| rev:text
| - One of my top 5 favorite properties on the Strip. There's only a handful of small nitpicks that keep it from being a 5.
PROs:
The hot chocolate in the tiny sake cups at check-in.
My favorite: the ability to text your requests instead of call and possibly wait on hold.
The impeccable service from the front desk staff who personally show you to your room, to the doormen with the top hats. When you call or text the front desk, everyone takes the time to call you by name.
The free mini bottled waters at turndown. I don't like plastic bottles but I can see this being a perk for others.
Free tea, coffee, and in-room coffee--maker - very rare on the Strip.
The heavenly pomelo-scented bathroom amenities.
Pretty good views of the Strip (though not as good as at the Cosmopolitan/Bellagio/Planet Hollywood area).
The decor in both public and private spaces, and the quality of the furniture, fixtures and sheets and pillows in the rooms.
And ever since I got a memory foam mattress 13 years ago I haven't been able to sleep well in most hotels but the bed here was pretty comfortable for a spring-type mattress.
Like many high-end hotels on the strip, they offer the use of robes and slippers and have overly complicated touchscreen and TV screen remotes for the lights, curtains (sheers and blackouts), alarm, music, etc.
The signaling system at the door is one of the better ones I've used, and includes a valet light to signal when you have or receive laundry, shoes for shining, requested amenities, etc. They can remove or place things in the valet closet without entering your room, which is nice.
CONs:
The cons are many but mostly minor:
The perfume pumped into the main areas, while not as vile as the Play Dough air in the Crystals mall, is noxious. At least it doesn't extend to the rooms.
You have to self-park all the way at the Aria if you don't want to valet (though self-parking is free if you have an M-Life Pearl card or higher). The long walk between the Mandarin and the Aria parking lot is daunting after a long day of fun-having.
The mostly freestanding "deep soaking tub" is pretty but narrow. If you want a nice big tub for lounging book yourself a room at the Aria or get the Terrace One Bedroom at the Cosmopolitan (I prefer the ones with the view of the Bellagio fountains - nothing beats sipping a drink with your honey in the tub while watching the fountains).
Mozen. Food was meh for the price, service terrible: they constantly directed all their comments and questions to my husband (he is white) and called him by name, but never even looked at me the entire time, let alone spoke to me or called me by name. They bring you $9 bottled water when you ask for "just water" and don't tell you they're not going to bring you free tap water (I don't like things in plastic bottles). I'm sure they're trained to do so but that doesn't make the taste it leaves in my mouth any more pleasant. I don't mind expensive, as long as there is full disclosure of the fact. And they ask for your room number but don't let you bill it to your room.
They charged us $10 for things at the minibar that we did not take. They took the charges right off, but having to chase them down to have this done left a bad taste in my mouth. (And these charges didn't appear on our credit card until we had been home for weeks. I wonder if they do this so as to nickel and dime people/business clients who aren't paying attention.) Also, the minibar is expensive even by Strip standards.
There's a lot of unnecessary crap ("decor") in the rooms that are just clutter to me. I don't want some ratty, dusty old supposedly-$300 train case that looks like it came from a thrift shop. I brought my own, and now I have nowhere to put it, thanks. Or the vases that gather dust. Or the nasty-smelling bath salts in the $200 tray by the bathtub - LUSH is a thing, I don't want to fill my tub with something that smells like I should be rubbing it on salmon.
Final analysis:
If the tubs were larger and you could see the Bellagio fountains from them, this would be hands-down my favorite hotel on the Strip. Because the Cosmopolitan has the tubs and the view, but the appointments are not nearly as nice, the two are tied for my favorite Vegas hotel.
Additional ranking info:
The Venetian/Palazzo and Wynn/Encore tie with MO for 1st because the rooms are nice but the tubs are small (there are higher tier rooms with larger tubs at the Venetian/Palazzo but are twice as expensive), and the Aria and PH are tied for 4th because the tubs are big but the furniture is worn.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)