I stayed there Superbowl weekend 2010.
The decor of the room reminded me of THE HOTEL. the setup of the standard room is maybe a little like Encore. where the TV wall separates the 2 rooms, so it's sort of a suite, but there isn't a door separaing the 2 'rooms' like at THE HOTEL. the difference from Encore is at Encore, you walk into the bedroom first and the living area has the window. at Vdara, at least the room I had, you walk into the living area first, and turn the corner to go to the bedroom area. and both "rooms" have windows. Although I have no idea why they did not make the windows floor to ceiling.
there is also a small kitchen area right when you walk in the door. very small fridge, and a coffee maker. I think it was a kuerig. you get one pod of coffee ad one decaf per day along with 2 bottles of water. for a tip you can get extra coffee and extra water.
there is a resort fee. it was $14.95 when I stayed there. the coffee and water and wireless access are covered in that
from room to Aria, elevator, walk though lobby, walk past valet area, walk past Aria valet area, enter Aria. very quick.
to Bellagio, you step off the elevator, take a right, and another right, and there is a short walkway that takes you in to the back of the spa tower where the monorail is. so it's quicker to get to the Ballagio property, but quicker to get to the Aria casino
the hotel had a very boutiqu hotel feel to it. I quite enjoyed it. it is also non smoking.