Las Vegas!! ~ Photo-log

Aria Resort & Casino

3730 South Las Vegas Boulevard

Las Vegas, NV

 

Viva Las Vegas!! W and I escaped the cold and rainy weather and spent a few days in Las Vegas doing what I would love to do everyday: sleep, eat, visit fun or scenic places/lounge in the hot tub/not have to clean up after myself, eat some more, and sleep some more. LOL!!

 

Our flight was through West Jet and I chose them because they offered flights that made the most time out my valuable vacation (morning flight to LAS, late night flight back to YVR)

I had my heart set on living at Aria because a few of our friends also went there and said it was a really good hotel. Aria just opened in December of 2009 so it's one of the newest hotels on the strip! Its contemporary design and style makes it look more sleek and modern compared to its neighbours that have a more European, elegant, and lavish look. Speaking of neighbours, I thought Aria's location was not too bad! It's part of the development called City Center which includes the Vdara hotel, The Cosmopolitan hotel, Mandarin Oriental hotel, The Harmon hotel (contruction halted due to deficiencies in the structure...it may be demolished and rebuilt), The Veer residential towers, and the Crystals (a super expensive, high-end retail mall). City Center itself is nestled between Monte Carlo hotel and Bellagio and there is also a tram that runs between these 3 places! Quite convenient!

 

Aria's hotel lobby was tall and spacious! The ceiling was decked out in an autumn theme when we arrived. 

 

Then, after the American Thanksgiving, its ceiling suddenly transformed to a Christmas theme!!

 

According to Aria's website, their rooms average around 520 square feet. Some other hotels boast larger rooms. I thought it was quite spacious for us. There's also a large floor-to-ceiling window that offers a corner view (which apparently every room has). Luckily, we were facing the strip so we had a pretty nice view; but not nice enough because we were only on the 9th floor....not high enough for a GREAT view =P

 

One of Aria's selling feature is that there is a touchscreen console to control every electronic/electrical item in the room. So, you can turn off the lights, turn on the tv, and open or close the curtains with the touch of your finger all without moving about. It was tricky to navigate the console at first (I kept turning off all the lights and closing the curtains at the same time when I just wanted to close one darn lamp!) but it's quite handy at night when you want to shut everything off and go to sleep without leaving the bed. Don't worry, there are also individual switches for these things if you aren't very electronic-savvy.

I liked how each room has a good-sized foyer leading into the bedroom. It feels like walking into an apartment rather than a cramped hotel room.

Overall, I thought Aria was a great place to stay on the strip! It's a quick walk to access the tram to Bellagio and the newly built overpasses from City Center to the strip makes it easy to go to other places on the boulevard. If you are interested, I've included some tips and facts to help you determine if Aria is your hotel of choice when you visit Las Vegas.

- There is a $25 resort fee for each night you stay. This fee ensures your access to the gym, pool, business center and their wifi network but it's a scam because you can access their wifi for free!!! There's no password or anything =P

- There is no coffee maker in the hotel room. If you can't live without coffee in the morning, you'll either have to go out and buy a cuppa or bring your own coffee maker or electric kettle (we bought our own electric kettle)

- DO NOT TOUCH the mini fridge and snack tray as it is weighted. Even if you move or pick up something and put it back in its original place, the sensors will trigger and think you have taken it. Then they will charge you a whopping fee.

- The mattress is very pillowy soft. If that's not your sleeping style, ask housekeeping to help you flip it over because apparently the other side is harder. I have not tried this but I've heard other people that have done it.

- Airport shuttle drop-off and pick-up is located in their underground parking garage so if you are travelling to the hotel this way, unfortunately, you can't make a grand entrance at the front.

- The main floors have a strong vanilla scent wafting about which I think is to help mask the cigarette odours. It's personal preference whether you like the scent or not but I found it disgustingly sweet. But I guess it's better than breathing in the actual cigarette smoke.