Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts vs. MGM Gold: A Tale of Two Bellagio Stays

A suite of valuable benefits on all hotel stays booked through the portal is available to both business and personal Platinum card holders. Platinum cards have access to the benefits of FHR, but consumer Platinum cards have an annual $200 statement credit towards Fine Hotels & Resorts booking.

It is possible for the statement credit to provide a free night if the nightly price is under $200. Las Vegas is an extremely popular place to burn these $200 credits due to the fact that there are multiple properties that often have rates hovering at or below $200 during off-season or mid-week periods.

There is a lot of information on the internet about the FHR benefits at Las Vegas properties. The Hyatt-M GM status merry-go-round allows MGM and Hyatt elite members to match tier status across both programs and double-dip rewards while staying at MGM properties.

It would be fun to compare the MGM Gold and Fine Hotels and Resorts properties. I booked the exact same room category through both FHR and MGM in order to see how different the stays would be.

Program Benefits of FHR and MGM

The benefits of each program should be reviewed quickly.

There are fine hotels and resorts.

• Daily breakfast for 2 (up to $30pp at the Bellagio)
• Guaranteed 4pm late check-out
• Complimentary Wi-Fi
• Unique property amenity (the Bellagio provides a $100 food & beverage credit that can be used at any MGM f&b outlet in Vegas, provided you charge it to your room at the Bellagio)
• Noon check-in when available
• Room upgrade upon arrival based on availability

MGMrewards gold

• Waived resort fees when booking direct
• Late check-out when available
• Complimentary Wi-Fi
• Room upgrade upon arrival based on availability

Dedicated check-in areas, as well as the ability to skip the lines at some food and beverage outlets, are some of the other benefits shared between the two programs. 4pm checkout is guaranteed with FHR and up to $150+ of food and beverage/ property credit is included. MGM Gold members don't have to pay the resort fee for FHR bookings.

I was curious to see how the upgrade between the two programs would be treated by the Bellagio. My expectation was that MGM members would get preferential upgrades. I was going to be surprised.

A Tale of Two Stays

Fine Hotels and Resorts

The same room category was booked for each stay. The rate booking though FHR was $179/night + tax for a grand total of $203 with the caveat that I was on the hook for additional resort fees and taxes. Not counting the resort fee, booking directly through MGM would have been $20 cheaper.

I received a surprise notice when I looked at my stay in the MGM app after I arrived in Vegas, I had been upgraded to a Fountain View Penthouse Suite. This was more than I anticipated and was a 7-category upgrade. The Fountain View Suites were selling for more than one thousand dollars.

I got a room on the 34th floor after check-in and it was amazing. It was a large room with separate dining and living areas. There was a whirlpool bath for two in the main bathroom, which was all marble. The bedroom and the living room/dining room had floor-to-ceiling windows with views over the lake. I enjoyed sitting by the windows and looking at the fountains. Within the next few days, I will post a full bottom line review.

The dining outlets were understaffed due to the amount of business they were getting. The people were pretty stressed out. The first part of my F&B credit was used at Noodles Restaurant. It took almost 45 minutes for the food to come out, but it was good and the total was $32 + tip.

I ate breakfast at Sadelle's Cafe. The bill for a single dish was $30. After working in the room and out by the pool all day, I wanted to get lunch before I flew out, but I didn't have enough money to pay for it. I went to $70 Lago, which is right on the lakeside, and had a drink and a surfboard. It's perfect. My only out of pocket costs were the tips.

I asked if the resort fee could be removed because I was an MGM Gold member. Normally Gold members have to pay the resort fee when using FHR, but the front desk agent will remove it for me as a courtesy. After the Amex credit, the total was about $32.

I have heard of mixed results when it comes to getting elite night credit and points from FHR stays, which is what you need to use in order to get the $200 Platinum credit. I only received points for uncomped f&b spending and no elite night credit. After making two requests for credit through the Hyatt concierge team, one of them finally applied an elite night to my account. Points were never given for the room.

The base-level Resort Queen was the exact same rate of $179/night + tax, with no resort fee. The FHR rate would have been more if the resort fee was included.

Even though the same number of rooms was available as my previous FHR stay, I wasn't upgraded. The agent gave me a one category upgrade to a tower room on the other side of the building from the fountain when I checked in, after I asked if there were any upgrade options.

The agent said, "oh wait just a second, I have a lot of suites open, would you like one of those?" Absolutely I would. She said that she could upgrade the Salone Suite for $150 more. She said that she could upgrade me to a Fountain View Penthouse Suite for $450. I went up to the 20th floor after I declined.

After the grandiosity of the Fountain View Suite, the room was a bit disappointing. I went to Sadelle's for breakfast the next day and paid the same $30 plus tip I paid the previous day. After asking out of curiosity, the front desk told me I could get it extended by an hour.

Both MGM rewards and Hyatt points were posted immediately after the stay.

I was surprised that the fine hotels and resorts stay at the Bellagio was better than the MGM Gold stay. When booking through FHR, I got a better upgrade, and the resort fee was not charged. I don't think the resort fee will be waiving every time. The difference in the nightly rate between the two programs I booked was due to the cost of breakfast. The benefits seem to outweigh the cost even if I had to pay a fee.

I think that not every FHR stay is getting an upgrade of that magnitude, as I have seen a greater variation between the FHR rate and the MGM rate. I don't know if that affected anything. The suite upgrade was not on the table for the MGM Gold/ Globalist direct booking, but I was on an FHR stay. I don't gamble a lot and people who do get better treatment when booking directly. When using FHR, it seems like this dies off a bit.

It can be difficult to get the elite night credit and points to post if you have to prepayment. The FHR stays that are paid at the property are treated differently by both Hyatt and MGM than the FHR stays that are made as an online travel agency. It is a pain in the butt to be able to get credit in the end.

Even if I knew I had to pay a resort fee and wouldn't get elite credit, I wouldn't book directly at the Bellagio again. The more enjoyable stay was achieved by the small difference in price.