‘Life is Beautiful’ Downtown Las Vegas Concert Has Casino Hotel Rooms at Ultra-High Rates

Posted on: September 16, 2021, 12:04h. 

Last updated on: September 16, 2021, 12:52h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The “Life is Beautiful” annual music and arts festival is back in downtown Las Vegas following a year off due to pandemic closure. The festival brings more than 100,000 music fans to downtown Las Vegas each year.

Life is Beautiful downtown Las Vegas
The 2019 concert in downtown Las Vegas, seen above. The massive gathering has resulted in area casino hotel rooms going at exorbitant rates. (Image: Life is Beautiful)

Tickets remain for the three-day lineup, but rooms in the downtown area are going for a premium. Casino hotels on Fremont Street, typically much less than occupancies on the Strip and elsewhere throughout the Las Vegas Valley, are going for $400 or higher each night this weekend.

“Life is Beautiful” has four music venues spread out across 18 city blocks, with the primary Downtown Stage located just north of Ogden Avenue at 6th Street. In 2014, the festival expanded to three days.

Casino Rooms Costly

Three-day tickets cost $349 for general admission and up to $3,249 for a VIP “all-in” experience that includes food and beverages. Single-day tickets start at $139.

The 2021 festival features numerous A-list headliners, including Green Day, Billie Eilish, A$AP Rocky, and Megan Thee Stallion.

Last-minute planners will pay a pretty penny for nearby accommodations. Nightly room rates (inclusive of taxes and fees) for a two-night stay this Friday through Sunday:

  • Golden Nugget — $276
  • Fremont — $310
  • Four Queens — $350
  • the D — $355
  • Downtown Grand — $378
  • Plaza — $428
  • Golden Gate — $440
  • El Cortez — $489
  • California — $678
  • Circa — sold out

In a rare occurrence, Strip casino rooms are cheaper this week than downtown. The Rio is $203 a night, inclusive of taxes and fees, while Park MGM is $221, LINQ $237, and New York-New York $252.

Organizers have not released attendance projections. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority put on hold forecasting event attendance outlooks last year during the pandemic.

Prior to the coronavirus, “Life is Beautiful” in 2019 drew an estimated 178,000 people to downtown Las Vegas, with nearly 50,000 of the attendees said to be non-residents of Southern Nevada. For 2021, all attendees must provide proof of vaccination, or present a negative COVID-19 test that was completed within the past 72 hours.

October Link

FBI officials reviewing the October 2017 Las Vegas massacre concluded that the gunman considered other sites to target.

Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival adjacent to Mandalay Bay across the Strip at around 10:05 pm PT on October 1, 2017. The roughly 10-minute shooting spree resulted in 58 dead — the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history (post-1949).

Investigators revealed that Paddock stayed at the Ogden condominium complex during the 2017 event. The Ogden overlooks the “Life is Beautiful” campus.

The Ogden consists of 275 residential units that are privately owned, but many are rented out during the annual music concert. The Ogden stands 21 stories tall above the festival grounds.