In my research for this article I was surprised at how few people actually stay in complimentary hotel rooms when visiting Las Vegas, more on that in a bit though.

I reference the TravelZork community as a rare breed of value seekers. Value doesn’t mean “cheap.”

According to the definition, value can simply be “a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged.” That’s exactly what this community is looking for.

My favorite Las Vegas example of an expensive value was the Cut of the Week at Charlie Palmer’s (RIP) at Four Seasons/Mandalay Bay. 

The pre-fixe menu was under $60 for a three-course steak dinner with unlimited wine. The steak alone was $50 at the time. The price was a great value for the food, drink (especially the drink), and service. This deal wasn’t exactly cheap at the time but it was certainly a value.

When it comes to Las Vegas, there aren’t many seeking value in the same way. The general public will either pay the regular rate or look for the least expensive prices. There’s little work to find a great value deal like the example above.

Las Vegas Visitor Profile

The Las Vegas Convention Authority (LVCVA) has some information in its new Visitor Profile that might make your head explode. The information may or may not be useful to you but it’s interesting if nothing else.

It should be noted that this study isn’t an exact representation of Las Vegas visitors. However, it’s a fair estimate and often confirms what I see and hear. The percentages aren’t exact because the sample size is small. However, the information is a fair approximation of the average visitor.

This and the recent Nevada Gaming Abstract are the two most fun batches of data I read every year. We shared some info from the Abstract here.

Here are a couple of interesting items from the Visitor Profile.

Most People Visiting Las Vegas Pay Full Price For Las Vegas Hotel Rooms

This might come as a shock to anyone reading this but the majority of visitors to Las Vegas aren’t value seekers when they’re booking hotel rooms. They just don’t have or take the time to research how to get the best bang for the buck.

Last year 54% of visitors booked their Las Vegas hotel rooms at a regular rate. This means that more than half of the visitors last year paid the advertised price for their hotel rooms. 

The survey says that those who stayed in a Las Vegas hotel last year that didn’t have a casino comp or book a package deal paid $171.98. 

This is why I sign out of my reward accounts when looking for rates to share with others. I know most of the TravelZork community will find ways to get cheaper rates but this community is in the minority.

Only 14% Of Visitors Stayed In A Comp Room In Las Vegas In 2023

According to the LVCVA study, only 14% of visitors stayed in complimentary hotel rooms when visiting Las Vegas last year. This is the highest number since the Covid-19 pandemic. For reference, in 2019 only 15% of visitors stayed in a complimentary hotel room.

Only 16% of those interviewed for the study paid a discounted casino rate or received another kind of special rate.

Only 30% of visitors received complimentary or discounted hotel rooms from Las Vegas casinos last year. This percentage may be off a few percentage points but it’s in the ballpark.

When I refer to this study, I use the term approximation because it’s a small sample of the 40 million visitors in Las Vegas last year. However, the approximation of how many people receive complimentary rooms is still much lower than most might think.