When a Deluxe Vegas Hotel Charges $109 a Night for a Suite in July, Is There Any Reason to Stay Anywhere Else?

You'll need to stare at the Vdara's booking calendar for the month of July to believe the astonishing (and almost surreal) summer discounts at this ultra-deluxe, all-suites, 1,500-unit, brand-new hotel. Go to MGM's website ( www.mgmresorts.com ), click on Vdara, and then click on July.

Of the 31 dates in July, twenty-one are days on which elegant Vdara suites are priced at either $109, $119 or $129 per night. That's per suite, not per person. In effect, every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during the month of July -- except for one night -- are priced at either $109 (four nights), $119 (sixteen nights), or $129 (one night). Though I reported on this phenomenon some time ago, the number of July dates for which discounts are extraordinary have been increased considerably since then.

How about dates in August? Those have not yet been discounted to the same extent, but just you wait -- they undoubtedly will be (as happened in July). Currently, of the 31 dates in August, prices on 20 of those dates have been reduced to $109, $119 and $129 a night per suite. Since there is plenty of time for further discount decisions, we can expect that figure of 20 bargain dates to be increased to many more than 20 in the month of August.

Surprisingly, suites at the Vdara have been discounted to a far greater extent and more frequently than the rooms in its sister property, the 4,000-room Aria Hotel. One would think that suites at the Vdara have greater value than rooms at the Aria. But this is Las Vegas, where logic doesn't always prevail.