MGM Resorts invited me to Las Vegas this past weekend to check out their M life Rewards. It’s an interesting concept, which will require a separate post to explain (coming soon). MGM Resorts owns 15 hotels around the world including Aria Resort & Casino, which is where I spent three nights. It’s such a great hotel – here are 11 reasons to stay at Aria Hotel in Las Vegas!
1. It’s a destination within a destination
Aria Resort & Casino is a destination within a destination since it’s the 11th largest hotel in the world with 4,004 rooms. They have everything including 16 restaurants, 15 bars, and lounges, 12 shops, three pools, 300,000 square feet of meeting space, and a whole lot more. It’s part of the city’s $8 billion City Center complex. The City Center is comprised of three hotels (Aria, Mandarin Oriental, and Vdara, two condo towers, and a 500,000 square foot retail and entertainment district. MGM Resorts own it.
2. It’s beautifully designed
The design from the exterior to the interiors are jaw dropping. From the moment you walk into the lobby, casino and restaurants, your mouth will be open in amazement. I like that guests don’t have to walk through the casino to get to most of the restaurants, the spa or the pool, since they are located on the promenade level (2nd floor), which is perfect if you have kids or don’t feel like walking through a rowdy crowd in your robe. FYI: My photos don’t do the place justice (do they ever?) so you really need to see it for yourself.
3. The elevators
With 61 floors in total and over 4,000 rooms, you would think guests would have to wait a while for an elevator. Not the case. I never waited more than 30 seconds because they have different banks with each one only going to 5-10 floors.
4. It’s not that smoky
The architects must have figured out a way to make the casino less smoky than most; walking through them is a much different experience from walking through the older hotels, where the air is thick with the smell of stale smoke. I heard they have hidden fans on the floors, mainly around the slot machines, that blow the smoke up to filters but I didn’t spot them. Regardless, it’s amazing. What’s also nice is that the 150,000-square-foot casino doesn’t have any annoying bells going off.
5. The Aria Spa
The Aria spa is a staggering 80,000-square-feet and features 62 treatment rooms. They offer a unique blend of services, products and experiences, and inside there are distinctive design features using Aji stone, water gardens and natural light, which create a sense of calmness. I was surprised that the men’s locker room had at least a dozen guys in there, walking around in robes and watching college football on the big screen.
I quickly changed into my robe and was escorted to my treatment room for a 50-minute reflexology massage. Here’s the description from the spa menu: “Our reflexology-inspired treatment is combined with hot stones for the ultimate relaxation of your hands, feet, neck, shoulders, and scalp.” The $170 price ($160 during the week) is steep but I guess the demand is so high they can get away with it. Also in the spa are “Ganbanyoku” heated-stone beds, a “Shio” salt room, and an outdoor therapy pool. FYI: There’s also a state-of-the-art gym but surprisingly it’s not open 24/7.
6. The restaurants
Aria has 16 restaurants with some of the biggest celebrity chefs like Jean Georges. This trip I ate dinner at Michael Mina’s American Fish and breakfast at The Buffet. The buffet is very reasonable and has practically everything. It costs $18.99 for breakfast, $22.99 for lunch, $33.99 for dinner ($6 more on gourmet nights). It’s the only one in town that offers crabs legs for lunch every day and the only one on The Strip that has a tandoori oven. It also has the most gluten-free offerings since the chef is allergic to wheat.
7. The incredible shows
The big show at Aria is Cirque du Soleil’s Zarkana. It seems there’s a Cirque du Soleil show for everything and this one has been billed as a reinvention of the variety show. It’s a story about a magician in an abandoned theatre who has lost his love and his magic and it’s bizarrely entertaining. The female juggler and sand painter are worth the price of admission.
8. The state-of-the-art rooms
My room at Aria was the most state-of-the-art room I’ve ever stayed in. First of all, you can control everything (curtains, lights, temperature, TV) from either the TV remote or the control center next to the bed. There was also a ‘goodnight’ button next to the bed that would turn off all the lights and the TV and close the curtains. With the TV remote, you could turn on or off any lights (including those in the bathroom) and adjust the room temperature. How amazing is that? The only thing in the room that was short on technology was the toilet. There was no remote control Toto toilet like the ones I saw (and loved!) in Japan and in my room in Shanghai, but the beds are super soft and the sheets are cozy.
The TV even had an alarm clock that would let you wake-up the way you desired. You could choose what TV channel to wake up to, or which lights to turn on and which curtains to open. The TV also had a channel with Las Vegas Airport’s Departures and Arrivals Board.
The only thing the room was missing were electrical outlets by the bed, but I might be the only person that goes to Vegas and likes to work in bed … besides the prostitutes, of course.
FYI: Basic (512 KBPS) wireless Internet is free but the good stuff costs $15 for 24 hours.
9. Liquid
One of the hottest new spots in Vegas during the day is Liquid Pool & Lounge (open April-September). It’s the adults-only outdoor playground at ARIA. There’s a cover charge, Men $40; Women $10 (weekdays is $20 cheaper for men), to get secluded, seductive and sizzling environment. There are two pools, 8 cabanas, bikini-clad waitresses/dancers and DJs playing/rapping the most racist songs you ever could imagine. It’s definitely not for everyone, including me, because after 10 minutes I was ready to exit and hit the quiet family pool.
10. HAZE Nightclub
If you still have energy after Liquid then wait until around midnight and hit HAZE Nightclub. It’s one of the most electric clubs in Vegas, and it has a colossal cutting-edge light environment that supposedly challenges your perception of reality. It holds about 1,500 people and the line to get in is long (Costs: $40 Men; $20 Women). The night I was there had T-Pain as the guest DJ, and Michael Jordan had a bunch of his celeb friends in the house.
11. You can checkout online
The morning of my departure date, I got an email for express checkout. At a click of a link, I reviewed my bill online and then checked out so I didn’t have to wait in any long lines (if they can create something like this for check-in that would be remarkable).
As you can see, Aria Resort and Casino has it all and you really don’t need to leave the hotel property if you don’t want to. One thing is for sure: you won’t be disappointed.
the Royal India Bistro at the RIO has 2 tandoori ovens.
AND??!!!
Haha!! This is such an awful hotel! I’m glad they paid you to check it out because they could not pay me enough to go back EVER!
Why do you think it’s awful? P.S. They didn’t pay me to check it out.
We are so excited and are staying at the Aria next month for the first time. We have been to Vegas many may times and can not wait, Thank you for your review.
I will never go back either having having there staff memeber assult me and then get the run around when i complained.
Thanks for the review. I have been to Vegas 5 times With my friend. My husband has decided he would like to take me in August for a special celebration. I think The Aria will fit the bill nicely. Thanks for a great review
my husband and I recently spent one week at Aria.It was our 42nd trip to Las Vegas.We mostly have stayed at the Harrah group of hotels but have been disappointed lately.They are showing their age and nothing is being done about it.We were blown away by Aria.Beautiful hotel,casino and rooms.Also the pool area is very pretty and the three family pools were quiet and relaxing.(Liquid pool was out of season,and we’d never go their anyway.Too old for that,ha!). We did find the restaurants in Aria quite pricey but that seems to be the trend in Vegas now,with all of the big name chefs opening up there. We are looking forward to another stay at Aria next year.
42 times? I am surprised you can remember that exact number. I cannot even remember every blowjob I ever had.
How have I never heard of liquid? That place sounds fantastic for singles, and kinda like it goes well with a Las Vegas experience.
Been meaning to post my rant about the aria hotel from the sema show visit. My hotel stay at the aria was pretty bad. Last time i was there the paint off the ceiling was falling off while i was taking a shower.
This time as i was getting into a taxi. The aria staff member who helped me as i was walking around the car to get in grabbed me so hard and spun me around that he left his hand print on my arm. Seriously about took me off my feet. i contacted there staff by email and got a chain letter back basically blew me off. Asked them if they watched the video and i was told they can’t and i have to call in to another person who can do this. I seriously should have just filed a police report. Yea i got man handled that bad.. I had to work the rest of the show with my arm hurting and could not wear some of my short sleeve shirts etc.
Don’t stay at the aria hotel and be sure to sure with your friends. This is suposta be a high end hotel. High end of staff abuse that is.
I enjoyed my stay at the Aria Hotel. I agree that it doesn’t seem as smokey as some of the other hotels in Vegas, and that it definitely good for me.
My husband and I are going to Vegas for the first time the end of July 2014 & we picked the Aria to stay in. We are staying a whole week and we can’t wait. We searched all the hotels in Vegas and looking at all the descriptions the Aria hotel is the one we picked. It looks like a beautiful hotel. I just hope our experience goes well.
You only need 1 reason to stay at Aria. Because it’s awesome! We go to Vegas 2-3 times a year from South Florida and we always stay at Aria. If you play poker, check out the poker rate. It’s the best poker room in Vegas and you get great deals.
I am surprised about complaints regarding staff at Aria. Aria, and pretty much every strip hotel I have stayed in has hospitality down cold. We have stayed at Aria three times in the last few years and have always been treated incredibly well. We love the rooms, the pools and the restaurants. My ONLY complaint is that they never have any $10 black-jack or craps.
Has the aria got kettles in the room to make a cup of tea or coffee
I stayed there in January and had a great experience too! Next time you are there definitely check out Bardot’s Bistro – an absolutely amazing French brasserie.
all i read is BAD reviews….almost afraid to stay at
aria Why is the cast members so mean to the customers. Are being treating so bad!!!!
Loved this place!!! Omg, the beds are the best in the world!!