger suites were sold out but to call the next morning to see if there was one available the next day. We did, we were told there were none available. No perks offered and no upgrade. Our first try at this got us nothing. Maybe better luck next time.

Don’t know the clerk’s details since I actually got a friend to do the $20 trick because she was arriving before me. She was a little nervous, but understood what to do. Worked like a charm, she said the clerk knew exactly what was going on. We got our room on the penthouse floor with a great view overlooking the strip and siren’s cove. The fireworks from the Sirens show exploded right outside our window (we thought this was awesome since we were only beginning our nights at 11PM, would have been extremely frustrating otherwise). Also got free champagne. Cheap stuff with a plastic screw top rather than a cork, but surprisingly good. I’ve definitely paid good money for worse champagne. The label was “Wycliff” or something similar, can’t really remember too many details from that night. . .

FWIW–many people have debated whether $20 is “enough” for upgrades at nicer hotels. From speaking to people in the hotel industry in Vegas (not clerks themselves, but friends of people who are clerks, so take it as speculation that seems to make lots of sense) they say that clerks at most hotels are allotted a few “nice” rooms to give away, usually to appease an unhappy customer. They are more than happy to give them away for $20 as long as they have them left. This seems pretty consistent with peoples’ experiences here, where it seems that availability is the limiting factor rather than the amount of the tip. $20 seems pretty standard, even for stays as long as 3-4 days and for nicer hotels. More would probably only help if you’re really trying for a specific type of suite that you know isn’t usually given away, or if your stay is a week or longer. Even in those cases, I wouldn’t think that more than doubling your $20 tip would necessarily double your chances of getting what you want.