In its discussions with J.P. Morgan analysts, MGM Mirage has regularly been boasting that Aria’s room rates are running higher (very, very slightly higher) than Bellagio. Being a skeptical fellow by nature, my instinct was that Aria was being propped up through the end of the year for the sake of prestige.
Sho’ nuff. I just got an e-mail blast offering Aria rooms at the official $159 price — but with a $75 resort credit thrown in. Since it’s predicated on a two-night stay, we’re talking about a $122.50/night room here. The supposedly more exclusive Vdara is proffering a $50 credit on a $149/night rate (or an adjusted $124/night). Those “sweeteners” are still small enough, however, to keep Vdara and Aria in the top five of LVA‘s new room-rate survey, below (in ascending order) Four Seasons, Venetian and Wynn Las Vegas. (MGM has yet to run a promotional special for Bellagio.)
Room-rate exuberance, though, returns unabated for New Year’s Eve. For single-night rates, Bellagio and Aria top the list at $599 apiece. The California Hotel‘s $300 for three nights may be the best deal out there, while the Four Queens is going to find its holiday ADR ($134/night, for a two-night stay) seriously diluted by having to take in customers from the soon-to-be-shuttered Binion’s Gambling Hall hotel ($77 night, same terms). Even the Ellis Island Super 8 ($155/night) and the forlorn Greek Isles ($159/night) are getting caught up in the frenzy. And is it really worth saving 50 cents a night to stay at Hooters ($327/two nights) instead of the Tropicana?
Where the elite meet.
The Columbia Sussex people continue their delusional ways, charging a holiday rate of $368/night at the oh-so-exclusive Westin Casuarina. That’s more than The Palms or Vdara … and exceeded only by Palazzo, the Venetian, The Mirage, Aria and Bellagio. It must be nice to live in the ColSux world, where you can just pull room rates out of your ass, seems like.
However … the hotels at the top of the food chain might take warning by looking at which properties were switching on the “No Vacancy” light, as of Nov. 23. They’re mostly downtown (Fremont Hotel, El Cortez, the Plaza, Main Street Station, the Vegas Club) or out in the sticks (Buffalo Bill’s, Primm Valley Resort, Whiskey Pete’s, the Railroad Pass). Exceptions include two of the nicest properties in the “locals” belt: Green Valley Ranch and the Silverton, and just a handful of Strip hotels — Mandarin Oriental (only 392 rooms), the Four Seasons (also small) and the Flamingo.
Dare one suggest that it’s not too soon to start repricing downwards? Because at this point the only companies guaranteed a happy new year are Boyd Gaming and woebegone Herbst Gaming. Who’da thunk it?
Viva Elvis postponed. I failed to note earlier that Cirque du Soleil‘s new show is not only not making its scheduled Dec. 16 date, it’s not even starting previews until two days later. Since those run through 1/28/10, you won’t be seeing reviews of the newest Cirquetacular until February, most likely.
How can a show that was literally years in the making miss its opening by six weeks? Can you say “fixations”? I thought you could. Mind you, that’s not stopping Cirque from hitting you up for $87 a preview. As I’ve said before, if you’re going to be subjected to a work in progress, you ought to be given a “price in progress” — like an additional 50% off. Seems only fair.
Any idea what a hypothetical hotel stay is worth in winnings on the hotel casino floor? I’m sure that information is closely held but it would be interesting to know the range.
Also, I think air service cutbacks are a bigger threat to Las Vegas than hotel price wars.
That’s a question for the great Anthony Curtis or perhaps the “Wizard of Odds,” Mike Shackleford.
You are right, though, about the air-service cutbacks. Drive-in traffic is up but those visitors tend to spend less and — as you can see from the New Year’s Eve hotel situation — rooms in the Vegas area are filling “from the bottom up,” as it were. When people would rather stay at Whiskey F. Pete’s than Sam’s Town ($140/night) or even Arizona Charlie’s Boulder ($100), you *know* that purse strings are tight.
At $150/night, posh Red Rock Resort *almost* got an S&G recommendation as a New Year’s bargain … then I remembered the onerous “resort fees” and thought better of it. Shame on you, Station.
If one wants to stay at a new locals casino, Eastside Cannery starts at $130/night and there are some pretty good views from its tower.
Hey, careful when you slam those Cirque previews. Personally speaking, I saw KA when it was in previews and the show was incredible compared to the much tamer, more dumbed down version (seriously, narration?) that I saw years later.
My girlfriend refuses to see “O” anymore, saying it’s a neutered version of the original show. Could it be an MGM thing … ?
Doesn’t Aria look wonderful without the Cosmopolitan making every profile shot hideous?
It didn’t get a lot of play and was only available for a short time, but the Trop I thought had a nice email blast for NYE. About 2 weeks ago, I got an offer for 2 nights at $250 total, either night before or night after New Years, which included a NYE party with open bar and food. The kicker to it, was if you booked with 48 hours of the blast, it was only $140 total. For that price, I seriously considered getting plane tickets and trying to talk the wife into going out to Vegas for NYE. We didn’t though, but at the very least ColSux should be taking a lesson from the new owners of the Trop in regards to the Westin.