Photo of City Center: Flickr/Bert Kaufmann
We didn't have room to run all these great Las Vegas deals in our upcoming February issue, so rather than have them vanish into the aether, we're sharing them here. For more hotel deals like these, don't miss our December "Smart Money" column.
The gilded lily of the Mojave Desert has been decidedly down on its luck ever since the economy went bust in late oh-eight. Visitor numbers were so bad this fall that the New York Times called the slide the worst in 70 years—and those that did make the trip weren't exactly putting it all on black. But that drop in overnight guests, the associated dip in punters at tables, and a flood of room inventory makes Vegas an outstanding bargain at the beginning of 2011, says Barbara Messing, general manager of deal-watching Web site Travel Ticker. "Luxury hotel deals are here to stay, some at prices even lower than 2009. Travelers should be on the lookout for grand opening promotions and deals in the new year loaded with complimentary extras."
The major reason Vegas is such a winner right now is the glut of new high-end hotel rooms: 5,000 or so at the CityCenter development alone, and another 2,500 at the Cosmopolitan, which opened on December 15. Anchoring the former is the Aria Resort & Casino, which appeared on our 2010 Hot List, thanks to 4,004 decadently designed rooms, a pantheon of 16 restaurants, and "a casino the size of three football fields." Undeniably over-the-top, it's nevertheless affordable. Nights in January start at just $129, for oversized rooms that would fetch triple that elsewhere. (Just watch out for inflated room rates during CES, the annual gizmo convention that takes over the town January 6-9.)
The Mandarin Oriental, also at CityCenter, is another Hot Lister that's hurting. Rates last year started at $495; rooms are now on sale for January for as little as $225, a drop of more than half. The all-suite Vdara, a third option in CityCenter, has custom pillow-top mattresses, deep soaking tubs, and picture windows overlooking the Strip starting at just $105 in January, remarkable value for a roughly 600-square-foot crash pad.
Elsewhere, rates for deluxe rooms at the Bellagio haven't gone up since 2008, though it remains on our Gold List of the world's best places to stay. Standard rooms here have 500 square feet of space, with decadent touches like bedside panels to control lights and curtains and marble bathrooms from just $149 this January.
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