New Year’s hotel rates 3 times more than Christmas on Las Vegas Strip

Sin City's decadence is more suited for big party scenes, and while the city has made strides in recent decades to become more family friendly, it is still mostly a playground for adults. 

Christmas is more of a family holiday, New Years on the other hand is more of a party one, and room rates in Las Vegas are reflecting the difference.

A new report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal shows that room rates for the New Year's Eve weekend will be about three times higher than Christmas weekend. So if you want to go the Vegas for the cheap, Christmas weekend is the time to go.

Room rates in Vegas for a Friday through Sunday stay, which includes Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, averaged $127.73 a night, based on hotels.com listings. 

For the same period the following week, New Year's weekend, the average is a whopping $371.14 per night.

The Review-Journal's analysis included 67 properties for the Christmas holiday and 65 for New Year's.

Las Vegas Price Differences 

Apparently the discrepancy is normal, with Las Vegas leaning into the New Year's celebration with its "America's Party" fireworks show on the Strip. But this year's prices may be a little higher as more people pile into the city since New Year's Eve and Day fall on a weekend.

“When the holiday falls at midweek, like on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, people have to take off from work to come and you’ll see a wave of people that will come before the holiday and then another wave that comes after the holiday,” John Swissman, a founding partner of Vegas-based Strategy Organization, told the Review-Journal. “This year, they should all be here Saturday and Sunday because they don’t have to take time off from work to party here.”

In past years generally 320,000 people visit Vegas for New Year's. A static supply with higher demand equals higher prices for people looking to party in the desert to bring in the new year.