Casino Hotel Check-in peeves

[DaBurglar]

I am sure everyone has their own individual list of "peeves" that get them riled up whenever they choose to STAY & PLAY at any particular Casino Hotel......some of these issues are universal, meaning they apply to ALL potential Casino Hotel destinations, while others are very specific to individual properties and individual players/customers.One area that is on my mind these days is Hotel check in times/waits/lines (and by "these days" I mean the usual May kick off in AC for their "BUSY SEASON", which officially starts Memorial Day weekend but begins climbing the first weekend in May around Mothers Day and the Kentucky Derby!)      NOW LET ME JUST SAY< FOR ALL YOU DIAMOND LEVEL CET PLAYERS and Other "Premium" High Roller level players who rely on HOSTS for everything> if you are lucky enough not to have to deal with check in desks and lines, then good for you, you can ignore this thread if you want......It is my opinion that, if.....IF a player/customer has a bonafide reservation already in the system at any given Hotel/Casino, the total check-in process should NEVER EVER take more than 5 minutes, TOPS!    These days, there is just no excuse for the all too often spectacle I see at places like the TAj, Resorts-AC, BAllys/Harrahs AC, and most recently the Borgota, whereby you observe a person or a couple (or even a "group" of 4 or more people) stuck at one of the active check-in positions at the hotel desk with a hotel clerk/employee frustratingly trying to resolve whatever glitch or problem exists with that particular check-in process......I am sure many of you know of what I speak.You arrive at the Hotel Casino lobby to check in to your room and you see a line of varied length and description.......it is moving excruciatingly Slowwwwww ;   As you stand (or sit) in line waiting to get to the desk, you notice on one or two (or several) spots on the check in desk the same customer(s) are "STUCK" there for 10, 15, 20 minutes (or more).......if you are like me, you ask yourself, "What on earth is the problem?!?!?"       Check In for me is all about having your "crap" together (or in order);  You have your ID, your valid credit card and reservation info/number;    It should move swiftly and smoothly.      So why on earth do some people end up clogging the process with unbelievably complex and frustrating "issues" during Check In?    

[notes1]

I agree with you. One of the actual real advantages of having status at any casino, is avoiding the lines. Not sure, but I do not think it is not all the fault of the casino. Everyone has been in line at a drive in teller and been frustrated when the car in front is unprepared to make a quick transaction. No pen, forgot their deposit/withdrawal slip, etc. Same thing at hotel check in. Have your ID and credit card out, be prepared.

A suggestion, if you arrive at a busy time, and you have called that same day to confirm your reservation, just check in your stuff at front lobby and come back at an off peak time to check in your room. If you have a confirmed reservation with a credit card, they will save your room.

[billryan]

Get off of my lawn.

[onemoretry]

Not quite a check-in peeve, but closely related - you have a "confirmed reservation" for a certain kind of room, i.e., a non smoking room with a king size bed, for which, in many cases you have put down a deposit. At check-in, they tell you they don't have that type of room available! Why the hell not? They know how many of each room type they have - if you have a "reservation", why haven't they saved one for you?

[DaBurglar]

I'm going to segue into something that is obviously very personal and specific to ME, but anyone else here with an opinion is encouraged to voice it, even if it is 100% opposite my own:At Harrahs AC only (meaning no other property in AC does this in my experience), they allow disabled customers to skip the regular line, no matter how long it is, and instead get in the much shorter DIAMOND/7 Star Line!    This has happened to me a handful of times when I have stayed at Harrahs-AC, I get in the long "regular" line and then a security guard comes over to me and states "sir you do not have to wait in line, come with me....."The first time this happened I actually was reluctant to do this because the line was really lonnnnng and a whole slew of people heard and saw what the guard did....I felt very self conscious and even "guilty".....but My MOM was with me and she was recovering from a cracked lumbar vertebrae so I accepted the offer and have subsequently used this "express" line the few other times I go to Harrahs for check in.I obviously know and believe there are certain things in society whereby handicapped people/disabled people NEED a little help, such as wide bathroom stalls and a few protected parking spots (although some places go wayyyyy overboard and designate about 5 times the actual number they truly need!)    But other areas of society and life I do NOT believe a handicapped/disabled person "deserves" any help or advantage, and standing/sitting in a long line is one of them.    What do you think?Henceforth, unless a security guard insists, my next stay at harrahs I will utilize the regular line, no matter how long (or short) it is!** Please note:   There are also MANY times I have checked in to various AC hotel casinos and there have been ALMOST NO lines or waits to speak of....it all depends on the day, time of day, time of year, and numerous other factors.    But this issue applies ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE, where hotel check in takes place.   Vegas is a notorious example too, as many Vegas properties always seemed to have everyone try and check in at the same time!Bottom line, it really should be a easy fast experience, and I would love to see more do it yourself check in opportunities like many airports have.Next up:   Supermarket Pet Peeeve #1, people who pay for their weekly grocery shopping with a stinkin' personal check!!    Adds a good 4-5 minutes to the wait time at a minimum.....what the hell people!?!?!

[Lionqueen]

Or you wait in that very long line then when it's finally your turn you are told your room is not ready, come back in 2 hours so you have to go through the entire waiting process again and then told it's still not ready. Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and I will never stay there again. I'll stick to MGM properties where I get VIP check-in.

[Eduardo]

Get off of my lawn.

[olds442jetaway]

     I can't ever remember having check in problems at Mohegan Sun and I don't always use the vip section. If the line gets a little long, I see supervisors come out to help or they bring people over from the concierge desk or somewhere else. Once in a while the room is not ready, but they still register you and later they call you on the cell phone when it is ready and all you have to do is go pick up your key card. One more nice thing they do at Mohegan. If you call from the room at the guest requests prompt and ask for something like an overnight kit or fridge or micro, you always get a follow up phone call and or message on the phone in the room asking you if everything was properly delivered. I rarely find issues with anything in their rooms. Wish I could say the same for the video poker results.
     As to the wheelchair line situation, I don't feel I am qualified enough to say one way or another if someone in that situation should wait in the long line or not. Maybe some cannot sit for long periods, maybe they need a bathroom break, or whatever. I don't get upset when I see them moved to the vip line. They do the same thing at the buffet. If one who is chair bound feels well enough to wait with the others, more power to them and I would be impressed that they choose to do so of their own accord. I never would expect it though. I always offer to help those I see either in the elevator or or maybe they drop something and need help getting it. More often or not, they strive to keep their independence and want to do things for themselves. That is fine with me and I admire them for it unless it is so obvious that really need help. The one exception I make and really get po'd about are the scooter speeders which are a danger to the rest of the people in the casino. I don't even count them in the same category as wheelchair bound people. Some appear to be quite healthy except for one major problem. Their weight. I will end it there before I get slammed for criticizing someone who may have had a great deal of control over their own destiny and girth. Exceptions apply of course.

[Sea Lion]

The Rio in Vegas is notorious for extremely long check in lines... 200 - 300 peeps on any given day. We used to get really great deals there, and this was when they boasted of being one of the last hotels here without resort fees, so we would bite out tongues and ride it out. No biggie, fair trade-off. Then they started up with the "early check in fee" where you can check in between 2PM and 4PM, but we managed to get that waived. What killed it for us was on our wedding day, housekeeping entered when we had the "do not disturb" sign on the door. I barked at her as we had the sign on the door and she couldn't understand a word I said. About an hour later, she comes back with her supervisor, enters with the sign still on the door, and her supervisor mentions to us that "her housekeeper thinks there  is a problem here". I told her that the only problem was that she couldn't understand the sign on the door and what it meant as the sign is written in English which means DO NOT DISTURB! All they said was "ok" and they left. I reported this incident to one of the hotel managers on duty at the front desk, and not only was this incident forwarded to that supervisor's boss, our entire week there was fully comped for the trouble. We have not returned to that hotel ever since.

[DaBurglar]

     The one exception I make and really get po'd about are the scooter speeders which are a danger to the rest of the people in the casino. I don't even count them in the same category as wheelchair bound people. Some appear to be quite healthy except for one major problem. Their weight. I will end it there before I get slammed for criticizing someone who may have had a great deal of control over their own destiny and girth. Exceptions apply of course.  100% SPOT ON The electric scooters that you see and that have become increasingly common and prominent all over society (not just in casinos) are a classic double edged sword.....True, they are extremely efficient and effective modes of transport for people who TRULY require it, and in specific situations (like Grocery shopping for instance,) they are a safe and logical extension of mobility assistance (mostly because of the LARGE basket attached to Supermarket scooters.)Clearly there are people who truly NEED those electric scooters and devices to get around and function in society......yet also there are people who utilize those mobility devices who truly could along without them.   Sometimes, an otherwise healthy person has a temporary injury or illness and the scooter helps them recover and avoid re-injuring the damaged body part or region;   sometimes a person, such as a elderly individual who otherwise can ambulate without help, decides in the setting of a casino, with its vast expanses and areas full of drunken or oblivious individuals whose only concern is their own "fun", that it would be "safer" for them to temporarily utilize a scooter while they are in the casino......All this I understand and acknowledge, perhaps more than most people can or do......the bottom line is, NONE of us can truly judge or decide whether a specific individual truly "NEEDS" or should have a scooter to get around.    We can always speculate and ponder individual examples we see, and, obviously,  olds442 is 100% correct that there are a number of people currently utilizing these electric mobility devices simply because they have become too overweight to efficiently move around from point to point and, instead of taking the LONG difficult path of trying to improve their own health and mobility by simply enduring the struggle to get around on their own and thus promote weight loss and improved mobility, they take the easy way out and use a scooter.    The casinos also make it easy to do this with their vast fleets of scooters you now see in the lobby of every establishment, and the relatively low fees they charge for their usage......The point though that is most relevant and important is what olds442 said earlier, that the people using these scooters need, and SHOULD, use caution and care when operating these devices, and they need to recognize that simply being in one of these scooters DOES NOT automatically entitle them to ANYTHING or to any special PRIVILEGE or CONCERN......furthermore, scooters are NOT the same thing as wheelchairs or walkers (devices which are clearly intended and used by people who are truly disabled, either temporarily or permanently.)    I personally have encountered many people on scooters who operate and drive the things as if the rule of "the road"  is EVERYONE NEEDS TO GET OUT OF MY WAY!!      I do not care WHY a person is in either a wheelchair or a scooter;  that is none of my business and it is not for me or anyone else to determine whether that person truly "NEEDS" it or not (although we are all entitled to our personal OPINIONS about such a thing);    what I do care about, and have a right to be concerned with and say something about is whether or not that person is using (or abusing) the usage of the mobility device.    -- You cannot drive a scooter (or a wheelchair for that matter) around a casino and crash it or slam it into other things or other people, or otherwise operate it in a unsafe and "crazy" manner, unless you are prepared to face the consequences!    You do NOT have the right of way or special privileges simply because of using a scooter or wheelchair or any other device.-- You can't just plop your arse down in any seat or chair or spot on the casino floor (or restaurant) and leave your scooter or chair wherever you want or feel like!   If it blocks or obstructs an otherwise open & busy thru-way on the floor, it needs to be parked somewhere or in such a manner to minimize such obstruction and hazard.   Even things like crutches or canes, if not properly stored, can stick out or "trip" otherwise healthy people trying to get around......a disabled person is obligated to make sure this does not happen.What other issues or problems can any of you think of that I have not mentioned?    Specific to a casino/hotel, or any other business, there are many issues or unique circumstances which can rear their ugly heads and cause consternation on everyone's part if not properly addressed.