[MGM] Aria Las Vegas - REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
 

I recently had a stay at the Aria. This hotel was fantastic. I will update with pictures soon.

Checkin:
The invited guest checkin area is off to the far left when looking at the main checkin lines; it is not at the closer desk to the left that happens to say "invited guests" on it. There was only one person in front of me in that line and I got to the desk pretty quickly as they had two agents there.

They checked me in, and had to go to another location to get the welcome letter, but the agent came back very quickly with it. On her own initiative the agent said "the rate you booked includes 4 pm late checkout so I will make sure that is noted on your reservation." Because I didn't actually need late checkout I thanked her and informed her it wasn't necessary as I was leaving early in the morning, but it was again nice that that was brought up by the agent.

Room:
She offered me an upgrade to a city view room (which was part of the rate that was booked, but it was still nice not having to ask for it). I will add in some more information about the room later when I am able to upload photos.

Location:
The hotel is located in the middle of the strip. I mostly gamble at PH so it was nice to be close. The cab ride from the airport cost about $18 which seemed high. I don't know if that was because the driver took a bad route, there was traffic, or because the location of the hotel required a small roundabout. Someone with more knowledge of the city can possibly comment on that, but he didn't take the freeway so I thought arguing about any longhaul would be a waste of time (and possibly incorrect).

It was pretty easy to get out of the hotel and onto the strip. You do have to walk through the casino to get into and out of the rooms. There is also someone standing by the room elevators and there is a sign that says you have to show them your room key to go past them. The first time I showed the lady my room key and she didn't seem to care, the next time I walked by the agent I didn't show my room key because I was rushing to get my stuff and catch my flight and they didn't say anything. I think the person is mostly there to help direct people to the appropriate elevators.

Casino:
The casino seemed fine. I didn't gamble there, but the tables didn't seem particularly expensive, but I generally play $10 or $25 min tables so I don't usually have to look very much for games. I didn't see any under $25 bj tables, but I was expecting to see only $50 and up from what I had heard.

Crowd:
There appeared to be all ages of people there which I really enjoy.

Room Service:
I ordered room service for breakfast the morning I got there because I was staying alone and wanted to save a little time. The food was fantastic; significantly better than room service I've had at other Las Vegas properties and it wasn't any more expensive.

Hyatt stay and night credit posted less than one week after checkout.

I just got back from a night at Aria and experienced much of the same as jetsfan. I'm a Vegas newbie but I very much enjoyed Aria, the location and what you get for the price. Our cab from the airport was $18 as well so that may be normal.

I booked a Visa Signature hotels rate and got over a third of my rate back in breakfast and food and beverage credits. We used the breakfast credit for room service and experienced excellent service and food. The front desk acknowledged my Hyatt and Mlife accounts without any prompt from me. The check-out person caught an error on the credits and fixed it without hassle, which was nice because I always expect issues with those credits.

I'm a fan of the modern hotel styling and technology features versus the stuffiness and elegance of the Palazzo (where we stayed the next night).

We ate lunch at the nearby Todd English restaurant, which was good. We had dinner at MOzen on the second floor of the Manderin Oriental which is very close by and had an excellent meal and outstanding service there if anyone needs a suggestion.

Based on this promo and the Hyatt GP - Mlife deal I'm thinking of booking a stay at the Aria instead of my LV favorite Wynn in early September.

How does the Aria compare to the Wynn (ignoring the location for a moment)?

It sort of depends on what you're looking for. The Wynn struck me as pretty stuffy the two times I stayed there, but that was in 2011. There is nothing particularly spectacular about Aria and the rooms are somewhat small.

The casino at the Wynn is smaller so if you're looking to gamble a lot, Aria may be a better choice.

If you are interested in going to the pools, I think (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that should be what you base your decision on because that seems to me that it would be the biggest difference between the two properties. I haven't been to Vegas while the pools were open so I haven't experienced the Vegas pool experience so I don't know how access to the pools works.

As a side note, my friend who used to work at the Wynn said she would recommend Encore over Wynn because its newer and you can use the Wynn facilities if you prefer them. I've never stayed at or been in Encore though.

$18 is normal for that location. If your cab was $30 like mine was to Monte Carlo, then you'll know something was up.

I don't gamble, and like the Wynn (and Encore) because of the atmosphere and the look/feel of the place. It was certainly newer and more contempoary than the Bellagio for example. This time I'm headed to LV with family for two nights before we go into the grand canyon, so I was playing with the idea of staying mid strip instead of the other end.

+1 Got in late, was not paying attention and got dinged for $30

DO NOT TAKE THE FREEWAY

If they take the freeway without you saying its okay for them to, you should call the taxi commission number (or just get the attention of one of the people working at the hotel and they should help you). Every time I've gotten into a cab they've said "freeway sound good?" I've said "lets do tropicana" every time except the last time when I was a little bit drunk from the flight and I just started laughing. The cab driver said "okay, we won't do the freeway."

Roger that, we got in late and were tired, We just wanted to get there. Not thinking straight and just said whatever is fastest. Lost that bet but damn well not repeating that mistake again.

Personally, I'd say go for the Aria just to see if you like it. It isn't Excalibur (a hotel I actually want to stay at at some point because the people watching opportunities appear to be absolutely incredible based on a quick walk through I did this past weekend) so you aren't going to be completely upset with it. It isn't as nice as the Wynn, so you might be a tad disappointed, but again, it may be worth checking out because of its location and the fact that its a nice enough hotel that you won't be asking for sandals to use in the shower.

Some may disagree but I would probably put the Aria at a mid-level Grand Hyatt and the Wynn at a lower level PH or upper level GH.

I love the Aria. It's my favorite hotel in Vegas!!

We are staying at the Aria this weekend. Arriving into Vegas early morning and haven't yet decided when we'll actually go to the hotel.

I found this thread on a generic search of all of Flyertalk: I wasn't aware you could earn Hyatt points there. I will bring my Hyatt card with me...

Any tips for checking in, rooms, etc.? I have no Hyatt status nor any kind of "Vegas status" with casinos or whatnot, so I'm not expecting an upgrade. We received a $75/nt. suite upgrade email and declined it since we won't be in the room much anyway. I'm mainly thinking (a) what time to check in on a Saturday afternoon to avoid a queue and (b) is there any kind of good or bad room within the pool of "regular" rooms that we should ask for or avoid?

Or anything else a basic non-elite Hyatt member should know about this place? We don't gamble much, although I'm sure I'll get on the Final Four and maybe some baseball. We might be interested in seeing a show but not at insane prices. We might visit a pool but aren't looking for a Rehab kind of scene.

We'll have a car for part of our stay and then cab back to the airport...I've noted the "don't take the freeway" advice. @:-)

I recommend booking your stay at Aria via Virtuoso, due to the added benefits (ex. $25 breakfast credit per person, $25 resort credit, upgrade based on availability, etc.). Just tell your Virtuoso agent to add your mLife and Hyatt number to the reservation.

For regular rooms, I recommend getting a room that's not too far from the elevator. If you don't mind walking a long hallway then this shouldn't be an issue but most properties in Vegas have very long hallways.

Taxi fares between the airport and Aria is roughly $16 each way.

We booked it through a conference organizer. I don't think we had any other option for this particular rate. We have a lot of meals provided...although no upgrade.

It's been a good stay. We were warned to avoid check-in between 11 and 1 on Saturday. When we arrived at 2:30PM, we were able to immediately check in and go to our room. The room doesn't feel small at all...and we are in a totally non-upgraded standard room.

Only oddity: we had to sign up for the hotel's own loyalty program (M-life) in order to earn Hyatt points. I don't know if we end up double-dipping these points...I just made it clear to the FD that I was interested in the Hyatt points.

We valet parked a rental car over the weekend...that was quick and easy anytime we needed the car. I returned the car to LAS yesterday and ran back to the hotel...we'll grab a cab at the end of the stay. I did notice minor cab lines at certain times...but probably not 6AM when we leave. :)

IME you'll get points in both programs.