M Resort Kicks Resort Fee to Curb, $25 Nightly Charge Removed Through Summer

Posted on: June 25, 2020, 11:43h. 

Last updated on: June 25, 2020, 02:13h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

M Resort in Henderson, Nevada, some nine miles south of the Las Vegas Strip, will not charge its $25 nightly resort fee through the summer months.

M Resort Las Vegas casino hotel
M Resort, south of the Strip, will offer guests resort fee-free nights through the summer. (Image: Visit Las Vegas)

M Resort is owned and operated by Penn National Gaming and the casino company’s real estate investment trust, Gaming and Leisure Properties. It is doing away with the daily add-on charge in an effort to lure guests to the casino complex. Hussain Mahrous, vice president and general manager of the M, says the offer is good for all bookings from July 1 through September 7.

M Resort says on its website that its resort fee is to cover such amenities as in-room Wi-Fi, local and toll-free calls, daily newspaper through the resort’s app, fitness center access, daily bottled water, and shuttle to and from the Tropicana Hotel and Casino on the Strip – which Penn National additionally owns.

M Resort is often grouped with the finest casino hotels in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. The Forbes Travel Guide issued M Resort a four-star award last fall, the same rating applied to Wynn Las Vegas, Bellagio, Four Seasons Las Vegas, Venetian, and Palazzo. Unlike M Resort, however, all of those casino properties, which are primely located on the Strip, charge a daily resort fee of $45.

M Resort also recently announced that it will be the official team headquarters of the NFL Las Vegas Raiders. The team’s training facility and offices are roughly a mile from the casino resort.

Travelers Needed

Much of Las Vegas has reopened, albeit in reduced capacities and under new health regulations, all resulting in a vastly different experience. After several months of travel essentially halted, casinos are offering discounted rates on hotel rooms to bring back guests.

Casinos were allowed to reopen beginning June 4. After 78 days of the Strip being dark, resorts hoped pent-up demand will resurrect a quiet Sin City. Initial bookings, however, have suggested otherwise.

Shaun Kelley, senior research analyst of gaming, lodging, and leisure for Bank of America, said “demand still appears low” for the near-term. As a result, room rates for June, July, and August are respectively down 38 percent, 47 percent, and 31 percent. Website traffic to Las Vegas casino resorts is also down more than 40 percent.

Promos and Incentives

Along with reduced hotel rates, Las Vegas casino operators are implementing policies that afford guests more value.

MGM Resorts, the Strip’s largest operator, announced in May that it was restoring free parking at all of its casinos. Sahara Las Vegas has removed its resort fee for all stays through May 31, 2021, so long as the bookings are made before the end of this month.

Lauren Wolfe, founder of Kill Resort Fees and counsel at Travelers United, told Casino.org this month that Sahara – and now M Resort – are “making a smart pro-consumer move to bring in business.”

“They know customers hate resort fees, and they’ve taken steps to get rid of them at this time in an attempt to bring back business,” Wolfe added.