Aria @ City Center
Aria Resort & Casino Las Vegas. What you need to know!
The above giant Penis made of wood can be found in the mall... It reminds me of a pee bottle one of my hunting buddies uses when we go out drinking.
Gambling!
They boast over 2,00 gambling machines and since its a newer casino you'll find all of the newer games. They opened with an all server based slot system. But have since added more older mechanical games like Pinball and such.
With 224 table & Poker Games mean you can find everything you want. Blackjack, 3 Card Poker, Baccarat, Craps, Let it Ride, Roulette etc. They also have Mini-Baccarat, Let-it-Ride, Pai Gow Poker and more. It’s the strip, if their neighbor has it, they have it!
One of the newest and nicest casinos on the strip. Its a pain to get in and out of. Its set wayyyyy back in the City Center complex. The easiest way to get in from the South end of the strip is to walk through the Monte Carlo. Head to the back, through their shitty little mall called the Streets of Dreams but DO NOT follow the signs to the monorail. They want everyone on the monorail since that dumps you off at the mall. Don't be a dupe just take my route. Unless you really want to walk through one of the least shoppable malls in Vegas. Walk past this and through a set of doors. Those doors lead you to an escalator going down. This heads right into the casino.
If you are coming from the North end of the strip its easier to get in from Bellagio. Here you will take the monorail all the way to the end (Monte Carlo) and walk through the same set of doors. It will be to your left coming off the monorail. And just so you don't sound like a dork. Its pronounced R-E-AHH. Like in an opera. Not like Air-E-Ah as in area,
If you try to get in any other way you will have to trek up to the pedestrian bridge, walk through their over priced dead mall. Walk through a few sets of doors, past a few restaurants and just beyond the front desk you will finally be inside the casino. My way keeps you inside in the air conditioning and through other casinos so you can gamble you way right along the strip. Now if you want to visit the Cosmopolitan, which is not an MGM casino even though it looks like its part of City Center, by all means walk outside the long way. You can get up to the second floor (their shopping floor) and cut outside to the bridge and into the shitty mall on the way to Aria.
What’s to eat?
Aria is very posh. And if you are not you wont want to eat here. Even the buffet, which had to be redone after a few months, thinks its fancy. It used to look like a high school cafeteria. And with most MGM buffets its nothing special. But it is improved. You want a good buffet hit up the Wicked Spoon next door at the Cosmopolitan. You can always take the free monorail over to Monte Carlo for some cheap eats.
To simplify your selection the following have been rated for value.
As Vegas eateries change almost hourly you might want to double check if these places are still in operation. This blog is very lazy with updates...
Cheap (reasonably priced for what you get). ‘Bout what you’d expect (if you don’t understand this you should stick to McDonalds). Holy Shit! (Unless you are used to your bill looking like your phone number stay away)
Actually I’m not going to rate them, just know you better bring your pocket book if you want to dine with the finer folks out there. Pretty much everything on here ranges from pricey to Holy Shit. So you have been warned.
I'm make it easy. Almost everything below is in the Holy Shit range. I for one, have never eaten anything more that a doughnut at cafe or munched the buffet. Even that I would put as pricey for what you get.
American Fish - Steak & Seafood
Bar Masa - Japanese
Blossom - Chinese
Breeze Cafe - Café
Cafe Centro - Café
Cafe Vettro - Café
Jean George's Steakhouse - Steak
Jean Philippe Patisserie - Bakery
Julian Serrano - Spanish
Lemongrass - Thai
Sage - Steak & Seafood
Sirio Maccioni - Italian
Skybox Sports Bar and Grill - Grille, Sports Bar
Sweet Chill - Shop - Ice Cream
The Buffet - Buffet
The Roasted Bean - Shop - Coffee
Union Restaurant & Lounge - American
Hotel
Over 4000 hotel rooms at Aria.
The Room Basics
The rooms here are top notch, great large bathrooms, the only stupid thing is, the bath tub is located in the shower. No I dont mean you stand in the tub to shower, you have to walk through the shower to sit in the tub. Grid, thats sounds awesome and unique! Why would you say thats stupid? Well its stupid since its all in its own glass enclosure and since its such a large confined space, the whole thing smells a little moldy. Plus you cant really build up much steam in here, and it feels weird to be so far removed from the rest of the bathroom when you are sitting in a tub in a little glass box.
But the rooms are nice. The controls take some getting used to. Everything in our room was automated. From the curtains to the TV to all the lights. They give you a little iPad type thing to control everything with, even the alarm clock. But I guess I'm too stupid to understand it all. Sure I COULD figure it out. I could figure out how to use your cel phone if you give me enough time. But do I want to spend that much effort on vacation?
What you need to know.
Aria is not cheap, and if you use your hotel room just as a place to crash, save your money and stay at Planet Ho across the street. Its pretty hard to get in and out of Aria. Unless you plan on spending time at both Bellagio and Monte Carlo each day of your trip. Finally they added some pedestrian bridges that will get you over to Planet Hollywood and the west side of teh strip. But its still a jog and you'll feel rather removed from the rest of Las Vegas.
In closing:
I liked Aria. Maybe more than I thought I would. Once you are in the complex all elevators are in one spot. So its easy to get in and out of your room. The hallways on each floor look like a business office and the views are hard to come by with a few large building smack dab in the middle of your range of vision. But I would stay here again. The food choices arent for me, and their Cirque show Zarkana sucked. But I like the casino, the huge gift shop. And I guess if you are rich enough you'll like the mall. But if you are rich and fancy why would you be reading this site?
What else you need to know?
The pool is kinda shitty. Its wet but not much else from what I saw. Nothing like Wet republic at MGM or the beach at Mandalay Bay. But its newer and far from the crappiest in town. I would just expect more considering the multibillion dollar resort complex.
Major attractions.
As Vegas shows change almost hourly you might want to double check if these are still in operation. This blog is very lazy with updates...
A great Poker Room right on the casino floor. You might be able to spot a few Pros from TV playing here.
Cirque De Soleil Zarkana. This was once a traveling show and it shows. Just a bunch of random circus acts. Sure they have talent but the show has no heart. The lead sings throughout the show in Cirquish. If only it was in English I might know what the fuck is going on.
What did a hundo get us?
We played through five $20.00 bills on various machines. If we bet $1.00 a spin, we give em 20 spins and cash out. $2.00 per spin is 10 spins. If you can’t wrap your brain around this math, please do not gamble. I am sure this test of the slots is insanely scientific. But your actual millage may vary.
1st machine: Ringling Bros. $1.00 Bet cashed out about 4 bucks. Skunked.
2nd machine: Super Times Pay. $1.25 max bet. No free games and only about $5.00 total won. Skunk 2
3rd machine: $0.25 Diamond Queen. $5.00 per spin minimum bet. Cashed out zero.
4th machine: $0.25 Diamond Queen. $5.00 per spin minimum bet. Cashed maybe a buck or 2.
5th machine $0.25 Diamond Queen. $5.00 per spin minimum bet. I dont normally do this. But I was going through my free play and I knew the bonus was about to hit. $5.00 in Bonus! Cashed out $205.00
Total results. Turning $100.00 into $220 in 15 minutes seemed pretty easy. Assuming my math is correct, everyone that plays at Aria is bound to end up filthy rich! I told you guys I always do well here!
Website - www.arialasvegas.com
General Information - (866) 359-7111
Hotel Reservations - (866) 359-7757
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