TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I think the 4.3 rating is a bit misplaced. Stayed at 3 properties in this trip at Vegas - Fontainebleau , Aria and Hilton Found Fountainebleau shoulders ahead of Aria. Aria casino is dark, badly organized and is like a Ross / TJ Maxx on Black Friday. Compared to a Bellagio another MGM property Aria is like a step child. The exterior is fantastic and is well connected and located but the room i got was basic , AC leaked water and the pièce de résistance was the mini bar smart water 500 ml bottle was $14. I mean that is just not gouging but simply greed. It’s not like the prices are printed but one had to go through the rigmarole of scanning and figuring out what is what price not to mention these are snacks and drinks loaded on weight sensors. The water at $14 per 500 ml made me smarter. I cancelled 2 trips to the sister property. The carpets are darker color and just bad aesthetics. At Fontainebleau I got an upgraded room and a regular room and both were streets ahead of the dump at Aria. I realized there’s rich and mini bar rich. Imagine $105 for a gallon of water. Ocean’s 11 anyone ?

Check in is available online and you can get a digital room key for your phone but as I am from the UK I had not sorted my phone out for use in the USA and actually prefer a key card. So when I arrived at 8 pm on a Wednesday I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was hardly any queue. Only two people ahead of me. It also gave me the opportunity to ask if the room I had been allocated was close to a lift, I had made this request online when I booked the room, and the desk clerk said the original room I had been booked was on the 17th floor and not near the lift. She reallocated me a room on the 28th floor very close to the lift which was great. I tipped her $20 - this is the USA after all! I had booked the basic King room having watched a couple of walk-through videos on YouTube. The Aria was probably opened about 15 years ago alongside the Vdara and Cosmopolitan and is showing its age but MGM have announced that a refurbishment is going to happen. The rooms are quite dark - brown carpet and curtains, dark wood desk and draws. Mine appeared very clean and in reasonable condition although as I found out later the desk lamp did not work, nor did the phone as the cable was actually broken. The curtains and sheers are all controlled centrally from a tablet in the room and this did not work either. However I did find a manual control near the wardrobe. I phoned the front desk and they did a manual reset on the room controls from the desk, so I guess this is something that happens quite often. As with most Las Vegas hotels there is no kettle or coffee maker, but there was a room safe, iron and hairdryer. There is also a fridge but this is occupied by all the mini bar stuff, with no room to store anything else. The bed was large and very comfortable with USB sockets on one side of the bed. There was also a comfortable seating area with a small table between. Most hotels I have stayed in that claim to be four star provide things such as cotton wool, ear buds and emery boards in the bathroom. The Aria doesn’t which I find a bit odd. The quirky thing about this hotel room is that the bath and shower are in a little mini cubicle of their own, you have to walk through the shower area to get in the bath. I liked this set up actually. The towels I had during my stay (there were towel changes) were all a little worn and could do with being replaced. They were large enough though. And the water pressure in the shower was not that great - it is just an overhead shower, no hand held which was also disappointing. Hopefully they will consider this when the promised refurbishment happens. All in all this is a decent hotel, not as high end as the Bellagio, Wynn, Nomad or Fontainebleau where I have stayed before, but I would say on a par with Venetian and Palazzo, although the basic room is smaller than their basic rooms which are mini suites. Dining options are good, there is a food court, a great patisserie as well as a variety of other restaurants.

Walked into my room and the shower is used with a dirty wet towel on the ground. Looks like someone decided to take a shower in my room before I checked in. And found a hair on my bed.

Disappointed at Aria and Marriott Bonvoy. Canceled reservations (twice) with little explanation. Don’t think there is a benefit of the MGM/Marriott partnership.

The location and the atmosphere were great! The room and floor location were great also! Next time i’m in Vegas, I might stay there again.