Room rates skyrocket with stacked calendar of events
Southern Nevada’s resorts are expecting plenty of guests this weekend as the region welcomes a stacked calendar of special events happening on and near the Strip.
Last-minute travelers, on average, should expect to pay more than $600 per night at properties on and near the Strip.
Hotels and motels are preparing for a surge of tourists for the When We Were Young festival — a three-day music jubilee on Saturday, Sunday and Oct. 29 — at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. A spokesperson for When We Were Young estimated that 60,000 attendees will be at the inaugural punk and emo festival, bringing bands from the early 2000s.
The highly-anticipated festival sold out quickly when tickets were released in January — though resale tickets are still available. It garnered attention for its all-star lineup that includes headliners My Chemical Romance and Paramore. Other performances include Avril Lavigne, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Pierce the Veil and A Day to Remember.
Meanwhile, Panic! At the Disco will be performing at T-Mobile Arena on Friday night.
Sports fans will also be in town. The Golden Knights are facing off against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, and the Las Vegas Raiders welcome the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon, following a weekend off for the home team’s bye week.
Other weekend events planned are the Las Vegas Book Festival in downtown Las Vegas, Las Vegas Tattoo Show at Planet Hollywood Resort and Lionel Richie who will be performing Friday and Saturday at Wynn Las Vegas for his show “Lionel Richie: Back to Las Vegas.”
Room rates
A survey of room rates listed on hotels.com conducted Thursday afternoon showed the average rate among 28 hotel-resort properties around the Las Vegas Strip was $646.14 a night, for a two-night stay starting Friday.
Rates can fluctuate up to Friday.
Some of the highest rates were seen at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, $740 a night; Caesars Palace, $749; Delano Las Vegas, $929; Wynn Las Vegas and Encore, $1,034 each; and $1,099 for a room at Four Seasons.
No hotel-resort properties listed on hotels.com were offering two-night stays for less than $350 per night, according to the search. The lowest rate offered was $374 at The Venetian.
The average daily room rate for the month of October 2021 was $184.65, according to research from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. That month included another music festival, the Electric Daisy Carnival that was rescheduled to the fall because of the pandemic. October 2019’s average daily room rate was $146.50.
Stakeholders in the tourism industry say the weekend’s stacked schedule is indicative of the strength and diversity of Las Vegas’ event calendar.
Virginia Valentine, president of the Nevada Resorts Association, said events are what make Vegas such a strong international tourist destination.
“The investments the tourism industry has made into building a robust and diversified special events calendar as well as the infrastructure to host these activities is keeping demand strong which is reflected in the room rates and occupancy levels,” Valentine said in a statement. “Given all the vital community needs the room tax pays for, such as public schools, transportation and roads, the stadium and programs to keep visitors coming, that’s good news for everyone in Southern Nevada.”
McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.
