I was in Las Vegas a few years ago staying at the Palms with a friend. Days before the trip, another friend told me about “the $20 trick“, which is basically a method of tipping the front desk person $20 upon check-in to receive complimentary benefits.

He had done this several times in the past, at several different Vegas hotels and received room upgrades.

He advised me that upon check-in, when asked for your ID and credit card, fold a $20 between the ID and credit card, with the top of the $20 popping out so it’s clear that it’s a $20… and when handing to the person, say “do you have any complimentary upgrades?”

So when I approached the check-in desk and was asked for my ID and credit card, I did just that.

As I handed it to her, the $20 disappeared and she said “let me see what I can do for you.”

I ended up receiving a room upgrade to their new tower (a room twice as expensive as the one I had reserved), as well as free access and line passes to everything the hotel had to offer.

The next day I learned that the room at the end of our hallway was the Hugh Hefner suite. I googled “hugh hefner suite” on my phone and came to learn that it cost $10,000,000 to build, and is the second most expensive hotel room in the world at $40,000 per night.

$40,000 a night! Insane.

What does $40,000 a night get you? I wanted to find out… first hand.

Idea #1: Bribe a maid (yes, seriously)

In what was seemingly perfect timing, a maid was cleaning a room right next to the entrance of the suite. I went up to her with a $100 bill in hand. I held it up and said “I was wondering if you could let my friend and I take a walk through the Hugh Hefner suite?”

I thought, who’s going to turn down $100 to let us take a 5 minute tour. $100 was worth the experience to me.

Her response, “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

She went on to say we could knock on the door. There may be someone in the suite who would let us take a look. So I rang the door bell. Moments later, I heard footsteps walking towards the door. Not knowing what to expect, the door opens.

It was a facilities person doing maintenance.

I presented him with the same offer… and was shot down again.

“What is going on?” I’m thinking. How are people walking away from the easiest $100 they will ever make? Obviously the Palms has some strict policies that would have put their jobs in jeopardy.

After two failed attempts to access the suite, I was a bit shocked but not fazed.

I was getting in that suite.

I decided to take a different more direct approach.

I went back to my room, turned on my laptop, bought a domain name for $8, and put up a one page “launching soon” website.

I then called the main number of the hotel and requested to speak with someone regarding reserving the Hugh Hefner suite. After a couple phone transfers, I reached the right person. I informed her I was staying at the property and was contemplating different locations for my company’s launch party.

We had a brief conversation, which included my request to take a walk through of the suite. A few minutes later there was at a knock at the door. She was there to escort my friend and I to view the suite.

Success!

Thank goodness for the room upgrade, as it would have been a bit strange asking her about a $40,000 suite when I’m staying in the cheapest hotel room they offer! :P

The suite… incredible.

I could write a whole post about the details but a quick summary… it was two floors, glass elevator, multiple bedrooms, multiple bathrooms (huge tubs, giant showers), a bar, a gym, a theater, a massage room, a poker table, and more… but my favorite part was the pool that stuck out off the hotel.

It was an awesome experience.

I wanted to share this story to say… anything you want is attainable.

It’s up to you to be resourceful and relentless to get it.

You can’t be scared of failure. You will fail! Likely over and over again, and likely with greater frequency the greater your goal.

But those failures refine you, they sharpen you, so that with each future attempt, the likelihood of you reaching your goal grows.

No one is going to hand you anything. You have to go after it.

Be hungry, create your own path, and remember, “no” is not an option.