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Weekend hotel prices, holy cow!

Discussion in 'Misc. Vegas Chat' started by ref59405, Jun 17, 2021.

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  1. ref59405

    ref59405 Creepy Vegas Friend

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    I will admit, I have gotten spoiled the past few years. I am a low roller and usually can have the lower tier CET and MGM properties comped during the week, and at least half the time I was able to get some weekends comped.

    But even when I had to pay for rooms on the weekends, the prices were reasonable, averaging around $50 for places like Harrah's and Bally's.

    But now, I don't have any weekends comped and I have to start paying on most Thursdays and some Mondays. And the prices have gone through the roof. It is now between $150-$300 for Fridays and Saturdays at the lower end places, and the nicer hotels are $400-$500 on the weekends. And this is in the summer, long before we get to Raider home games.

    When I started going to Vegas it was always during the week as it was much cheaper to fly and and get hotel rooms compared to the weekends, but when weekends came down in price, many of my recent trips have been from Fri-Mon, and that was nice because it required less time off from work.

    If these weekend prices are going to stick around, it looks like I might be going back to being a Monday-Thursday kinda guy.
     
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  2. Mythcalbst

    Mythcalbst Low-Roller

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    Same here, I usually aim for mid-week for my trips. July 4th will only be my second weekend visit. First was Thanksgiving 2018. And I will be paying more than I wanted.
     
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  3. Chuck2009x

    Chuck2009x VIP Whale

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    I can understand how you might be stuck if you did not have your dates finalized until very recently, but otherwise this situation could be foreseen months ago.

    Prices will go back down once the snake has digested the mouse.
     
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  4. Mythcalbst

    Mythcalbst Low-Roller

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    Trip is for my brother's 60th birthday on July 3rd. He went back and forth over going on his birthday or waiting until September. Didn't make up his mind until the end of May. So yes, stuck, but couldn't be avoided.
     
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  5. ref59405

    ref59405 Creepy Vegas Friend

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    Awesome response, thank you. It seems like with so many people returning to Vegas that demand has pushed prices through the roof. I have 2 trips already booked for the next few months so hopefully things settle down before the next time I have to consider booking a hotel in Vegas.
     
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  6. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    Supply and demand. They will do everything they can to make up for lost revenue and they KNOW most of us will pay it.
     
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  7. Tahoejoe2

    Tahoejoe2 VIP Whale

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    Agree 100%. I booked by room two months ago for Sept (opening week NFL) and Feb. for SB weekend.
    I think it is called "planning ahead". LOL
    Price for my Sept. trip have almost doubled.
     
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  8. Running late

    Running late High-Roller

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    Our next trip is going to be long enough we'll have a weekend in there. I'm tempted to put at the start or end of the trip and move locations to save a bit. Seems like most places are through the roof Fridays and Saturdays, though.
     
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  9. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

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    Maybe check out some near strip properties like Ellis Island, Silver Sevens, Casino Royale, Circus Circus.
     
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  10. INABIAL

    INABIAL Low-Roller

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    I have the luxury of knowing months in advance when I can go, so I booked 4 trips out for the year months ago mid-COVID when resorts were giving rooms away. Rates for my dates have skyrocketed since then. Such is supply and demand. You can try using Priceline for your dates, it's luck of the draw and timing but sometimes they beat booking direct in my experience.
     
  11. epWick

    epWick Low-Roller

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    Here's my method
    1. Book your flight several months in advance when you see a low fare.
    2. Book a cheap room.
    3. Check your offers a month before your trip. Cancel your cheap room for an offer you like at your fancy place.
    3a. Or keep the cheap room for sat/sun and sleep on the Egypt cotton during the week.
    Ta-dah! Follow me for more tips.
     
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  12. Audible Nectar

    Audible Nectar High-Roller

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    We can hope, but I've got a feeling we're in a new era here.......

    I call it "The Disney Model" - a methodology that company put in years ago, and it's especially in effect for weekends, and it works like this:

    Instead of the goal being "fill all of the rooms", the goal is to get what you can get costwise for those rooms, and therefore not entice lowballers on the weekends as much.

    This means the resorts make a certain amount "per head" and don't have to pay employees to service said lowballers. Now there's some variables, and a certain amount of "fixed costs", but this appears to be what's developing.

    The pricing is more extreme at the better properties. Wanna stay at Cosmo, Wynn, or even a middle of the road but good location (more than used to be) at MGM Grand? Get your wallet out. And when you're done swallowing your tongue over the prices, the $140-300 rate at a lesser property looks relatively good - and if you wanna be in Vegas that weekend bad enough, you'll settle for it and book that room instead.

    Add to this increasing wages to attract good employees (not so bad in and of itself as I think that's good for the economy as a whole) but added to a desire to "make up for lost time" it affects Vegas room prices on weekends/when in demand more than most places.

    Now Vegas business practices are fluid and can change over time, and along with a certain "herd" mentality can shift, but this is what I see going forward. I ended up booking a four night MGM Grand weekend trip through a package provider along with tix to all of the shows and feel like I stole that stuff compared to what prices are on booking sites and what tix are on secondary markets. Geez, Louise, Vegas is really spendy for the comeback in a lot of scenarios, and it's something people should look out for moving forward.

    I'm curious what happens in say fall, when a Halloween weekend has a certain number of available rooms and where that goes last minute; that will tell "the other half" of the story. But in the runup/advance bookings, these prices are very emblematic/comparative to Disney and other corporate models that forgo "filling the bed" to taking a closer look, to coin an accounting idea, of "marginal profit" per guest at a certain spending level on a room. See also the initial reopenings post COVID, which left operators with a certain hesitancy to go too low on room rates in the aftermath.

    Weekends are gonna cost more than many are used to, even with some added expected cost increases, but it's also about making the most per head possible vs. inviting crowds that might take more employees to service them than the resort bean counters determine that to be worth.
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2021
  13. epWick

    epWick Low-Roller

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    I booked rooms for my trip and wow, you weren't kidding about weekend prices. $400-$500 per night on Fremont Street and some hotels are unavailable on those days. I'm referring to Sept 17, 18; what's going on that weekend? Forget about my tip about waiting. I took the offer I had for during the week and booked a hotel/casino off strip for sat/sun that didn't raise their prices yet. I feel good that it's reserved cause places could get booked full, or to capacity of limited staff as mentioned above. I wonder if upgrades at check in will be easier if there are unused rooms?
     
  14. Basil

    Basil VIP Whale

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    Life is Beautiful is that weekend
     
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  15. mdm4sfest

    mdm4sfest VIP Whale

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    Right before it was announced publicly, room prices jumped---instead of staying comped downtown (any other normal weekend) I booked Luxor on 4 nights comped instead---normally wouldnt care but a bulk of my friends are staying at the Nugget downtown--every single day I sign on to my BOYD account----Fri-Mon the rooms were around $300 a night (which Id never pay)---however the last two weeks they've been priced at---drumroll please----$929 a NIGTHT!!!
     
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