This week I got a Reader Comment about the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts benefits at the Wynn Las Vegas where they offer the US$100 amenity as a spa credit rather than F&B option and skimp on the “free” breakfast.
The American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts portfolio can be booked by Platinum and Centurion Card holders through the Amex Travel Service either online or over the phone with a live agent.
Most hotels of the FHR portfolio offer the $100 amenity to consume in food and beverage while on the property but the WYNN Las Vegas doesn’t and only extends it as a Spa credit. The problem: Most Spa Services such as a Massage or Facial cost $210 plus gratuity to consume. And there are other issues.
When I stayed there in April I thought I’d be the only one who is extremely annoyed by that but since a reader brought it up this week again I decided to bring this matter up and let our readers decide for themselves.
I had to stay at Wynn because I wanted to use my annual WYNN Black $300 F&B credit as well as the $200 spa credit and while technically you don’t have to stay overnight to utilize this, as a walk-in guest the credit has to be used at once rather than over the course of your stay.
As such, I decided to make a one-night reservation with Amex Fine Hotel & Resorts on a day that I found a reasonably low rate for the Wynn:
I’d like to point out that Amex and Wynn are straightforward about the fact that the US$100 Amenity is given for the Spa only and not for F&B. During Covid the hotel did give the $100 for F&B on request when guests weren’t comfortable with the spa but they have reportedly stopped this and didn’t offer it to me either.
Here is the problem: $100 at the Wynn Spa doesn’t really give you anything without paying a lot on top. The lowest-priced treatment is $210 plus a 20% auto gratuity. So in order to utilize your $100 amenity, you have to pay $150 on top. Would this be given as F&B credit at least you can consume up to the value of $100 and then just stop.
This is of course on purpose to make the hotel guest spend more. On top of it all, the spa appointments at the Wynn are highly sought after and if there aren’t any slots available they tell you that you’re SOL.
For Las Vegas, there are definitely better options to use FHR Reservations than the Wynn, not only because of the amenity credit.
The next issue was that the benefit is free breakfast for two guests which in reality meant a 2x $30 credit ($60 total). This simply didn’t cut it!
Here is what we had for breakfast:
It’s not like we splurged and it still went over the $60 allowance even without the gratuity being considered. It didn’t matter too much because I still had another $300 credit but this will impact people who bank on the FHR benefit being a real breakfast for two.
Here is the menu:
This was at Tableau which isn’t cheap but even the regular Wynn Buffet for breakfast costs $38.99 per person plus tax and plus gratuity. How is $30/pax an honest interpretation of free breakfast? In my opinion, that’s a scam and should be increased to $50/pax. At the very least it’s dishonest and if my memory serves me correctly it used to be $40/person in the past so when and why was this downgraded?
Fine Hotels and Resorts also advertise free wifi, yet Wynn wants to charge a $45 + tax resort fee that includes internet and other hotel services. Why should I pay double if that’s advertised as being an FHR benefit? After all the deficiencies with these “benefits”, I refused to pay for the fee and ended up talking to the hotel manager of Wynn. She agreed to waive the resort charge but I doubt in the big picture they really care because they rip off thousands of people per day this way.
To use up the $300 Wynn Black F&B credit I had dinner at SW Steakhouse and a lunch buffet the next day. SW was fantastic, the lunch buffet was nothing noteworthy and I only had it to use up the little bit of value that was left.
Conclusion
Apparently, customers are increasingly irritated by the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts benefits at the Wynn Las Vegas as the hotel isn’t interpreting the agreements as outlined. The $100 Spa credit is useless unless you’re willing to pay another $150 on top for the lowest price treatment. The “free” breakfast is actually a $30/person credit that doesn’t even cover the price of the lowest available breakfast and they charge resort fees when “free internet’ is advertised as FHR benefit (in 2022).
Quite frankly, as much as I like the Wynn they are being more than dishonest with their Amex FHR rates and associated benefits. There are way better options to book FHR rates in Las Vegas such as Crockfords or some MGM properties. I’m glad I got my stay out of the way and the Wynn Rewards credits cleared up too but I won’t return here as a hotel guest. I gladly walk in and pay at the restaurants but the Fine Hotels & Resorts rate is a total sham at Wynn Las Vegas.
