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| - I stayed one night at Aria, on opening night, and checked out most of the bars and common areas in the place. The room was quite nice and very high tech. Like the rest of the hotel, decor is muted and brownish. Walking in, the curtains open to do a reveal of the view over the strip (Bellagio is a few buildings away) and the other City Center buildings/pool. Music started playing etc...it was actually very cool. You can customize everything and save your profile so the temperature/music/lighting etc will be ready for your next visit. You can also do fun things like set your wake-up to: warm up to x temperature, gradually turn the lights up, open the curtains and play 80's pop. Ha!
The bathtub is killer and the shower sucks...they took the water conservation shower-head a bit too far. Products kind of suck but they'll bring you free hairspray and other extras...i.e. lots of selection.
Bed, minibar, desk, all great, room was quiet with no traffic noise so i think the windows were well sealed and built.
The hotel is overall a bit boring...very brown and tan, someone said it felt more like the Hong Kong airport which I have never seen. It's nice, but not as cool looking as the Wynn's, Bellagio. But, it's more relaxing too. Kind of reminded me of a more grown-up boring Palms and THEHotel. The lobby and common area lighting is a bit bright and not sexy.
There were some nice looking shops, a colorful snack store, Union Bar was cool, Gold Lounge was great, City Bar too. I'd love to try the Michal Mina restaurant...which had a wicked cool cactus garden in the hallway outside. The casino looked appealing and not too garish or loud, very tasteful.
The gym was nice, though the selection of cardio equipment annoyed me. No decent ellipticals for example. The treadmill was cool though; it had an adjustable fan to cool you off which is great in the dry weirdness of vegas. Machines were very nice, staff was excellent. The spa looked great though I only went in to get the fresh fruit and juice.
Overall, I wasn't blown away but the place is classy and tasteful, probably very appealing to yuppies. Rooms are new and very nice so if the price is right I'd definitely stay there over Venetian, Bellagio or other aging more trashed hotels. I'll check out the nightclub Haze when it opens too.
Since we were there celebrating opening night, I received some complimentary desserts in my room.....and the chocolate creation was one of the most outrageously delicious things I have ever tasted!! They have a really famous pastry chef with a french sounding name, and a fancy chocolate/candy/cake store in the casino. The chocolate was all shaped and dusted in gold, and the white chocolate had silver glitter on it....and it was SO, so, so good that I took most of it home for my husband, which is something I NEVER do.....save leftovers let alone take them on a plane home...it was just that good!! Check out the chocolate shop!
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