Last-minute rooms for New Year’s in Las Vegas going for $500 and up
The best last-minute deals for three nights in Las Vegas for the New Year’s holiday will cost more than $500, according to Booking.com and hotel websites.
Up and down the Strip, a three-night stay starting Friday ranges in cost from about $600 to $1,500, including taxes and resort fee.
The Best Western Plus Casino Royal on the Strip will cost $798 for the three nights, while one of the better deals at Circus Circus can be had for about $630. Standard rooms at the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay can be booked for $750 and $770, respectively.
For those with deep pockets — or those who bought bitcoin at the beginning of the year — there are still suites at the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore for New Year’s weekend. 
Prepare to pay around $6,255 for the 1,329-square-foot Parlor Suite, which is accessed through a private gated entry and features a dedicated front desk and concierge staff.
In the luxury category, a standard room at The Cosmpolitan of Las Vegas will set you back at least $2,030 for three nights. The 3,000-room hotel has no suites left, while its high roller rooms are all reserved. The nearby Bellagio, which is in the same category, will cost at least $1,716.
Resilient prices
While rates are lower this year compared with last year, according to JPMorgan, prices are nonetheless strong throughout the valley. New Year’s Eve is traditionally one of the largest grossing room days for Las Vegas properties.
At the newly built Skyline on Boulder Highway, prepare to pay just shy of $500 for a three-night stay. Even A Fisher’s Inn Motel, a run-down motel sandwiched between car shops, will cost you $452 for the long weekend. The Super 8 Nellis is sold out.
Hotels and motels are not the only ones cashing in this holiday weekend.
The prices for a three-day stay at some private apartments offered through Airbnb also reach into the thousands. A 4,000-square-foot penthouse at the Palms hotel with a Jacuzzi and Strip views is being offered for $6,630. Up to 10 people can stay at the two-bedroom penthouse, which holds four beds, according to an ad on Airbnb.
Visitations down
Some 330,000 guests are expected to travel to Las Vegas for the New Year’s weekend, generating $420 million for the Southern Nevada economy, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Visitations are forecast to decline 1.2 percent this year, according to the LVCVA, which attributed the lower figure to large-scale room renovations on the Strip. Total rooms available are down about about 750 units this year.
Room renovations may have set a record this year, with more than seven hotels launching or finishing upgrades this year. The Cosmopolitan, Bally’s, the Palazzo, The Palms, the Flamingo and the Monte Carlo are among the large-scale hotels currently upgrading some rooms.
The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. Las Vegas Sands owns the Palazzo.
Contact Todd Prince at tprince@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0386. Follow @toddprincetv on Twitter.
