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\tBy Anthony Curtis
\n\tIf you follow the news, you know that new casinos have been opening and more are on the way. You also know that Las Vegas is on pace to break its all-time visitation record this year. Everything seems to be getting back to normal, except that room rates remain at low levels. Actually, not just low, but amazingly low.<\/p>\n
\tAside from the December holiday period, July is the best month of the year for room bargains, as the casinos compete for tourists who aren\u2019t already committed to family vacations elsewhere. Hence, the Las Vegas Advisor always does a big July canvassing to see just how low the rates can go.<\/p>\n
\tThis year\u2019s audit of 94 hotel-casinos turned up 52 properties offering rates of $50 or less. Of those 52, 40 had rates of $40 or less, 28 had rates of $30 and under, and eight\u2014Golden Gate, Palace Station, Circus Circus, the Quad, Fiesta Rancho, Texas Station, Riviera and El Cortez\u2014were below $20, which is double last year\u2019s total in that category.<\/p>\n
\tPretty amazing results, but it gets better. While you\u2019d expect that the good deals would all be at Downtown and locals digs, that\u2019s not the case: Several good rates were found on or near the Strip, including $18 at the Quad and Circus Circus; $19 at Riviera; $22 at Hooters; $23 at Wild Wild West; $25 at LVH, Excalibur, and Flamingo; $26 at Harrah\u2019s; $27 at Stratosphere; $29 at Luxor; $37 at Monte Carlo; $44 at New York-New York; and $46 at Planet Hollywood.<\/p>\n
\tWant more? Check out the higher-end properties: Palms $50, Tropicana $50, Hard Rock $51, The Mirage $60, Palms Place $62, Mandalay Bay $64, Vdara $79, Caesars Palace $82, MGM Grand Signature $84, Aria $95, THEhotel $96, Cosmopolitan $101 and even the ultra-posh Nobu at $149.<\/p>\n
\tAs good as these low rates are, there are even better deals to be had when you consider some of the bundled offers that include resort credits and other add-ons. Bally\u2019s had a $29 base rate with $20 in daily (as in, yes, you get them every day of your stay) food and drink credits. Apply the credits and that\u2019s a $9 base rate! Rio had $34 with $20 in credits and Paris had $50 with $25. Remarkable!<\/p>\n
\tKeep in mind that these examples are the absolute lowest rates found, even if they were available for a single day in July, so you may not be able to duplicate the numbers exactly. Also, the rates don\u2019t include resort fees where applicable (which is most places), so the bottom line for most is higher than listed. As an example, the best base rate of all that we found was $9 at Golden Gate, which turned into $33 after the tax, resort fee, and tax on the resort fee, but that\u2019s still mighty low. I mean, try finding that at a Motel 6 in Victorville.<\/p>\n