Las Vegas Room Rates Rise to See Tropicana Fall

Posted on: August 30, 2024, 11:42h. 

Last updated on: August 30, 2024, 01:37h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Myths.

Las Vegas room rates for the upcoming Tropicana implosion have risen almost as precipitously as the Trop will drop in the early morning hours of Oct. 9. That’s if you can find any rooms available.

What’s left of the Tropicana, which opened on April 4, 1957 and closed on April 2, 2024, will be destroyed in the early morning hours of October 9, ostensibly to make way for a baseball stadium for the relocated Oakland A’s. (Image: YouTube/Raiders 1967)

The Tropicana is scheduled to meet its demise at 2:30 a.m. Oct. 9, pending Clark County’s approval for the implosion’s permit. This will be proceeded by a countdown and a Grucci-designed fireworks show.

At the MGM Grand as of Friday morning, a suite with a city view (which may or may not overlook the Tropicana site) now averages $1,826 a night before taxes, according to the MGM Resorts website. One week earlier, the website asks $59 for the same suite, $600 one week later.

The Tuesday night price for a Strip-facing room at the MGM Grand climbs from $59 to $1,826 (including resort fees) on Oct. 8. Room rates for the rest of that week are similar to the same nights a week earlier and later. (Image: MGM Resorts)

At other nearby resorts, the Bellagio averages $749 for a two-queen room, versus $279 a week later. Vdara averages $749, versus $285 a week later.

Rooms at all these MGM resorts are sold out on Oct. 8. (Image: MGM Resorts)

And there are no rooms available for Oct. 8 at Mandalay Bay, the Delano, Park MGM, NoMad, New York-New York, Excalibur, Luxor, ARIA, The Cosmopolitan, or the Signature at MGM Grand, all of which have some rooms  that offer a view of implosion.

Caesars Palace’s lowest rate for Oct. 8 is $599, which is $280 more than a week later. While, on the other side of the Strip, The Wynn rates for the same night average $949, $400 more than the following Tuesday.

The Trop drop does coincide with weeklong Global Gaming Expo, which last year brought 25,000 global gaming professionals into town.

However, this does not contribute a significant bump to room rates, since the prices of rooms on Oct. 7 and Oct. 9-13 are similar to those of a week earlier and later across the board.

Why Implosions Fascinate Us

Implosions have a long tradition of being turned into spectacles by Las Vegas. Celebrating loss rather than mourning it, they even share the same fireworks and countdowns that mark the passage of every year into the next on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Of course, what implosions really represent is the harsh reality of corporate owners destroying perfectly functioning old resorts, with rich connections to history and people’s lives, so they can replace them with new ones that promise more profit to their shareholders — or, in the Tropicana’s case, a new resort and a baseball stadium.

But a large structure collapsing in a controlled manner really is an engineering marvel. It also can serve as a philosophical reflection point, a humbling reminder that all things, no matter how grand or seemingly permanent, are temporary.

And it’s a thankfully rare event, which probably explains the demand to stay on the Strip on the night of the Trop’s implosion. Though implosions had been occurring every couple of years since the Dunes’ in 1993, it’s been eight years since the last one brought down the Riviera in 2016.