Aria

My first try at Aria coming up this August. Anything I should know? What to ask for? Does the $20 trick work? etc........

Thanks

Never tried the $20 trick.
Sometimes they offer corner suite upgraded for $50 night.If they offer it,take it.
I really like Aria.I know some posters here differ but it has become my favorite hotel in Las Vegas.
Plenty of venues for drinking and dining.Great pool complex.Easy to navigate.

The Aria is pretty nice, but I only stay there on a comp or deep discount.

- Be prepared to do a lot of walking. This is my biggest complaint. It is not that conveniently located, and it does take some time to learn your way around.

That said, make sure to find your way to the tram, it is a good way to get to the Bellagio.

- The restaurants are good but very pricey.
For breakfast there are plenty of coffee plus places, and the casino level coffee shop if ok,
but you will feel like you are in the coffee shop of any major urban (concrete jungle) hotel.

The Union restaurant on the casino level is good if you like a more casual location, BTW the Kobe beef burgers were pretty good.

The lounges on the casino level are very comfortable, and I have never felt rushed to leave.

- I tried the $20 trick once, no luck. I was offered the standard upgrade fee. The corner suite for $50 upgrade is good, I would not pay more for it. Certainly not if you are traveling alone. Most of the extra
space was in the bathroom around the jaccusi.

- The Elvis show is not great. If you get free tickets, then take a look.

- The poker room is nice if that is your game. However, I have rarely seen limit holdem there.

- Overall the crowd is younger than Bellagio and you will get many business meeting / convention attendees. Basically an upscale clientel, lots of 30 and 40 somethings without the arrogance you find at the Wynn. That is my personal impression.

We stayed there for the 1st time last July and loved it! Wasn't sure we would going into it as we had heard mixed reviews, but we got a really deep discount so we gave it a shot.

As ProfBac said, it's a step below Wynn and Venetian without the arrogance/snobs.

Gaming is okay, as are the restaurants, but what did it for us was their pool complex. That's a really big deal for the wife (and if the wife is happy, well...you know). We didn't have to get there at the crack of dawn to try and get a seat. We would get there between 9 and 10 and still get something very close to the pool itself.

Plus, Monday through Thursday you could get a cabana for only $200 a day. That's about half the price of any of the other upscale places. We did it twice and it was just a great way to spend the day.

The people who worked there, from check in to valet, were also fantastic to deal with.

We'll be back this July. Hope you enjoy the trip!

Bushman

I love Aria but haven't had any good offers since the new Mlife club took over. We stayed there 4 times in 2010. The beds are to die for and the mountain/pool views were my favorite. Their spa is very nice and I really enjoyed their pool. Their buffet was really good the first few times but I haven't been impressed much since the first few times. Their dealers seemed pretty nice and drink service was good. Yes, it's a walk from the strip but worth it once you get there. Go to Crystals and eat at Mastro's Oceans Club, you won't be disappointed.

I'm done with Aria,after staying there my past 4 trips. I love the rooms, but this is a part of a TR I posted from January. I hate the location and have since moved back to my favorite...Paris


We stayed at Aria, arrived on Wed after NY’s weekend and left on Saturday. I had an offer for an upgrade to a corner suite for $50 a night, which I thought would be no problem since it’s a slow time of year, well I was wrong. When we got to check in the lobby was dead so my friend picks the meanest looking white girl to help us. She said there were no corner suites available and then proceeds to give us a room on the 7th floor. I asked if there were any higher rooms available and shouldn’t I have a free upgrade since I’m Platinum? She said 7th floor was all that was available, but I can talk to a host at the players club. So I journey all the way across the casino, with my bags, to talk to a host. In hindsight and should’ve had her call one from the front desk. Anyway, we ended up with a room on the 27th floor with a view to the west of the Palms, etc…. Oh and while I was waiting for the host to call the players club person back I sat at a slot to get a drink and proceeded to lose $100 without ever getting my drink. I ordered it, but I think she went on break because I never saw her again. So the trip didn’t start out on a good note.

We stopped at the Bar Moderno for a drink before going to the room and I turned my $40 into $600, which was sweet. They had a lounge type singer in the bar, playing some pretty good music.

It was pretty dead the whole time we were there, even Friday night didn’t seem super busy. We stopped at Cosmo (Chandelier bar) for a drink. It’s hard for me to pay $14 for a wine when I can go play VP and get one comped.

I stayed at the Aria for my birthday trip, Valentine's Day. I think I was supposed to get free champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries. No champagne but I came back to my room to find a big plate of six of the most scrumptions chocolate dipped strawberries. I think they also delivered some little cake sweet treats the next day. I love the rooms Aria is still very much on my list.

Well, the first tip I always give on Aria is the same tip for Bellagio:

If you have a car with the valet you can call down to have it waiting for you when you arrive.

Rooms are nice but the water pressure in the sinks is a joke. The worst I have seen.

Always check your bill on the TV monitor.
Every time I stay there I have seen a plethora
of charges I never made.

Personnel are friendly.

BJ has good rules if you play at the double deck table. Minimums run from $100 up to
$500 on weekends.

Restaurants are expensive if you have to pay hard cash. Buffet is good. The waiter offers a half lobster when you sit down.

Place is dark and not easy to navigate.
It's a long walk to LV Blvd.

Guests are younger than Bellagio. Probably the same age as Cosmo's.

It appears I'm now on their monthly mailer list

The comps are never the same.

Food and free play vary 50% from one month to the next.

They used to offer me Sky Suites but no more,
probably because their business has picked up
the last couple years.

Even though I play about 99% table games,
they have stopped offering me comps in chips.
It's always Free Play at the VP/Slot machines.

I usually just run it through once and cash out.
That is, if there's anything left to cash out.

After staying there and M my last 5-6 trips
I'm ready for a change.

HR and TI have been sending me offers,
so maybe I'll hang with some rockers next trip. LOL

Hey, write a report on your return to express
your observations.

Not sure why but I can't stay in the casino longer than 15 minutes before my allergies start kicking in.
Doesn't seem to happen in other MLife casinos

I enjoyed staying at Aria. Bellagio is my favorite and Aria is nice just not as relaxing to me. Great staff, good food and nice location.