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Las Vegas Hotel Prices Jump For Tropicana Casino Implosion

Demolition Event Set For Oct. 9

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Visitors to Las Vegas hoping to get a close-up view of the upcoming demolition of the historic Tropicana Casino will really have to pay for the privilege, according to a new report.

Other casino hotel properties with a view of the demolition, which is set for Oct. 9 at 2:30 a.m., are selling out quickly, even with the prices going up. Casinos.com reports that neighboring casinos are seeing a major spike in prices as Vegas visitors clamor to check out the implosion as well as “a spectacle, complete with a drone and fireworks show from the world-famous Grucci family,” the report notes.

Rising Prices

Las Vegas has a long history of implosions. It seems every few years one of the city’s casino resorts is coming down. The Riviera was the most recent Strip property facing the wrecking ball in 2016 to make way for the expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The 2000s saw several casinos meet their demise. The El Rancho was demolished in 2000 for an expansion of the neighboring Turnberry Towers. Those were never built, however, and the Fontainebleau now sits on the site.

The Desert Inn fell in 2001 for Wynn to be built and Castaways, formerly the Showboat, was demolished in 2006. The Bourbon Street and Boardwalk casinos fell the same year. In 2007, the New Frontier and the Stardust were also given the chopping block treatment.

The Tropicana is up next to make room for a new stadium for the Oakland Athletics baseball team. Hotel rooms with a view of the implosion action are now bringing in big bucks.

For example, the report says MGM Grand is charging more than $1,780 for a suite in the hotel on Oct. 8-9 with no regular hotel rooms now available. Regular room rates mid-week for a Tuesday and Wednesday had been starting at $59 a night just a week earlier. Other hotels with great views of the demolition, including Mandalay Bay, Delano, Luxor, Park MGM, New York-New York, Aria, and Cosmopolitan, began selling out last week.

Vdara, about two-thirds of a mile away, now has an average daily room rate of $749 on those dates, more than double the price of a typical October Tuesday. Excalibur is also now sold out and was charging $210 on “Implosion Tuesday,” much higher than the $21 for a typical Tuesday night (not including the resort fee.) Oyo, the closest hotel to the Trop, saw only a small bump in price from about $75 to $100.

Strip Continues To Grow

Adding the baseball stadium comes as the Strip has seen some major growth over the last decade. The $3.7 billion Fontainebleau opened at the north end last year after years of delays.

Recent years have also seen the reopening of the Sahara, and the debut of Resorts World at the north end of the Strip. The Las Vegas Convention Center was also expanded in 2021 and the Westgate Casino is also located in the area just off the Strip.

The addition of T-Mobile Arena and Allegiant Stadium just off the Strip have also brought plenty of football and hockey fans to town in the last few years.