Travel Tips

Travel Tuesday: The Palazzo at The Venetian Hotel Review (Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts)

by Kyle BurbankDec 31, 2024

It was sometime in October when I realized that I had yet to redeem the annual $200 Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts credit that comes on my American Express Platinum Card. Since this credit is based on a calendar year, I would need to act relatively fast if I wanted to make use of it. Luckily for me, I did have a visit to Las Vegas planned for early November — and had an extra night on my itinerary for which I didn’t have a room reservation. So, after checking out FHR, I decided to book a stay at The Palazzo. After all, while I’ve now spent the night at several hotels up and down the Strip, I have yet to stay in a room at The Venetian Resort.

With that back story out of the way, how was my Palazzo stay — and is it a good Fine Hotels & Resorts option? Let’s dive into my review.

The Palazzo at the Venetian – Luxury King Suite Review

Booking Palazzo via Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts

When I went to look at Vegas FHR options, I was a bit surprised to see that The Palazzo was available for $203 to $220 per night. That was perfect since my credit was for $200. However, as I learned, that price wasn’t exactly what I thought it was in terms of using my credit.

While I certainly appreciate that Amex quoted the full rate inclusive of the resort fee, the downside is that this meant I wouldn’t actually quite be using my full $200 credit. Instead, the Amex Travel charge (which was then credited to my Platinum) was $171.43, with $56.69 being paid at the hotel. As you’d expect, this resort fee payment did not trigger the rest of my credit.

Of course, The Palazzo can also be booked on other third party sites or on the Venetian website.

Location

In my mind (I’m sure locals and other fans would have their own takes), the Venetian is the start of the North Strip. Palazzo is even slightly further north, sitting on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue. This puts you in close proximity to the Wynn and Encore across Sands, as well as Treasure Island on the other side of LVB. But more importantly, it places you catty-corner to Fashion Show Mall. That’s key for those looking to save money as the food court in Fashion Show is relatively affordable compared to other Strip options.

Again, with Resorts World and Fountainbleu still being quite a hike from Palazzo, it’s not the North North Strip, so let’s call it North Central. Whatever you want to dub it, it’s pretty prime. That’s especially true if you plan to visit The Sphere, which can even be accessed by walking through the Palazzo.

Checking-in

Initially, I intended on weaving my way up the Strip from my previous room at NoMad to The Palazzo. Instead, I was able to get a ride from a friend who was then able to drop me off at the Palazzo porte-cochere. From there, it was a short walk to the Palazzo lobby. On that note, this check-in is separate from the Venetian, so make sure you go to the right one.

Since I booked with Fine Hotels & Resorts, I was presented with a letter at check-in. This detailed the perks I was entitled to, the restaurants where I could use my $100 dining credit and the other options I could use for the $60 per day breakfast credit. Although these types of letters are standard when it comes to FHR, I always appreciate having them so I can ensure I’m able to use my credit correctly. It’s particularly helpful at a large property like Venetian/Palazzo where there are tons of options to sift through.

When checking in, I was offered the opportunity to pay for an upgrade to a larger suite. Unforunatley, while the price sounded reasonable enough (a couple hundred dollars), I figured it didn’t make sense to turn a free room into one that cost me money. Nevertheless, I did get an upgrade of sorts as they moved me to a higher room and switched me to a Strip View room — which was actually pretty cool.

Elevators

To get to The Palazzo elevators, you’ll cross the casino from the lobby. As you approach, you may be asked to tap your room key to one of the scanners to confirm that you are indeed a guest of the hotel. Then, like with many Vegas hotels, you’ll need to find the bank that serves your floor.

Normally I’d have a comment on how sufficient and efficient the elevators were. However, seeing as I was only at Palazzo for one night and used the elevators a total of four times (twice up, twice down), I can’t really offer an assessment. That said, they seemed to be just fine based on my visit — although that was also on a slow Sunday night.

The room

Even though I saw photos of the room type before booking it, I was still pretty shocked by the size of it when I first stepped in. Not only was the bed area itself fairly large but the living space was just as big if not bigger.

In addition to the bed, there are several sitting chairs, a table, a desk, and a full sized sofa in the room. There were also two TVs (one in front of the bed and the other in the living room). Since the room is so big, it’s also nice that the shades were controlled via buttons on the wall.

Speaking of the windows, my view included the Venetian tower, the High Roller, and, sadly, the now-closed Mirage. As a result, I loved just standing in front of the window for a bit and watching the lights of the Strip. It was definitely enjoyable.

Heading to the bathroom, there was a tub, standing shower, a stool and vanity (presumably for doing your makeup), and a separate toilet room. Although I wasn’t blown away by the bathroom decor, I did think it was nice. Plus, the shower worked well and the provided amenities smelled lovely.

This may be TMI, but I need to give credit to the Palazzo for being the first hotel I’ve ever stayed at that had decent toilet paper! A roll of Charmin was on the hook when I arrived (as I determined thanks to the slightly wavy perforation pattern of the paper). That said, there was a wrapped roll that didn’t seem to be the same one so I’m not 100% sure this is the standard. But, if it is, major kudos to Venetian.

My only complaint about the room involves the available bedside power — or lack thereof. Since it was just me, it wasn’t a big deal to plug my computer into an outlet on the adjacent wall and run my other charging cables through there. However, if I were with my wife, we’d definitely have been annoyed by how few charging options there within reach of our sides of the bed.

Actually, on the topic of power, I do have a word of warning about these rooms. When you walk in, there’s a master power switch. This is pretty convenient as it turns off all of the lights in the room at once. However, if you use this switch to shut things down before going to bed, you may be dismayed in the middle of night when the bathroom lights won’t turn on. On top of that, turning the master switch back on will restore the lights to how they were beforehand and will also make a fairly loud noise as the power comes back on. In other words, plan ahead or risk facing the late night wrath of your roommate.

Other than that, I loved my room at Palazzo. In a perfect world, I’d have had more time here as it would have been perfect for working and hanging out. Nevertheless, it was still nice to have for my single-night stay.

Dining (and using my credit)

As I mentioned, there are plenty of places for Amex Fine Hotel & Resort guests to use their $100 dining credit at Palazzo. In each case, you’ll just need to be sure to charge the bill to the room and it will be removed later. Here’s the list as of November 2024:

Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer
BRERA osteria
Buddy V’s Ristorante
Casino and Pool Bars
CUT by Wolfgang Puck
Electra Cocktail Club
Estiatorio Milos
HaSalon
Juliet Cocktail Room

Matteo’s Ristorante Italiano
Miznon
Mott 32
Rosina Cocktail Lounge
Sala 118
WAKUNDA
Yahoo Sportsbook Bar
Yardbird

In addition to the $100 per stay dining credit, FHR also includes a $65 per day breakfast credit. Note that this is $5 more than the normal $60 — and explaining why gets complicated but, basically, Palazza adds $5 to this credit whereas other properties subtract $5 from the resort fee. Anyway, here’s where that credit can be used (as of November 2024):

Bouchon
Bouchon Bakery
CAPRI Pool Restaurant & Bar
Grand Lux Cafe in The Palazzo

In-Suite Dining
Spritz Restaurant & Bar
Starbucks

After looking over some menus on the Venetian site — and ruling out places I’ve already eaten at multiple times such as Buddy V’s — I decided to try Estiatorio Milos, located in Restaurant Row. While I initially asked if they had a table for one, I elected to eat at the (near-empty at the time) bar instead.

As for what I ordered, I went for the lamb chops, which were served with fries. To my surprise, the restaurant even stocked one of my favorite NA beers: Claushauler Original. So, I ordered one of those to go with my dish. The entire meal was delicious — and the tab came in at just under $100. Just as a reminder, gratuity is not covered by your dining credit.

Alas, since I had a super early flight, I was unable to take advantage of the breakfast credit. For what it’s worth, when I mentioned this at check-in, the front desk agent said I could even charge room service at 2 or 3 a.m. and it would apply. While that’s a novel idea, I didn’t want to wake up in the middle of the night just to eat food I didn’t need. Had I stayed later, though, you can bet I would have found a way to hit that lobby Starbucks hard.

If the list of FHR credit restaurants weren’t long enough, there are still plenty of other dining options to be found between Venetian and Palazzo. Plus, as I noted earlier, the Fashion Show Mall isn’t far if you’re in need of some affordable quick service options.

Checking out

Before leaving, I did pull up the folio on the TV and, sure enough, the only charge from Estiatorio Milos was for the tip. With that, I completed the checkout via the television and made my way to the cab stand for my early flight.

Final Thoughts on The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort

Based on my stay, I think the Palazzo at the Venetian Resort is a tremendous Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts value. In fact, I wish I had longer to stay as I definitely would have taken advantage of it (although the $100 dining credit is per stay and not per day like the breakfast credit. There are some lower-priced options I could have gone for in order to stretch that to a couple of meals). Not only was the room huge but the view was great, the location was solid, and the property itself is beautiful.

Of course, room rates in Vegas can vary wildly depending on what’s happening. With that in mind, I’m guessing that my Sunday stay was on the lower end of what you might see. That’s my way of saying that, while it was a great pick and price for me this time, it may or may not be a fit for your visit.

Overall, though, I was really impressed with The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort and would absolutely consider staying there again — even without a $200 Fine Hotels & Resorts credit to use.

Per FTC guidelines, this website may be compensated by companies mentioned through advertising, affiliate programs or otherwise. (Note: advertising relationships do not have any influence on editorial content. Advertising compensation allows Money@30 to provide quality content for free. All editorial opinions are those of Kyle Burbank.)

Author

Kyle Burbank

Founder ~ Moneyat30

Kyle is a freelance writer - including being the head writer for Fioney.com. He also serves as editorial director for the Disney fan site LaughingPlace.com and the founder of Money@30.com. In 2015, Kyle and his wife Bekah moved from Los Angeles to Springfield MO in pursuit of greater financial freedom. Together, the pair enjoy travel, coffee, and spending time with their dog Rigby. Additionally, as of 2023, they become first-time homeowners.