A Quick Trip To Palazzo in Las Vegas

There was a time when I used to go to Vegas quite a few times a year, but lately it’s been once or twice.  I’ve found myself at the Cosmopolitan most recently and have come to really enjoy the property.  For me, it’s a great property, easy to get to without having to access the Strip.  The rooms are in great shape and I do like having a balcony.

I was a bit bummed while planning a recent business trip when Cosmo was over $400 a night.  But, I figured it was a good time to try out the Palazzo, which was quite a bit cheaper during this trip.  Palazzo recently became part of Intercontinental Hotel Group as an “Intercontinental Alliance Property”.  As categorized on the IHG website, I would only earn 2,000 points for the stay when I was spending about $2K.  That’s a pretty meager earning rate, but I didn’t actually research this beforehand so I can’t really blame anyone but myself for it.  More about points posting a bit later.

The Palazzo is owned by the same company that owns and operates The Venetian, right next door (the Sands group).  When they built Venetian, they were one of the first properties to start the expansion of the standard-sized Vegas hotel room.  Over 700 square feet, the standard Palazzo room is nicely appointed.  The room I stayed in was in good shape as well.

You enter into the bedroom portion, followed by a sunken living room.  There are multiple places to sit and the room feels very open and inviting.

I only have Gold status with Priority Club, but apparently that was enough to qualify for a nice fruit plate and some bottled water as an unexpected amenity.

The bathroom is the new-ish Vegas standard.  Double sink, separate room for the toilet, large soaking tub and a separate shower.  There’s also a separate seating area with a mirror and vanity, so there’s tons of room for a couple to get ready.  A couple of my pictures didn’t come out well, so I’ve only got one of the tub and shower.

The Palazzo, like most of the casinos on the Strip, has a lavish lobby.  There are a number of good restaurants on-site, though I did not get to try any on this visit.  Carnevino and Emeril’s Table 10 are two choices I’ve enjoyed in the past.

The property has a ton of pools for those that enjoy worshiping the sun and a cool dip.  They also have a spa and fitness center branded by Canyon Ranch.  There’s a health restaurant there, very nicely appointed with an interesting menu.

While the finishes in the spa are beautiful, I found the fitness area fairly lacking.  For starters, most of the equipment was of poor construction.  None of it was brands I had heard of.  The first elliptical I hopped on was rocking back and forth so hard I thought it was broken, so I hopped on another one.  Same result, so I ended up on a treadmill.

The other odd thing was that the rows of aerobic equipment faced each other with only a half-height wall in between the rows.  When the gym had a decent amount of people working out, you were facing a person running on a treadmill a couple feet in front of you.  Not the end of the world, but definitely weird.

A perfectly fine hotel to visit, and usually more affordable than Bellagio or Cosmopolitan.  I still prefer Cosmopolitan for the quality of the room and F&B.  I don’t put a high value on either Priority Club or Marriott points, so I wouldn’t necessarily choose one over the other for points accrual.

I had a few rooms that were being charged to my account, and I was expecting points to post for each of the rooms.  Instead, I got 2,000 points for one room, 227 points as a miscellaneous credit (which didn’t tie into my incidental costs at all) and two notes on my PC account that I had overlapping stays with no points awarded.  Since I’m not an expert on the Priority Club program, I tried to use one of the live chat reps to get a better answer about what I was entitled to.  Nobody was available so I left a message and a few days later I received a message back.  I was granted 2,000 points per room I had reserved which was a nice plus.  So, overall it wasn’t a horrible points haul.

Another friendly reminder to make sure you always check your accounts frequently to make sure all your points and miles post correctly.  I personally use AwardWallet and recommend it.