Crazyhotelguy

Thanks, that has been my experience at Luxor and MGM. Not looking for much, but a decent room on a high floor would be fine.

Single_Flyer

Sorry, I should change what I said earlier; I was thinking you were looking for a suite.

You might get a high floor and/or a strip view for no cost, depending on availability. But you won't get a suite upgrade of any type at Aria unless you are a high roller or pay for it.

gooselee

That said, I have been at Aria before when they are particularly not busy (midweek, no big conferences) and asked nicely at the FD if there were suite upgrades.

Twice I was offered the option to UG to a Corner Suite for something like $50/night. So yes, a paid UG, but much less of a premium than if I had just booked it outright (and also, of course, not guaranteed).

This was when I was MLife Plat.

iflyjetz

We got a strip view room mid to high 20s floor at Aria. Not a suite, but it was a very nice room.

Almost all of my MLife stays comp me rooms at least that good. We seem to always get high floors. We usually get view rooms or larger non-suite rooms.

That reminds me of the time my wife and I were checking into Mandalay Bay - they were out of king beds but offered us a Delano suite for an extra $50 or so. I took it. The room rate was ~$120 so it made the Delano suite ~$170.

Part of the reason why I took it is because I was talking to the couple behind me that booked an entry suite for two nights for a bit more than $1K.



Edit: and since this is an Aria thread, I consider it to be a solid property. I have no qualms about staying at
Bellagio
Delano
Mandalay Bay
Mirage
Aria
MGM Grand
Signature at MGM Grand

Single_Flyer

Not to nitpick but floors 20-29 at Aria are low/mid floors. The top floor I believe is 68. I think they consider 50+ a high floor. Strip view is always nice though.

iflyjetz

Thanks for the correction. I confess that I didn't bother to check to see how many floors there were; mid to high 20s was good enough for me - the view was great.

Crazyhotelguy

Just to update... checked in today and was told NO high floor rooms were available. We were given rooms on 6 and 7. Front desk was a mess. Check-in, even at the invited guest line took forever...

Rooms are nice, facing the front entrance. Not a great view, but it could be worse. I have had better room location at MGM without status...

Vegas is always a roll of the dice...

Jimgotkp

Depends how full the hotel is.. you'd be surprised by how tough it can be to find a room in a hotel with more than 5000 rooms.. Aria's basic rooms are nice which is a good thing.

janddouglas

Stayed here end of October. Am M-Life Platinum for what it was worth. Was given a room almost end of the corridor miles from the lift on 21st floor with a view of the Cosmo pool.

It is a nice hotel with a great pool.

Todd English is great when their happy hour on is, outrageously expensive when not.

Would like to check-out SLS next time. Unami Burger there is a great bar, half the price of TE.

Crazyhotelguy

Having worked in large hotels, I do know the dynamics of large and small hotels.

There is truth in the fact that even the base rooms at Aria are fine... I would definitely avoid a base room at NYNY/Monterey Carlo/Luxor/EXCALIBUR.

On a slightly different note, we had an issue with one of our traveling partners on this trip. We needed to extend to another night in Vegas. It was a Friday night and we had already checked out of Aria.

On a whim, we decided to use our free annual night certificate from Chase IHG card. Booked free room at Palazzo. At check-in, politely asked for a higher floor room. FD clerk stated that my PLT status gave a strip view room as well. She also gave a 2PM C/O without my asking. So we just found it ironic that a program we barely use , granted us much more tangible benefit, than one we utilize regularly . Granted this is purely a one off, but the free 27th floor, strip-View suite at Palazzo was certainly a step up from the paid for, corner 7th floor room at Aria.

Front desk staff at the Palazzo were much more friendly and welcoming, but again YMMV.

Jimgotkp

Had a positive experience at the Palazzo as well and agree that their rooms are nice. Were you in a corner suite at Aria? They're pretty small but the bathrooms are very nice.

With the FD staff, I agree Palazzo has a better staff than Aria. The worst FD staff I encountered in Vegas was at the Bellagio..

Crazyhotelguy

Yes, kind of a corner "88" room. Small window, but large bathroom. Room was spacious.

iflyjetz

Interesting. I've had no issues with Bellagio FD staff; they were great when I stayed there. Always a YMMV thing.

Jimgotkp

You would have thought, right? Same. I've stayed at both properties a lot in the past few years and prefer Aria when it comes to the rooms and FD service. Bellagio has the upperhand when it comes to FHR/Virtuoso benefits though, especially because of the $100 F&B credit.

Single_Flyer

Clearly YMMV. I was in Vegas this weekend. Stayed at Aria, Bellagio and Delano -- each for one night (trying to get some stay credits!). By far the best front desk staff were at Bellagio (well, I only talked to one but she was awesome! I was checking in using a reservation I booked through Amex FHR program and she took a lot of time to make sure I understood all the benefits). Aria staff was okay (which seems to be what I usually get at Aria).

Delano, however, had the worst staff I have encountered at a hotel. Shame because it is a beautiful property. Check in agent didn't explain anything to me (check out time? Wifi instructions? F&B credit?), and it turned out messed up my check in so I was unable to charge things to my room. Check out agent this morning was just as bad; when trying to close out my tab she asked who helped me out at one of the quick service restaurants the night before. Clearly I didn't know his name, so I said "I'm not sure, he was the guy working the check out", and she said "Well, I know he was some guy..." Really good customer service.

I had other issues with my stay at Delano, but since this is off topic I'll save it for some place else...