My first impression of Aria - after walking through a very loud casino area - is its lobby which has the ambience of a train station - large and impersonal. The front desk�(pictured below)�resembles airport check-in queues. Aria's lobby has none of the colorful and light-filled beauty of Bellagio - and certainly none of the contemporary elegance of the Mandarin Oriental.

Aria has 4004 guest rooms including 568 suites - and 16 restaurants. I had the opportunity to see a standard Deluxe Room (520 square feet) at Aria as well as a Corner Suite (920 square feet) and two Sky Suites. I was joined for the site inspection by�luxury�who was also attending TravelMart as a Virtuoso agent. If you're looking for a clean, cheap, and even attractive room, Aria is a good deal. However, this is NOT a luxury hotel. No hotel with 4004 rooms can ever achieve that standard. Hallways are LONG, meaning you could walk forever to reach your room. Built-ins appeared to be constructed of formica and the headboards were vinyl. Bathrooms were "ok" but I was not impressed by arrangement of the step-in shower which was in the same glass-enclosed area just in front of the soaking tub. �

Room

Corner Suites are quite large and come with free internet. Suite bathrooms offer a completely separate oval-shaped bathtub with airjets - and also a Toto washlet toilet seat.� Sky Suites, in addition, come with access to a rather small club lounge (no view) and offer free round-trip airport transportation. We were shown a 1 BR Aria Suite (1050 square feet) a Penthouse Suite (1500 square feet). However, I was not impressed with these room products when compared to similarly priced suites at Bellagio.

Overall

Last knock on Aria... TravelMart has been held for 10 years at Bellagio which, for its faults (tired rooms that need freshening) has a beautiful lobby and pretty good service for a large hotel. Bellagio's catering is phenomenal for a large crowd. Aria? The food was mediocre. I barely touched my meal last night.