Floyd Mayweather Jr (left) and Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines before their fight. Photo: Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus/ReutersHotels across the US desert city of Las Vegas hiked up their room rates as thousands of fans flooded in for last night’s hugely anticipated boxing match between American Floyd Mayweather Jr and Filipino Manny Pacquiao.
The BBC had reported that booking a suite at the casino Caesars Palace would set guests back $50,000 per night, rather than the usual $30,000.
Staying at the fight venue itself, the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, also took a hefty chunk out of punters’ wallets.
It charged $1,600 for a standard room, a huge inflation from the $270 required for non-fight nights.
With tickets to the match starting at $4,600, and only 500 released to the public, it appears hoteliers tapped into a demand to ‘be there’ in the same city as the longed-for welterweight clash.
Even the ‘budget’ and far-away hotels joined in. Whiskey Pete’s casino – located 40 miles southwest of the Vegas Strip in Nevada – more than quadrupled its accommodation prices.
A standard room cost $180 last night, according to booking website vegas.com.
For those staying at the same hotel on May 9, just a week later, the price was a mere $40.