Las Vegas Room Rates Surging Ahead of Tropicana Implosion

The Tropicana (white buildings, foreground) will disappear on Oct. 9, and the surrounding casinos will offer a once-in-a-lifetime view of Vegas evolving in real time. (Image: Barry King/Alamy)

Las Vegas implosions are spectacular but don’t happen often. This year, with the Tropicana closing, we’re getting the first such show on the Strip since 2016.

Hotel rooms with a view of what’s left of the Tropicana were selling out this week, for prices way higher than usual. 

Room rates in Las Vegas already tend to be a little high during the second week of October thanks to G2E, the Global Gaming Expo, which brings some 25,000 gaming industry professionals to town. 

But rooms on the south end of the Strip have been proving to be some of the most desirable, particularly for that Tuesday, Oct. 8, when just about all hotels were showing a small spike in price.

The Tropicana implosion is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct 9 at 2:30 am local time pending regulatory and permit approval. The Bally’s Corporation, which owns the land, is promising a spectacle, complete with a drone and fireworks show from the world-famous Grucci family.

Room Rate Fireworks

As of this writing, MGM Grand is charging more than $1,780 for a suite in the hotel on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9. There are no regular hotel rooms available at this time. 

Regular room rates mid-week for a Tuesday and Wednesday at MGM Grand started at $59/night a week earlier.

But at least you could still get a room there (as of Thursday night). Hotels with the best view began selling out this week – with no rooms available at Mandalay Bay, Delano, Luxor, Park MGM, New York-New York, Aria and Cosmopolitan. The Signature at MGM Grand is also sold out. 

Vdara, nearly ⅔ of a mile away with only a few dozen rooms having an unobstructed view of the Trop, is pushing an average daily room rate on Oct. 8 of $749, significantly higher than a typical October Tuesday closer to $300/night. 

A good room with a view of the Tropicana for a good price became near impossible to find last week.

Excalibur, directly across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Tropicana, is sold out now, too, but they still had a few rooms available when we first started checking prices. At the time, the average room rate at Excalibur was going for $210 on Implosion Tuesday. 

This rate was 10 times higher than the $21/night Excalibur typically charges for a basic room on a Tuesday night. (Note: Neither room rate listed here includes the $37 resort fee.)

Oyo is the closest hotel to the Tropicana – and where a notable increase in price has been relatively small. 

Earlier this week the least expensive room at Oyo was less than $75. The same room was just under $100 one day later.

Casinos.com reached out to Oyo to inquire about room prices and to find out if Oyo guests had to worry about being too close and should board up their windows, but didn’t hear back before press time.

Tropicana Implosion Party Plans

The Tropicana implosion is just five weeks away. Plans are still being developed for festivities around it. There could be watch parties, and hotel room rates could change.

Las Vegas implosions are more than just bringing down a casino. These events by their nature are a spectacle. They are a special nod to the building(s) being destroyed, and a celebration of Las Vegas making way for a new era.

The Riviera was the last Las Vegas casino imploded, in 2016. Its demise was rather anticlimactic. 

Before that, the Stardust implosion in 2007 lived up to the farewell hype for a casino beloved by many Las Vegas denizens over the decades. Fourteen years later, Resorts World opened on this land.

As Implosion Day approaches for the Tropicana, all signs suggest its last hurrah will be one for the ages.