For what it's worth, here's a little new, firsthand, info. I received a call from the host I have dealt with at the Venetian/Palazzo for the past couple of years just this morning. He was calling to see when I would like to book my next comped stay and he explained a little bit about the free room issue. I AM still being offered free rooms, just no upfront freeplay or meals/shows, (other than what I have earned in my account already). Anything like that would be based on a review of my play during my stay. FYI - my online Grazie account does not show any offers, but he is still able to offer me the free stays.
When I mentioned the issues a couple folks here had described he did not deny that had happened. However, he indicated that they had been reviewing the 2010 play for those who were getting comps and were indeed cutting it off if the play didn't meet expected levels on a case by case basis. He could not tell me what those levels were, nor could he explain why the last minute notice of the change to the comped rooms for some.
My own play actually reached "gold" level during my last visit of 2010 - that's the first time I've EVER reached anything other than bottom feeder level at ANY casino in several decades of visiting Vegas, since I am a pretty low roller! I just barely made the cut for Gold, but that was due to a couple more trips than usual, and a few exceptional wins for me during some of those visits - leading to more cash to play with than I would normally have. So for 2011 I will hold a gold card with them, although I doubt it will happen again for 2012 as I won't be able to get to Vegas as often this year! FYI - according to my Win/Loss statement I experienced a "loss" at their properties last year - a whopping $187! For that I stayed in their hotels for a total of 28 comped nights in 2010, as well as 4 more just this January.
So I'm willing to book my next comp stay with them, probably for April, and we'll see how it goes. I travel to Vegas with a fairly small gambling budget, but I can always afford to cover my rooms if that issue does crop up. That's just something I've always gone prepared for since I first started getting offers for free rooms from Vegas & Reno properties many years ago, since the small print always seemed to suggest to me that they could rescind those offers at any time. So I've always gone prepared for that possibility. It's never happened to me yet, and I'll remain optimistic that it stays that way.
