Vegas hotel rooms still available during Comdex

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2000 | 11:09 a.m.

Guests of the Stratosphere hotel-casino will pay 21 times more than usual for a room next Tuesday.

That's because Comdex -- the largest convention the city plays host to each year -- is in town next week.

More than 200,000 people will attend the massive computer exhibition that will be conducted this year at four locations, the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Sands Expo Center, the Las Vegas Hilton and the MGM Grand hotel-casino.

The event officially begins with a keynote address by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates Sunday and concludes five days later after dozens of seminars and panel discussions and a trade show with more than 1 million square feet of exhibits.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were still rooms available at some of the neighborhood casinos in the area, but most of the Strip hotels are sold out -- and are getting premium room rates.

The room inventory is up slightly this year with the August opening of the Aladdin hotel-casino and the September opening of the Suncoast adding a total of about 3,000 rooms.

Comdex representatives say that while registration for the 2000 event, the 22nd Las Vegas show, is running at last year's pace, the number of exhibitors is up slightly and the length of stay per delegate is expected to rise.

Show organizers and Las Vegas resort operators have learned a lot about each other since the first show arrived with 4,000 attendees and 160 exhibitors in 1979.

The resorts have learned that as the convention has grown that companies are willing to pony up top dollar to stay near the convention venues. But they've also learned that the Comdex crowd stands clear of the casinos. But on the other side, Comdex is an event filled with financially lucrative hospitality suites and corporate parties.

Show organizers, meanwhile, have learned that they must try to strike a balance between how big the show should get while maintaining a high level of quality.

Bill Sell, vice president and general manager of Comdex, said the marketing focus has been on a more efficient packaging of show activities, which has resulted in delegates planning more time at the show.

Sell said the 200,000 expected to attend the show is about the same level as last year, "but that's about what the infrastructure of the city can handle." About 2,100 exhibitors will attend, about 50 more than last year.

"But in some audience surveying, we're finding that attendees are buying bigger packages," Sell said. "They're staying about three days, which is longer than most other trade show events."

Sell said Las Vegas resorts are treating the show fairly and that room rates are moderate compared to where they were from 1996 to 1998. A large block of new rooms came on line with the opening of Bellagio, Paris and Mandalay Bay, at that time, easing room supply and moderating prices.

"We don't feel there is any gouging, there are very few rooms over $400," he said.

He said resorts also have made a larger block of rooms available directly to Comdex, which are sold back to exhibitors and attendees.

Alan Feldman, a spokesman for MGM MIRAGE, said the demand for rooms during Comdex has become as intense as it is during the Super Bowl and New Year's Eve. Other major conventions, like the Winter Consumer Electronics Show, have the same effect.

And, while gaming revenue falls dramatically during Comdex, other revenue streams increase.

"There are a lot of parties and catered events," Feldman said. "Food and beverage is kept busy and the restaurants usually do well."

Mike French, senior vice president of operations at the Venetian hotel-casino, which is undertaking its second Comdex show since opening, agrees.

"Just about everybody in town sets prices like the airlines do," French said. "While prices are higher during Comdex, there are soft times, like right after the holidays or in the middle of December. Our pricing is based on what the demand will be."

French also said the Venetian has a different strategy than most Strip resorts, since it gears specifically for convention business. He said his company competes more with other convention host cities than it does with other local properties.

"Our business plan relies on groups tremendously because we know there are corporations out there willing to pay a great rate for a quality guest room and quality catered events," he said. "We've thrown out the old-style thinking that we don't want them because they don't like to gamble."

"Anyone who has taken Economics 101 knows that this is a matter of supply and demand," said Feldman, whose company's MGM Grand Garden arena will be the site of Gates' keynote speech. "We put the rooms out there and sell quite a few of them directly to Comdex, which sells them to its members."

But sometimes the unsuspecting tourist gets caught in the squeeze. Most savvy Las Vegas visitors know that there are certain times of the year when they'll have to pay top dollar to stay in a room. Comdex is one of those times.

"One of the things that is true about Las Vegas (hotel rooms) is that the prices fluctuate very dramatically," Feldman said. "But if people can be flexible with their schedules, they can actually find some great values if they change their plans by a week or as little as a day."

A case in point is the Stratosphere. According to room pricing information provided by Travelscape.com, the same room that is available on Nov. 21 for $19 a night will sell for $399 next Tuesday.

A room that sells for $89 at Caesars Palace later in the month will go for $397 during Comdex. At Bellagio, a $189-a-night room will sell for $389. And, at the MGM Grand, an $80 room is available for $270.

Rooms at the Hard Rock hotel-casino are marked up from $79 to $325 and a Venetian suite that goes for $119 will sell for $399 next week. Circus Circus' $39 room will go for $119 and a Rio suite that sells for $55 will be available for $219. At the Flamingo and the Riviera, rooms that will go for $39 on Nov. 21 will be sold for $199 next week.

The only hotel-casino that didn't run up its prices for Comdex, according to Travelscape, was the Suncoast, which offered the same rate of $49 a night next Tuesday and a week later.

Most of the hotels are sold out. There are still a few openings at Luxor and the New Frontier on the Strip. Off the Strip, there are rooms available at Texas, Palace, Boulder and Sunset Station properties, the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas, the Wild Wild West and the Resort at Summerlin.