Finding a cheap hotel room in Las Vegas isn't as easy as you might think. Many travelers hear how keen the hotels are to get you gambling in their casinos, so keen that they offer Vegas visitors bargain rates on rooms and meals that cost next to nothing. Well, the meals are there, but first you have to find that inexpensive Las Vegas hotel. And you know what? It's not as easy as all that..
At the present count there are almost 150,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas, although it's hard to keep tally. When the last new resort hotel opened, the rather splendid Wynn Las Vegas, it added 4000 rooms to the growing total. Tycoon Steve Wynn isn't stopping there, as he now plans a resort called Encore, with another 2000 rooms. Then there's the new wing of The Venetian, due to open late 2007 and containing another 3000 hotel rooms. Topping them all, a project called Echelon Place is set to open in 2010 with a massive 5300 rooms.
So, you say, how can there not be empty Vegas hotel rooms available for me to book at bargain prices? Well, for one thing, Vegas hotels run at an average 90% capacity all year round. Hotels anywhere in the world would kill to be able to sell 9 out of every 10 rooms, every day of the year. More people want to go to Vegas than there are rooms to accommodate them. And it shows no signs of slowing down.
Las Vegas is also the Convention centre of the world. Its huge hotels can cope with the demands of convention organisers, who might want to bring several thousand people to town for the same few days, and if possible have them all stay at the same hotel. Vegas can do this, and it leaves very few rooms left over for regular guests.
So what do you do? Stay home? No, the savvy Vegas traveler just needs to know a few secrets of how to play the game and find a cheap hotel. After all, if you can't even get a deal on a Vegas hotel room, how will you survive the casinos and slot machines?
- Search online both directly on the hotel websites, and on the hotel and holiday booking websites. Sometimes hotels have deals for direct bookings that they don't pass on to the agencies.
- Vary your dates. If your travel dates aren't set in stone, search all the hotels for different dates. If the first dates you try just happen to coincide with a convention, there won't be any bargains. The following week, the hotel may have some offers.
- Midweek is cheaper than weekends.
- After checking online, if you've found a hotel rate you like, ring the hotel direct and ask them their price. They might quote you lower than the online price, if you strike lucky. If they quote you higher than the online price – tell them. Ask them if they can't do better than the online price. The person you're talking to should have the power to cut you a deal, but be friendly, and ask if there are better rates on other dates or if there are cheaper rooms available. Sometimes they'll give you the same room but at a cheaper price, in order to make the booking.
- Start high. Even 5-star hotels sometimes offer 3-star prices, so don't assume you can't afford the best places. Having said that, there are sometimes only shades of differences between the rooms. A superior room in a 4-star can be better than a more expensive standard room in a 5-star.
- After checking the online prices, ring the hotel direct. The toll-free numbers for hotel chains usually connect you to a central reservation service. They can never be as flexible or as knowledgeable as the clerk on the hotel desk.
- Finally, if you're going to Vegas to get married, don't be a cheapskate! But read my piece about Las Vegas Weddings by clicking here.
