Caesars sent me a post-trip survey

[Alan Mendelson]

Caesars Palace sent me a post-trip survey after my stay there this past weekend. Most of the survey involved choosing a response but there was an "essay question" which I spent some time on.

Below is what I wrote:

Everything was perfect and everyone was cordial and professional. I played a lot of craps and you have the best craps pit with the best dealers in the business. Check-in at the Diamond/7Stars reception was smooth and easy... but you need more cookies. Valets were efficient and cordial but there was a slight delay getting the car at departure.

I have one request for your room service staff: they try to be cordial but they ask too many questions. I don't want room service to do anything more than deliver my meal. I really don't want them to ask me if I am winning in the casino (I'm probably not) and I don't want them to ask me where I live (it's not their business). Just deliver the food and go -- especially if I just paused a movie for them to bring in the meal.

It would also be appropriate if the room service staff would inform guests that a tip has automatically been added to the room service check. You have a blank line on the check for a tip and this would be an additional tip and guests should be made aware of it. I know the policy but others might not. In fact I know people who have mistakenly entered a tip not knowing that a tip was automatically entered.

One more thing about food service: you had a supply of Diet Coke this past weekend which is unusual. I prefer Diet Coke over Diet Pepsi. Actually my favorite is Coke Zero. Does your contract with Pepsi exclude you from also offering Coke products?

I also have a request about your floor staff in the slot machine area: I play video poker and it's a game of concentration. When a floor person or supervisor comes over to greet me it causes a distraction and sometimes the distraction can cause me to make an error in play. It has happened and once the error was costly. While it is nice for a floor person to greet me, please greet me when I am not at a video poker machine and playing actively.

There is another reason why I don't want to be distracted when playing: scam artists sometimes distract a player while a confederate hits the cash-out button. When a floor person says hello to me from behind I don't know if it is a bonafide casino employee or someone trying to steal my money. If a casino employee wants to speak with me while I am at a machine, they should find a way to speak with me so I don't have to turn around and take my eyes off the screen of play or lose sight of the cash-out button. And yes, when someone does talk to me I immediately put my hand over the cash-out button.

[nearthetop]

That open tip line on the room service bill has been brought up at numerous times in CET meetings. You won't see it at every CET property that has room service, but you will at those larger locations that are deemed to have a high number of foreign visitors. The majority of US visitors do not use room service; most visitors from other countries do. That extra tip line is just another way to help out service staff. Often, people who input an amount have no idea or concern what's already included, and if someone explains the already included amount as a "service charge" that's not really a tip, don't be fooled because it is.

[Nash]

A few months ago we went to visit our son and his family on Phoenix. We stayed 2 nights at Ak Chin and when we returned we got a trip survey. I don't normally fill them out because I wondered if they were actually ever read but I did on this one.

The rooms at Ak Chin were very nice however I did have a gripe about their housekeeping staff being extremely loud (talking) in the early morning. Funny I have had the same gripe at Rincon. The walls must be paper thin.
Anyway I did fill out the survey and received a phone call back from the hotel operations manager who basically apologized, thanked me for bringing it to his attention and said that he would discuss this with housekeeping at the next meeting.

On another note, twice I left my phone charger at Rincon. This past weekend when I was there I checked with the front desk and was told housekeeping no longer holds on to anything left in the room for longer than a day. I was told to flag
down a security guard in the casino and have them take me to lost and found. Guess I'll have to do that this weekend as I could not locate one before we checked out.

[Alan Mendelson]

Nash... you might recall my thread about my phone charger at Caesars. A maid turned it in to lost and found, and when I contacted lost and found by email they promptly sent it to me by FedEx (which cost more than what the charger was worth).

They do read those surveys. A host once told me they are read carefully and if you complement a host or some worker it is noted.

[Nash]

Hi Alan,

I'll check with a security guard on Friday when we go down. There's a invitation only $50k Millionaire Maker Slot Tournament this weekend we are both in. Early bird round is Friday.

Did you get the invitation to the President's party at Caesars in June?

[nearthetop]

Nash, Ak-Chin has some of the best rooms in the CET portfolio especially for such a bargain basement property. I've even stayed there once and recommended the new rooms at Rincon be based on their quality and amount of space.

It's common policy to hold onto visitor's left behind property for more than a day, and customers are always supposed to be contacted immediately when items are found as left behind. Some employees just aren't educated properly.

[Dan Druff]

Alan, those surveys at Caesar's are not usually read in detail, especially if you are otherwise giving high marks on the basic questions.

It's good that you copied your essay and posted it here, so at least you didn't waste the effort. It makes for a good discussion topic on here, at the very least.

I agree with most of your comments, though.

Inform room service customers that they've already tipped: YES

Stop asking so many questions: YES. I hate when I ask the operator, "Transfer me to Nobu please", and they ask, "Anything else I can help you with?" WTF? What else could they possibly help me with when I just asked for a transfer?

Stop startling guests while playing: YES. I can't tell you how many times I've been engrossed in fast video poker play when someone either taps me on the shoulder or gets really close to me and says hello. It's unnerving.


The valet people are mostly nice and helpful, but I just hate valet parking (partially because it's often slow and unpredictable). However I know that it's sometimes hard to justify using the self parking when it's a long walk, and the Augustus valet is right by the elevator to your tower.

[Dan Druff]

BTW I really really wish Caesar's and other properties would make Seven Stars Only parking spots, and then send out CET-wide parking passes for Seven Stars.

I would love that.

I hate using valet, but the hassle and long walk from the self park also sucks.

[Alan Mendelson]

Dan I always valet at Caesars and anywhere in Vegas. But at Rincon I always self park. I used to valet, but the 7Stars/Diamond floor usually has plenty of "close" spaces except on special events. On those special event nights I sometimes park on the roof, but that isn't too bad when you can make-out under the stars.

[regnis]

Depends with whom.

[Alan Mendelson]

Depends with whom.

When I park and make-out under the stars I can guarantee you that it is always an advantage play with the absolute best paytable available.

[regnis]

Good for you ---- For many of us, pay table means we pay and the woman tables the discussion