Vegas Hotels See Boost in 2010

Las Vegas likely got a boost this New Year’s Eve and over the weekend, thanks partly to the improving economy and partly due to the holiday falling on a Thursday instead of a Wednesday as it did last year.

According to the Casino City Times and Las Vegas Journal, occupancy of hotel rooms was expected to be up as much as 4 percent over last year, even with higher room rates.

Caesar’s Palace President Gary Selesner told Casino City Times that he believes the increase is due to the perception people have that the economy is improving.

As proof that people are more interested in spending some money this New Year’s, Selesner said, Caesar’s Palace was sold out for the New Year’s weekend, even thought the room rates are a bit higher than they were last year.

Selesner said that Harrah’s Entertainment – which owns Caesars and another seven hotels in Las Vegas – expected to have all rooms at the hotels sold out for the weekend.

Other strip hotels are reporting similar trends. The president of MGM Grand reported that nearly all the hotel’s rooms were booked and at rates slightly higher than last year. Planet Hollywood Resort is charging about 20 percent more for rooms than it did in 2008, said Bill Feather, PH’s Hotels & Resorts Worldwide president.

“We are seeing much more pressure for New Year’s Eve this year than we saw last year,” Feather said. “Knock on wood, everything’s great.”