For all of you out there who have wanted to go to Las Vegas for New Year's Eve but haven't been able to afford the sky-high prices that the hotels usually charge, there's some good news. While the recession may be putting a crimp in your style, it's also putting a crimp in hotel prices even for the busiest night of the year in Vegas.
Now, that's not to say that things are actually cheap. Rates at the hotels I checked are higher than normal but, in most cases, not significantly higher.
I checked about three dozen hotels in Las Vegas – not every hotel, but a good cross section of cheap to expensive, Strip to Downtown to neighborhood places. I looked at what I figured would be the typical stay – four nights checking in on Wednesday, December 30 and checking out on Sunday, January 2. So keep in mind that if you chop a day off on one end or another, the prices I have listed will be chopped accordingly. However, note that prices are different for each of the four days, with the highest rates on the 31st and 1st, so if you cut out the 30th or the 2nd, you might not be dropping the total bill by all that much.
I also took the lowest rate available, which means the most basic of room at each individual hotel. If you want something nicer or bigger, you'll pay more.
Lastly, please note that these are just the rates and don't include things like taxes, resort fees, booking fees, or anything else that will push these numbers higher.
Averaging less than $200 per night, the hotels with best on The Strip include Imperial Palace at $570 for the four nights; Stratosphere running about equal at $574; Excalibur just above it at $594; Luxor moving up the scale to $695; and then Ballys, Flamingo, Rio, and Monte Carlo all coming in within a buck or two of $790 for the four nights.
Get off The Strip and you can get even cheaper rooms. The Gold Coast is offering the four nights for $496; Sam's Town is at $535; Suncoast a couple of bucks more at $450; Orleans at $580; Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas at $616; and Red Rock Resort at $780.
Moving up a step to the hotels that are keeping you under $250 a night you have Strip hotels like Treasure Island at $816; Planet Hollywood at $857: Mandalay Bay at $870; Harrah's at $875; and MGM Grand and New York-New York both coming in at $960.
Off The Strip in this price range you'll find Green Valley Ranch at $810 for the four nights.
Then we get into the category that we'll call expensive to outrageous. These include Paris Las Vegas at $1020 for the four nights; Caesars Palace at $1175 for their really, really basic room; the new Aria at CityCenter at $1200 for four nights; Venetian and Palazzo both at $1276; Bellagio at $1400; and Wynn Las Vegas at $1450. The most expensive hotel I could find was Encore Las Vegas, which is offering the four nights at an average of $454 per night, or over $1800 total.
Many of the Downtown hotels are showing rooms as being sold out for at least one night during the period I checked. This includes Main Street Station, The California, and The Fremont.
Also showing a no vacancy sign is the new M Resort on the south side of town.
Many hotels are putting restrictions on December 31 check-ins and/or requiring a two-night minimum stay.
So the big question is, book now or wait? As I said there are some pretty good rates here. $870 for four nights at Mandalay Bay is a great deal. Ditto the $816 at Treasure Island.
But my gut is telling me that room rates will come down as we get closer to the holiday. I think if you wait until next month you'll probably see some softening in prices.
However, for those who like to play it safe, you can always book one of these rates provided they allow you to cancel the reservation with no penalty. Once you have your room secured, keep checking the rates and if you find a better one and the hotel you booked or another, simply cancel your existing reservation and make a new one.
The best way to book these days is through the website of each individual hotel. You can get there by clicking on the hotel name in the paragraphs above, which will take you to the Vegas4Visitors.com page and then click on the “website” link just under the hotel's street address and phone number.
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