First, I have no idea where these rates that are being freely tossed around are coming from. A check of the Riviera website shows reservations being accepted through April '04. The convention is in June! The rate quoted on line for a Wed-Sun stay in March is $124.00 per night, for a standard king room.

A telephone call to the Riviera reservations brought back a quote of $84.00 per night, Wed-Sun during the Convention dates! Of course this was after the clerk asked that infamous question, "Is this for a convention or meeting?" I said no. If I would had said yes, I can assure you the rate would have been different. In most cases, it would be higher. Why? Because the hotels know that people attending a convention, especially one not on their property, spend the vast majority of their time at the convention and/or associated events. They don't hang out in the casino, the hotel food outlets or necessarily attend the hotel shows!

It's the reason you see the disclaimer on EVERY advertised room special in Vegas! $49 a night, "excludes conventions, special events and holiday periods." Without a long winded explaination, COMDEX caused this change back in the mid to late 80's.

Check the archives here and on the Club BB to see MANY posts from officers and convention chairmen about this issue. We have this discussion every year!

And Bob, no the Club gets no money out of the room rate charged to members. It's the number of room nights that we book with the host hotel, that allows us leverage to negotiate for the convention space, the meeting rooms, the banquet prices and other services we need from the hotel to be able to produce the convention.

I'm sure I'll be back later with some more on this topic.