| rev:text
| - It's a real mixed bag at Aria. On any given day, its rating could be anywhere from 1-5 stars. That inconsistency isn't a good thing though. Let me explain.
The hotel itself is pretty remarkable. Its design, size and everything about it makes for an interesting experience. I have stayed there twice - the first time for the grand opening and now again most recently the first weekend in December 2010 - about a year later. On my last stay I was looking forward to see if there were any visible changes or improvements since my first trip. Unfortunately, there really weren't any.
For a high tech hotel, the reservation and check-in process seems slow and tedious. I had booked my room through Casino Marketing and upon arrival, the front desk seemed to know little about my reservation. It was supposed to be a comp room - they had $130 per night. I had requested two double beds and was told that it would be requested - but they couldn't guarantee it - up to the front desk. So we got there around noon to check in early to try to ensure that there would be doubles available. They were - but the desk said it was an extra $30 a night and asked if that was OK. I said no, it wasn't because when I made the reservation, nothing was said about a possible charge for two queen beds versus one king. The charge was waived and it worked out - but none of it should have been an issue to begin with.
After check-in, I also realized that nothing had been said about my two comp buffet meals and my 2 for 1 show tickets. So I had to check with Casino Marketing on that. Those too ended up getting done, but only because I took the time to inquire.
As for the room - on my first visit it was kind of cool to open the door and have a dark room suddenly brighten up in front of your eyes as the curtains began to open by themselves! Not this time though. In fact, the pitch black room experience at night from the first visit wasn't the same on visit number two - the end of the curtain appeared broken and light came in from the top of the curtain as well.
The light between the beds never did work - with two bulbs it likely was broken and not burnt out bulbs. One evening, my brother awoke during the middle of the night and while half asleep hit a button on the remote that turned on several lights momentarily, then all turned off except for reading lamps above my bed. Who knows why? Then I tried to turn those off at the master switch - but ended up turning all the lights on at first. Bottom line is that to effectively use the room, it takes quite awhile to acclimate to the technology - longer than it's worth messing with. And there's often no telling that if something doesn't work because the user isn't working the tech right or if certain things are just out of order, period.
The latch on the sliding door to the bathroom was broken - nothing in the wall to receive it. Kind of unusual for a one-year old hotel. There was no immediate information in the room about Internet access and if there were charges. There is a charge - about $15 a day - which for a technology laden hotel seems kind of hypocritical. Why does a place like this nickel and dime on that? When I was checking out after my last visit, there were probably close to 200 people waiting to check in (seriously). And the line was going nowhere fast - that shouldn't happen at a "high-tech" hotel.
I enjoy Aria for its design, location, the fact that a friend works in one of the restaurants and it's casino (though I dislike the ongoing shuffle machines at the black jack tables). I'd gladly stay again at a comp or discounted rate. But if I had to pay the full rack rate, I'd pass. Would rather put the money on the tables and not have to work so hard to figure out the room technology. I'll stay at another MGM property instead.
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