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I still remember my first trip to Vegas when I was 21 years old: I landed with $233 to my name and a reservation at the long-since-closed Sahara Hotel & Casino for about $40 a night. I’m pretty sure the bedspread had at least one cigarette burn, and the felt on the $1 blackjack tables was as worn and tired as the looks on the dealers’ faces (not that I blamed them — the Sahara was well on its way towards the end at that point). But what can I say? It was cheap and I’ve always been a bargain shopper. Fast forward more than 15 years and I’m still a bargain shopper — still no high roller, but I enjoy relaxing as though I am one…especially if I can do it cheaply:
American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts
Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts is a program available to American Express Platinum card holders — both Business and Personal. Bookings are made at www.americanexpressfhr.com or over the phone with the Platinum concierge. When booking through Amex FHR, rates are typically about the same as the publicly-available rates on most online travel agencies. But FHR bookings come with a few nice benefits:
- A “unique property amenity” (an approximately $100 value — usually either a general property/dining credit or a spa-specific credit, though some properties may offer something such as a round trip private car transport to and from the airport)
- 12pm check-in when available
- 4pm guaranteed late checkout
- Breakfast for 2 daily
The relative value of those credits certainly varies, but one place where the benefits really shine is Las Vegas. There are a number of nice properties in Las Vegas that can be a terrific value, especially for shorter stays. A couple are MGM properties, meaning you can earn Hyatt night credits and points on your stay to boot. While breakfast is a daily benefit, the ~$100 property credit is a once-per-stay benefit. Of course, if you’re traveling light and are willing to check in and out of different properties (which is relatively easy in Vegas thanks to noon check in and 4pm check out), you can enjoy those benefits nightly.
For example, here is the rate for the room pictured above, a Delano King Suite, on November 26th-27th, 2017:
That rate is somewhat misleading — tax and resort fee are additional. Altogether, the rate will be about $149.38. In fact, it’s the same exact rate I saw when logging into my Mlife Platinum account (matched from Hyatt Diamond before the new World of Hyatt):
Granted, this is a Sunday night. A Friday or Saturday will be more. But even those days can be had for under $150 before tax and resort credit. At the rate above, it’s certainly not a bad deal when you consider that for $149.38, you will receive:
- $100 property credit good at most of the restaurants at both Delano and Mandalay Bay
- Breakfast for 2
- 12pm check-in
- Room upgrade if available (likely to a room with a view as the property is all suites)
- Guaranteed 4pm check out
- Oh yeah, and a suite in Las Vegas
While you surely can grab a McDonald’s-esque breakfast for a couple of dollars somewhere, the Delano breakfast can either be taken in their restaurant or as room service. I’ve done both on separate trips, and as much as I am a sucker for a McGriddle, breakfast at Delano was quite good in both the restaurant and via room service.
And the $100 property credit is good at a range of restaurants, including the top-floor Rivea restaurant, where my dad and I enjoyed both a nice view of the sunset over the mountains and the glitter of The Strip as it lit up that evening:
Though, truth be told, the $100 credit didn’t cover the meal at Rivea and the food didn’t overwhelm me. My wife and I ate at Fleur by Hubert Keller after FTU Las Vegas last year, where the credit did cover our meal — and I’d probably go back. Maybe not before trying a couple of the other options at Mandalay Bay. When we go to Vegas, we generally eat — and we enjoy restaurant dining, so the $100 property credit is nearly as good as cash to me.
Staying at Delano, you also have access to both the Delano pool and The Beach at Mandalay Bay, complete with sand and a wave pool:
And during my trip with my dad, we did hotel-hop over to Bellagio. The room rate that night was $166 and we had a similarly excellent breakfast for two and used our $100 credit to enjoy a nice dinner there as well. We got to skip to the front of the endless line at check-in and got upgraded from the basic room that I booked to a nice suite there as well:
And for those wondering how much Saturday night is that weekend — well, it sure wasn’t too bad. At these rates. If you were looking to hotel hop, Saturday night at the Four Seasons (also located at the Mandalay Bay complex) and Sunday at Delano wouldn’t be a bad one-two punch at these rates:
Of course, it’s not just in Las Vegas that you can find great value from American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts. But the number of participating properties combined with the relative proximity in Las Vegas make it an interesting destination for hotel-hopping. Combined with generally very competitive rates, you can really score a pretty sweet deal with FHR in Vegas.
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[…] Spirit Airlines isn’t known for being a glamorous, high-roller experience, but nobody in Vegas will know how you got there. At this price, it’s worth rolling the dice. Head to Spirit.com and check for more cheap dates this month and next month. And if you’re looking for a suite deal while you’re there, my vote is for Delano. […]
There is an Amex offer for $60 off of $300 for MGM hotels…..expires june 30
Do stays booked this way through FHR earned the Hyatt points/credit? I thought stays booked through FHR didn’t earn them. Also, do you know how long the mlife status match will last for? I matched last May and was surprised it was still platinum.
Prepaid bookings through Amex Travel or the Chase portal, etc, usually do not earn any sort of elite credit or points. In my experience, FHR bookings do. The first night of an FHR booking is usually charged at the time of booking, but the charge posted on my account was from he hotel. I earned Hyatt credit at both Bellagio and Delano (I qualified for Diamond on stays last year and got both stay credit and points for my rooms at both). I haven’t stayed since the new World of Hyatt launched, but I’ve also stayed with other chains through FHR and gotten elite credit. I did proactively ask at both check-in and check-out to make sure my Hyatt number was attached to my stay.
A related but different example: last fall there was an Amex Offer at Ritz-Carlton for $100 back on $500. The terms of the offer said that you had to book direct through Ritz (and FHR bookings were excluded in the terms). However, as I knew the charge would post as the Ritz-Carlton hotel, I suspected it would still work for the Amex offer. It did — I got $100 back on $500, the $100 property credit, breakfast for two, and Ritz/Marriott points & stay credit.
That’s my experience with it.
How many MR points are earned per dollar on the Plat with FHR?
I’ve read that the 5x on hotels did not include FHR
I’m not positive, but I suspect just 1x. The 5X hotel benefit is just for prepaid bookings through Amex Travel (and Air + Hotel packages through them). FHR is separate – whereas Amex Travel bookings previously earned 2x, I’ve always gotten 1x Membership Rewards on FHR bookings. I would expect that this is the same.
I have always enjoyed stopping by the Noodle Shop at Mandalay Bay. It’s a Chinese restaurant that actually isn’t too expensive, the food is always decent, and it’s rarely crowded. It’s a really good choice for using part of your Delano FHR credit.
That being said, one thing that was really annoying about the FHR credit at Delano was that although you can use it at several Mandalay Bay restaurants, not a single one of them was open late. We walked around the whole place and nothing was available after 9 or 10pm. So, after using up only half the credit at the Noodle Shop, we ended up using the remaining credit credit at Starbucks the next afternoon buying up overpriced snacks before our flight home.
Delano is a huge disappointment after “The Hotel” it is showing its age already One has to be ready for white pure white, I was there last Sunday, they had a really poor room choice for me ( M Life PLT) when I was told it would be a couple of hours I called the Four Seasons got in Great Room, same price point. So if your using AMEX and want to away from the noise, smoking, and drunks the Four Seasons is the only Oasis left.
Belliagio is a wonderful property but it’s also showing it age.
Thanks for the tip! Bummer to hear that Delano wasn’t quiet. We were there a couple of times last year and thought it was a nice departure from the casinos — except for the table next to my dad at I at Rivea. They were wasted and carrying on a very loud conversation that shouldn’t have been had in public, and certainly not in a restaurant of that price point. Spoke with the manager about it and he offered to take better care of me on our next trip (my wife and I went about a month after my dad and I)….but I didn’t take him up on it. Ate at Fleur instead.
I never stayed there in the The Hotel days, so I don’t have your frame of reference on that. I would definitely give the Four Seasons a shot if rates were similar. I don’t know of many Four Seasons.