There are days on the Las Vegas Strip where a visitor could spend as much on fast food as they did on a hotel room.
Las Vegas has long branded itself as a value-driven destination, and that’s apparent some days when properties advertise rooms for around $20, or just over the price of a cold brew coffee and breakfast sandwich at a Starbucks on the Strip.
As the tourism destination goes into winter, many hotel/casino operators are launching special seasonal pricing to entice visitors back. Caesars Entertainment is advertising rooms at the Flamingo as low as $21 during a “winter getaway” sale. Meanwhile, select early and midweek rooms at the Rio were $28 in January and February, according to its booking website. And MGM Resorts International promoted some $20 room nights at Excalibur in January.
Hotel room pricing is dynamic, meaning it changes in response to supply and demand in the market, said Mehmet Erdem, a hospitality professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Hotels in other markets may depend heavily on room revenue, but Las Vegas resorts’ other revenue streams can fill in the gaps.
“We look at the total revenue generated per guest,” Erdem said. “Maybe a customer is paying only $18 a night plus resort fees, but then he’s dropping $1,000 at the tables.”
If you see a room being advertised at an eyebrow-raising rate, it may not reflect the total cost of the stay. Though hotels and third-party vendors advertise the starting rates, a multi-night stay may not hold at that price. Some hotels will use a low rate on the first night to entice a longer stay in a strategy that revenue managers use called fencing, Erdem said. Attribute-based pricing, where amenities and views are commodified, can also add to the bill
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