On the way to Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer travel season, one thing is clear: the pent-up demand is very, very real. Las Vegas, which only announced last week that it would end all pandemic restrictions on June 1st, is wasting no time.
As SFGATE recently reported, hotel prices for the most sought-after travel destinations (Hawaii, Florida, anywhere with a beach) have risen significantly while many cities remain a relative bargain compared to pre-pandemic times. One big city bucking the trend is Las Vegas. In the past six months, from December 2020 to May 2021, average hotel prices in Las Vegas rose from $ 134 to $ 179, according to Trivago.com’s hotel price index.
Sin City at dusk.
Chris Sattlberger / Getty Images / Tetra Images RF
What is the city’s COVID-19 situation like?
The city’s reopening is in large part thanks to a particularly successful campaign by the city’s tourism industry that used a wide variety of carrots (strip club vaccinations, anyone?) And whips to encourage the city’s hospitality and service staff vaccinated. The casinos in particular have some of the highest employee vaccination rates in town.
Given that tourism is an estimated $ 57.6 billion to the city’s economy (as of 2018, the most recent year for which data is available), it’s no wonder the casinos have made such concerted and effective efforts. And it paid off.
“The Cosmopolitan, which had its own vaccination center, gave out cash rewards of $ 1 million to reward its workforce for a high vaccination rate of 84 percent,” the company told the Washington Post.
The (other) city of lights.
B. Tanaka / Getty Images
What is open
In any case, the City of Second Chance looks very much like its pre-pandemic self. May is always the busiest month in town. Many resort casinos – including MGM’s Bellagio, Mandalay Bay The Mirage, New York-New York, Luxor, Excalibur, and ARIA resorts – have 100 percent capacity (and no social distance) – the strip begins, the busy adult playground that you know and maybe even love to be very similar.
The monorail is even back in service on May 27th. The trains arrive every 4 to 8 minutes at each of their seven stations: MGM Grand, Ballys / Paris Las Vegas, Flamingo / Caesars Palace, Harrahs / Linq, Las Vegas Convention Center, Westgate / Convention Center and the Sahara reports from the Las Vegas Sun.
Panoramic views of the Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower (left) and the Strip (right) in Las Vegas.
Blaine Harrington III / Getty Images
The triumphant return of the Vegas buffet
Clark County allowed buffets to reopen from May 1, when the rules were relaxed on other Vegas staples like tattoo parlors and dance floors. The MGM Grand’s buffet will reopen on May 26 at 7 a.m. for the first time since March 2020.
The biggest buffet news breathlessly reported by Eater Las Vegas is about the bacchanal buffet at Caesars Palace, which was renovated for $ 2.4 million to reopen earlier this month.
“The 600-seat bacchanal buffet, covering 25,000 square meters, reopened with a crowd waiting to explore the nine open, interactive kitchens. Many dishes have already been individually prepared, shared or prepared in real time by employees behind the counters. Reported to Eaters Susan Stapleton. At $ 64.99 per person, this isn’t for everyone. However, it’s a culinary spectacle that suits its hometown.
New on the strip
For the first time since 2010, Sin City’s famous track welcomes a new addition next month. According to Travel & Leisure, Resorts World Las Vegas is due to open on June 24th. The complex consists of three separate hotels: the Las Vegas Hilton with 1,774 rooms, the Conrad Las Vegas with 1,496 rooms and the Crockfords Las Vegas with 236 rooms and suites.
The 88 acre property will have 40 different restaurants and bars, a concert hall with a capacity of 5,000, retail space of around 70,000 square feet, a 100,000 square foot “boutique mega club”, a Bali-inspired day club, and more than five and a half acres large pool area with Vegas’ largest pool deck.
