Review: Aria Resort & Casino Las Vegas

August 1, 2016

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This review forms part a trip I took with Joanna to Las Vegas and San Francisco (introduction and full details of the trip are here).

Booking

I booked Aria direct through the M-Life website because that’s almost always the cheapest way to go – I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a major Las Vegas casino cheaper on an OTA site than on the hotel’s own site.

At the time of booking I selected a Deluxe King Room (the basic room that Aria sells) because, for the amount of time we actually spend in the room when in Vegas, a 520 sq ft room at a 5* hotel is more than enough. (Interestingly, rooms with two Queen beds are generally more expensive at Aria and most other Las Vegas resorts…presumably because the hotel assumes the cost of the room is being split).

M-Life Platinum Status

I was also thinking that my Hyatt/M-Life status may see us upgraded anyway….so why pay? 🙂

Arrival & Check-In

We flew into Las Vegas Terminal 3 and, after collecting our baggage, headed to the valet parking section of the parking lot which is where Uber and Lyft are allowed to pick up.

Uber is one of the best things to ever come to Vegas because it finally gives travelers an alternative to the abhorrent Taxi cartels that gouge visitors on a daily basis (we ended up using Uber quite a bit on this trip, both in Vegas and San Francisco, and the service was almost universally good).

The journey from the airport to Aria took 14 minutes and cost $12.68 – less than half of what I’ve seen taxis charge visitors. (If you’re not already signed up with Uber you can do so via my referral link here – you’ll get credit towards your first ride and I’ll get credit towards a future ride).

The Lobby at Aria

Upon arrival at Aria my M-Life status came in useful almost immediately. The line for regular check-in was quite long while there was no line at all for those holding Platinum status.

The check-in agent was pleasant enough but it was only because I was paying attention as she handed me the key cards that I realised that she had checked us in to a room with two Queen beds. I politely pointed out that I had specifically booked a King room and asked her if she could make sure that’s what we got.

At first all I got was an excuse that the hotel was “fully committed” thanks to a conference that was in town but, when I pressed her further (this time a bit more firmly), she made a call and hey presto we had a King room.

To be honest that really p***ed me off.

Firstly, I booked a King room not a Queen room (they are specifically separate room-types that you can book) so that’s what I expect to be given. Secondly, Joanna and I were pretty obviously a couple so I’m not sure at what point the check-in agent thought we were going to settle for two Queen beds. Thirdly, is this the service that Aria offers M-Life Platinum members? If it is what’s the point of having status?

I know better than to get annoyed with a desk agent once I’ve got what I want but it took quite a bit of self-control not to ask her what was going on. It wasn’t a case of wanting something I hadn’t paid for (although the fact I had been hoping for a complimentary upgrade was, in hindsight, quite amusing), I just wanted the room I had booked and I didn’t expect to have to negotiate with a desk agent to get that.

The small print of Aria’s T&C gives them a get out…

….but if the hotel is going to charge guests based on the room configuration they book (the number of beds is the only difference between a King and Queen room) then guests should have a right to receive what they’re booking.

It’s also a bit of a cheek to call something a “request” in the T&Cs when the size of the bed is included in the name of room type being offered!

The Room

After the annoyance of check-in we were happy to head up to our room on the 31st floor and, although it only had a view looking out at the Vdara complex….

Aria Las Vegas – View from the 31st floor

…it wasn’t a bad room at all:

Like most hotel rooms there’s a small bit of hallways as you walk in….

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

…and the hotel has made good use of space here with a lot of wardrobe/storage on one side…

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

…and a good-sized bathroom on the other side (I’ll come on to that in a bit).

Where the small hallway ends the room opens out into the sleeping area…..

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

…where a King-size bed……

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

…faces a desk, chair, large-screen TV and the mini-bar:

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

There’s a bit of a design flaw here because you can’t have someone sitting/working at the desk while someone else watches the TV – the person at the desk just gets in the way.

The other pieces of furniture in the room were two chairs which faced inwards from the windows:

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

As I mentioned a little earlier, the bathroom was a good size with a 2-sink vanity unit…..

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

…an enclosed shower and tub area…..

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

..and some nice toiletries:

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

The in-room safe took up an entire drawer on one side of the bed and was wide enough to fit a 11″Macbook Air but may not be big enough to fit anything much wider than that:

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

As you can see in the picture below, the hotel supplies power outlets on either side of the bed (2 on either side)….

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

…and all the lights in the room can be controlled by switches on either side of the bed too:

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

That’s very good but, then again, it’s something that should always be a feature of a hotel as young as Aria (although that often isn’t the case).

The desk under the TV had its own set of impressive inputs/outputs…..

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

…and I liked the way that the power sockets are aligned differently – that reduces the risk that a guest with a cumbersome adaptor (as often found on Apple products) can’t plug his/her device in to the wall.

Someone actually thought about that and that’s pretty cool.

The mini-bar was stocked full……

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

…and, as the sign above it tells guests, the menu (and therefore prices) for all the items can be found on the tablet next to the bed…..

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

…except our tablet stubbornly refused to work:

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

Sometimes hotels take technology a little too far – what was wrong with the simple paper/card menus that were provided in the past?

Amenities

The hotel’s corridors were well-lit so there was a general feeling of space around the place….

Aria Las Vegas

…and there were large ice machines located at various points on each floor:

Aria Las Vegas – Deluxe King Room

We were quite lucky in that our floor (31) and the floors above are accessed from a different set of elevators to the floors below and, while elevators for the lower floors seemed amazingly busy at almost all times of the day, ours were generally empty and quiet.

This being Vegas the hotel charges an extortionate “resort fee” which is basically a room rate hike masquerading as a fee for:

Property-wide high speed internet access (public spaces and in-room)
Unlimited local and toll free calls
Airline boarding pass printing
Notary service
Daily digital newspaper access
Fitness center access for guests 18+

Basically you’re paying $35.84 for internet access because I don’t believe that the vast majority of Vegas visitors use any of the other things that the fee supposedly covers.

Unfortunately there’s no escaping these fees in Vegas and, although they vary from property to property, the price is pretty uniform amongst the better hotels.

I didn’t have time (or the inclination) to visit the fitness centre (who feels like working out after being outside in 100 degree heat?!) and the pool area had way too many people in it for picture-taking so here are a couple supplied by MGM Resorts:

Dining

Like most huge Las Vegas hotels Aria has a number of places to eat and drink and these range from fine dining (like Sage which offers “creative American” cuisine) to the simple (like Pinkberry and various patisseries and coffee shops scattered around the property).

The only eatery we tried out was the Aria Cafe because that’s where breakfast was served each morning (not included in the hotel rate).

Aria Las Vegas

The Aria cafe is open 24-hours a day and, although large, gets busy very quickly around peak times.

On the first morning we were there we were awake pretty early so there was no wait for a table. The next day, when we turned up at a more usual breakfast time, guests were being quoted 15 – 20 minute wait times.

Despite being in the priority line (and just 4 people from the front) we were also quoted a 15 – 20 minute wait time but, before I could ask how that was possible, we were invited to sit down! Seriously. Not 30 seconds after one member of staff came over to us and said a table would require a wait, we were being ushered to our table – I have no idea what that was all about.

Aside from the staff at the entry desk the rest of the Aria Cafe crew seemed efficient and friendly and the breakfast menu was pretty good (click to enlarge in another window):

The basic coffee and fresh OJ were both very good….

Aria Las Vegas

….and the Denver omelette with hash browns (which doesn’t look like much in the picture) was delicious:

Aria Las Vegas

There’s no escaping the fact that the food is expensive (it generally is in the better Vegas hotels) but at least it was tasty and our servers were generally super-friendly.

Tip: If you feel like splashing out, try dinner at Twist at the Mandarin Oriental (a short walk from Aria) – fantastic service and excellent food and wine.

Bottom Line

I liked our room, I was very happy with the location and the wait-staff at the Aria Cafe were very nice indeed….but the experience at the front desk left me with doubts about this hotel.

A five-star hotel isn’t just about marble floors, huge ornate public areas, and granite vanity units in bathrooms…it’s about service as well. Actually, it’s a lot about service. On that front the front desk experience really let Aria down.

Hotels get full and certain room types get booked up – I get that – but there’s a good way and a bad way to deal with these things and how a hotel deals with these situations is usually a good indicator of its standing.

In this instance there was no mention that our room wasn’t of the kind I had booked, there was no “I’m really sorry but we only have Queen rooms available right now, is that ok?” – I had to notice that the room wasn’t what I’d booked before the subject was broached….and then there was the song-and-dance routine to actually get the King room I booked – that’s not five star service. And that’s certainly not the type of service someone with decent status should be getting either.

There are a fair few good hotels in reasonably good positions on the Vegas strip (Bellagio for one) so there’s quite a bit of competition out there – it’s not like Aria offers something unique. I’ve had better service at both Caesars and Bellagio in the past (and that was without any kind of status whatsoever) so I think they’re more likely to get my business on any return trip.

Our Favourite Luggage

a man and woman standing next to luggage

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2 COMMENTS

Elizabeth August 1, 2016 At 2:20 pm

That is a very detailed and fair review. I totally agree with the points you make about 5 star service.
- Ziggy August 1, 2016 At 2:23 pm
  
  Thanks for the comment and I’m glad you liked the review – it will be interesting to see if anyone else has had similar experiences at Aria check-in or if this was just an unfortunate one-off event.