The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
$11 WHAT DOES A IN DAY LAS GET VEGAS? YOU
A surprisingly decent hotel room during non-marquee times.
DLAS VEGAS — uring this year’s Super Bowl in Las Vegas, fans were stunned to see hotel rates skyrocket, with budget properties charging ultraluxury prices. The following month, I received my own surprise: A night at some of the same lodgings on the Strip cost less than a stadium beer and pretzel.
Hotel rates always vary, but none as wildly as Las Vegas properties. Sin City hosts some of the country’s biggest conventions and special events, which can cause prices to spike. During non-marquee times, however, prices fall back to Earth.
“They have to compete with over 150,000 hotel rooms and they want to get people in the door,” said Marla Royne Stafford, a hospitality and marketing professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. “They can sell it for very cheap and then they’ll make their money back on the alcohol, the gambling and the dinners.” As for the rate, the adage “You get what you pay for” does not exactly apply to Vegas. If that were the case, the front desk attendant at my $11 hotel would have handed me a sleeping pad and inflatable pillow and wished me a good night.
“Those hotels that have $11 rooms — you might actually be able to get a very good room,” Stafford said. “It’s not your top hotel, but I would have no qualms about staying at some of them.”
To draw the guest room curtain on Strip hotels, I sampled properties in four price categories: under $25, under $50, under $150 and under $200. For consistency, I booked weekday stays on Vegas. com and avoided other booking sites and weekends, when rates spike. The rooms came with a resort fee of roughly $50 a night, which the hotels tacked upon arrival. Here’s what I learned during my stays.
Total after taxes and resort fees: $101.34
■ Background: The hotel opened in 1966 and was one of the first Vegas properties to create a fully conceptionalized theme, according to the Neon Museum Las Vegas. In addition to Roman sculptures and columns that transport guests back to the Roman Empire, the casino’s cocktail servers wear gladiator-inspired dresses and clunky automatons perform a show about the fall of Atlantis.
■ The room: I arrived early but could not enter my room before 3 p.m. without paying a $30 early check-in fee. So, I nursed an $8 cup of coffee and waited. My room was in the newly renamed Colosseum Tower, one of six towers containing nearly 4,000 total rooms. To reach the bank of elevators, I had to traverse a battlefield of slot machines and poker tables. My reward for surviving the crossing was a Cronut. (Dominique Ansel’s bakery is steps from the lift.)
In my room, I could leave behind the cacophony of the casino and the kitsch of Roman times. It was spacious and tasteful, with a black-andwhite color scheme and splashes of emerald green, a tribute to Cleopatra’s jewels. The stately marble and white quartz bathroom had a separate water closet decorated with drawings of Greek and Roman classical orders. The plush white towels were too thick to wear as togas.
The bedding was cool and crisp and anchored by a quartet of marshmallow-soft pillows.
The fridge and amenity tray came with a warning: The hotel would charge me for any items I moved. In addition, if I rearranged the fridge’s contents to accommodate my own supplies, I would have to pay a $75 restocking fee. I could make hot water in the coffee maker for free, but if I wanted anything stronger, I’d have to purchase the pods.
■ Restaurants and shops: The dining scene is Food Network Live!: Bobby Flay (French, Italian, burgers), Guy Fieri (chicken tenders), Giada De Laurentiis (wine bar, casual dining spot) and Chris Santos (steaks) all have restaurants. The roster of celeb chefs also includes Gordon Ramsay and Nobu Matsuhisa, whose name is attached to a boutique hotel within Caesars. Bacchanal Buffet is a feast for hungry gods, with more than 250 items. The hotel’s Appian Way Shops pale in comparison to the Forum Shops, a luxury mall attached to the hotel.
■ Highlight attraction: The Garden of the Gods Pool Oasis, which takes sun worshiping to the next level with seven pools set among manicured greenery and Roman architecture.
■ Did we get what we paid for? I got the better deal, especially since I didn’t slip up and end up paying any of the punishing early check in, late check out or minibar fees. I wish the hotel offered free laundry to wash the smoke smell out of my clothes. But since it doesn’t, I could not stay more than one night here.