LAS VEGAS CES HOTEL RATES VARY WIDELY, OUR SURVEY FINDS
Is CES badge ticket to Las Vegas hotel bargain or guarantee of paying top dollar for room selling at rockbottom rates to general public? Answers go all over map, according to our informal poll of online reservations sites for popular Las Vegas destinations.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
At sites for each of 9 Las Vegas hotels we surveyed -- Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, Flamingo, Las Vegas Hilton, Luxor, MGM Grand, Mirage, Paris, Treasure Island -- we sought room availability and rate quotes for one adult arriving Sat., Jan. 5 and departing Fri., Jan. 11. We then compared quotes with those in housing reservation “grid” downloaded Dec. 28 from CESweb.org site. Rooms for CES attendees are booked through CEA’s Las Vegas-based housing contractor, Housing, Reservation & Travel (HRT). Dates were chosen because Jan. 5 is first on HRT grid (which extends to Sat., Jan. 12), and Jan. 11 is final day of CES. Week before show’s opening, survey found wide availability of rooms at hotels we polled, and at rates that in some cases differed significantly from those quoted for same hotels if booked through HRT. We were awaiting comment on our findings from CEA officials at our deadline.
Only 2 hotels we polled Dec. 30 and 31 -- Las Vegas Hilton and Caesar’s Palace -- showed no room availability at all for any of 6 nights for which we sought reservations, and only for first 2 nights of CES, Jan. 8 and 9. Biggest disparity between CES rates and those for general public were at Las Vegas Hilton, which generally commands highest rates during show dates because of its close proximity to Las Vegas Convention Center, and this year’s show is no exception. HRT quotes consistent nightly rate of $245 at Hilton for each of 8 nights on grid. But for member of general public not attending CES, rooms at Hilton could be had for as low as $49 Jan. 5. Rate there climbs to $199 for Jan. 6, then falls again to $159 for Jan. 7. Hotel was listed as sold out for Jan. 8 and 9, but rooms were available for night of Jan. 10 at $65.
Similar but less significant disparities were found at other hotels. At Luxor, room booked through HRT would cost showgoer premium of at least $20-$30 per night compared with rate quoted for general public on same dates. At Paris, nightly rates quoted for public fluctuated widely for the 6 dates, but on only one night, Jan. 8, did rates favor CES attendee, $204 vs. $220 for someone off street reserving room.
However, not all comparisons favored general public. Flamingo, for example, wasn’t accepting Jan. 5 arrivals, as is common Las Vegas practice for Sat. nights. For Sun., Jan. 6, CES attendees were being assessed $159 nightly rate compared with $55 for general public, but reverse was true Jan. 7, when CES affiliation costs attendee only $89 vs. $155 for nonshowgoers. Moreover, for CES attendees able to land room at MGM Grand for HRT-quoted rate of $149 per night, lowest rates available Mon. on hotel’s online reservation site was range of $549.75-$649.75. And at Bellagio, going through CES housing contractor would save showgoer average of $60 per night compared with rates quoted for general public.