Hotel space is limited, expensive for Tropicana casino implosion

Space is limited — and expensive — for anyone wanting to stay at a casino-hotel on the Las Vegas Strip the night of the Tropicana implosion.

The Tropicana Las Vegas will be imploded at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The controlled demolition will be preceded by a drone and fireworks show that is expected to last approximately seven minutes.

But seeing the spectacle will be challenging because there is no formal viewing area and officials are shutting down street access to both pedestrians and vehicles for safety reasons.

Following the announcement of the Rat Pak-era casino’s impending demolition, hotel room rates at the properties in the immediate vicinity — MGM Grand and The Signature, New York New York, Excalibur and Luxor — skyrocketed. Even the Oyo casino-hotel, an off-Strip budget property, was charging several hundred dollars above average for the night.

With just under 48 hours to go until the two remaining Tropicana towers come down, there are only a handful of available hotel rooms at any of the properties surrounding the blast site.

The Oyo, which is the closest property to the Trop, is 100 percent booked. New York New York casino-hotel has rooms starting at $599 (+$42 resort fee) for the night, but room choices are limited and views of the Trop are unavailable.

The next-closest available hotel room to the Tropicana site is at Park MGM casino-hotel, but the privilege will cost more than $700 (with resort fee). Rooms at the Bellagio or The Cosmopolitan are priced at over $1,000 (plus fees) for the night.

Caesars Entertainment properties on the Strip are unlikely to offer clear views of the implosion. However, for those interested, room rates at the Horseshoe casino-hotel are starting around $399 while Harrah’s casino-hotel has availability starting at $529 (plus taxes and fees).

Treasure Island casino-hotel is offering rooms starting around $399.

A night at the Encore casino-hotel starts at $899 while staying at the Wynn casino-hotel next door starts at $1,061.

The Venetian and Palazzo hotels are also completely booked, although that has more to do with the Global Gaming Expo than the Trop implosion. Global Gaming Expo, or G2E, is the industry’s largest annual convention. It is taking place Monday through Thursday at The Venetian Expo Center.

G2E attracts more than 25,000 industry professionals, including executives, game developers, regulators, affiliates and media from around the world.

David Danzis can be contacted at ddanzis@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0378. Follow AC2Vegas_Danzis on X.