F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix: First Room Rates Announced

Posted on: October 31, 2022, 10:58h. 

Last updated on: November 1, 2022, 03:39h.

The first super-charging for the Las Vegas Grand Prix is being performed by Sin City’s resort hotels a year in advance of the race. At Caesars Entertainment – the first chain to publish room rates for Nov. 16-19, 2023 – the average price zoomed 305% over the same weekend this year (Nov. 17-20). This was according to a survey conducted by KLAS-TV on the evening of Oct. 31. (Las Vegas hotels don’t have set room rates. They fluctuate constantly based on demand.)

F1 Vegas Grand Prix rendering
A rendering of the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will zoom through the Strip on Nov. 18, 2023. Room rates just announced by Caesars are up an average of 305% over the same weekend this year.

The race will be held 10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023. It will feature 50 laps around a 3.8-mile circuit weaving throughout the Strip, with a straightaway allowing drivers to push 212 miles per hour.

Leading the pack of Caesars properties in surge pricing, according to the KLAS survey, was Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. It requires $787 per night for the weekend, an increase of 678% from $100 per night this year.

Planet Hollywood finished second at a 337% increase, from $253 to $1,106. Harrah’s bolted 297% from $153 to $608; followed by Bally’s/Horseshoe, up 280% from $160 to $608; the Flamingo, up 227% from $199 to $651; the Linq, up 223% from $188 to $608; and Paris, up 159% from $304 to $787.

Bringing up the rear was Caesars Palace, whose rate increased only 75% year over year. Still, at $1,291 per night (totaling $3,873 without resort fees, taxes or, most expensively, race tickets) that’s enough to raise thousands of red flags on Vegas plans for that weekend.

Checking elsewhere in town as of 8 p.m. Oct. 31, 2022, the Red Rock Casino wanted $1,009 per night for race weekend, the Mardi Gras $999, Circa $939, Palace Station $904, Green Valley Ranch $899, Boulder Station $605, Santa Fe Station $600, and Sunset Station $600 – all via Vegas.com.

And if you think those prices are high, earlier this month, property owner Bryan Ercolano told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he was planning to rent out the 59th-floor penthouse of the Palms Place tower – which his group purchased for $12.5 million in 2019 – for $100K per night.

On Your Marks … Get Set … Pay!

Formula 1 recently announced the price of general admission race tickets (sold as 3-day passes only) at $500. Those go on sale to the to the public at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5 via ticketmaster.com.

However, it did not announce price points for its eight higher-experience levels. The top-tier Paddock Club viewing experience is heavily rumored to cost $18K per person.

MGM Resorts International plans to scoop up $20 million to $25 million worth of tickets, with an eye toward cobbling together hotel/race packages with $100K price tags.

“At this point, I’m thinking about renting a Chinook helicopter with a group of friends, filling it up, and hovering above the course,” wrote a disgruntled member of the Formula 1 Las Vegas 2023 Facebook group. “It seems the most cost-effective way.”