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Las Vegas Hotel-Casinos Slash New Year's Eve Rates, Offer Rebates

by Gary Thompson

Strip hotel-casinos have slashed New Year's Eve room rates as much as 78 percent in an effort to lure travel-wary millennium visitors to Las Vegas.

And many Las Vegas hotel-casinos are quietly giving rebates to customers who, fearful of getting shut out of millennium celebrations, booked New Year's Eve rooms early at sky-high prices.

But if you're one of those eager to take advantage of the sharp drop in prices over the past several months, you've got to ask.

"They don't like this being broadcast, but everything we've see so far indicates it's nearly unanimous -- if you ask for a rebate, you'll get it," says Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter.

Curtis says one reader wrote him a note saying, "Thanks, you saved me $2,400." That's the difference between the early booking price for a room at a major Strip hotel and the current rate, which the casino granted when the customer requested it.

Curtis has been tracking room rates for years and says hotel-casinos have cut prices drastically after anticipated strong demand for New Year's Eve failed to materialize.

As late as August, many Strip operators were quoting room prices three to four times the normal elevated rates for a New Year's stay. But customers balked at the rates, forcing hotel-casinos to lower prices or face the grim prospect of thousands of empty rooms on what's traditionally the biggest and most profitable weekend of the year.

"There's been little price movement recently, and it appears that room rates overall will settle in at about twice the normal weekend rates," says Curtis.

Weekend rates for free and independent travelers (FITs) -- who pay higher room prices than tour and travel and convention package visitors -- averaged about $200 a night in early November and have slipped to a little more than $150 a night through the first three weeks of December, a traditionally slow period.

"The biggest price cuts we're seeing now are in tickets for parties and entertainment," Curtis says.

Mirage Resorts is still maintaining a $2,000-per-night price tag for rooms at its high-end Bellagio on the Strip and charging $500 a night for three nights beginning Dec. 30 at its Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas.

But the Mirage hotel-casino has cut prices for a three-night stay beginning Dec. 30 to $957 from $1,499 just a few weeks ago. Treasure Island's three-night package has been trimmed to $718 from $1,599.

A Mandalay Resort Group executive says some of that company's customers have called to rebook rooms at lower rates. Mandalay Resort Group has about 19,000 Strip rooms, the most of any company in Las Vegas.

The company's flagship Mandalay Bay resort is offering three-night packages beginning Dec. 30 for $349 a night, down from $599 a month ago.

Mandalay's Luxor has cut prices to $269 a night for a two-night minimum stay from $650 a night, while Circus Circus is offering rooms at $199 a night, down from $279.

Park Place Entertainment's Bally's Las Vegas is offering a three-night package for $457, down from $1,314 a month ago. The adjoining Paris Las Vegas -- the Strip's newest megaresort -- has slashed prices to $129 for Dec. 30, $309 for Dec. 31 and $109 for Jan. 1 from $599 per night.

In August, Caesars Palace was quoting New Year's room rates at $2,500 a night. A month ago, it was asking $2,000. Today, the hotel-casino is charging $450, $500 and $450 for a room booked for the three nights beginning Dec. 30.

The 5,000-room MGM Grand is offering rooms at $399 a night, down from $900 to $1,100 a month ago. Across the street, MGM's sister casino New York-New York is sold out for New Year's Eve.

The Venetian has trimmed its three-night minimum rate to $399 a night from $699.

One of the biggest price drops is at the Rio, which is offering a three-night stay beginning Dec. 30 for $900, down from $4,000 a month ago. The Rio is owned by Harrah's Entertainment, whose Harrah's Las Vegas hotel-casino on the Strip has cut its three-night package to $697 from $1,298.

Off the Strip, the Gold Coast has rooms available for $149 a night Dec. 30 and 31; it was offering a three-night package for $899 a month ago. The Orleans has three nights available beginning Dec. 30 for $567, down from $1,499.

Sunset Station in Henderson has three-night packages for $499, down from $850 a month ago. Texas Station at the north end of the valley is offering three nights for a total of $499, down from $750.

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