ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas Review

Series: MGM Rewards Comping Behavior
This stay forms part of an ongoing series documenting how MGM Rewards offers evolve over time as play patterns change.
Start here: Understanding MGM Rewards Comping Behavior

Offer used for this stay: 3 comped nights + 1 discounted night + $100 food & beverage credit + $60 freeplay.

When planning a Las Vegas trip, it’s easy to default to Bellagio, Wynn or Caesars Palace. We chose ARIA instead, largely because it offered the best combination of location, comfort and an attractive MGM Rewards comp offer. It isn’t the newest resort on the Strip, nor does it have Bellagio’s iconic fountains or The Venetian’s elaborate theming. Yet after four nights here, I came away thinking it might actually be one of the easiest resorts in Las Vegas to recommend.

This stay formed the Las Vegas leg of a longer trip that had begun in Oslo. After a full day of travel on KLM via Amsterdam, we landed just after 6pm on Tuesday evening and headed straight to ARIA. With four nights ahead of us, including No Doubt at Sphere on the Friday, we wanted somewhere comfortable, well located and easy to use as our base.

The stay was booked using an MGM Rewards offer that included three complimentary nights, a discounted fourth night, $60 in freeplay and a $100 food and beverage credit. Like all casino offers, the details reflected my account activity at that point in time and shouldn’t be assumed to be generally available.

Reducing accommodation costs wasn’t the only objective. I also wanted to continue building my understanding of MGM’s comping behaviour.

During our earlier Bellagio stay I had deliberately generated modest gambling activity. This trip I increased the amount cycled through the slot machines while also making small visits to several nearby MGM properties. Whether that extra diversity of play actually influences future offers remains to be seen, but ARIA’s location made it an ideal place to run that test.

The economics certainly helped. Although the room rate was heavily discounted, taxes, resort fees and our incidental spending meant the final checkout bill came to $440.08. Once the included food credit and freeplay are considered, it still represented outstanding value for a four-night stay at one of MGM’s flagship resorts.

The $540.08 included the discounted room, resort fees, Starbucks, Salt & Ivy brunch, drinks, tips and other on-property spending charged to the room. The freeplay value replaced some of my intended slot spend, so I’ve shown it at face value.

If Bellagio occupies the emotional centre of the Strip, ARIA arguably occupies the operational one.

Bellagio sits an easy walk to the north via the pedestrian network, while Park MGM, New York-New York, MGM Grand and the rest of MGM’s southern cluster are equally accessible in the opposite direction. The Cosmopolitan is effectively next door, connected by walkways through the Crystals complex.

For anyone planning to spend most of their time within the MGM ecosystem, it is difficult to imagine a better base.

That central location also meant we didn’t feel tied to the property itself. Whether walking to Hell’s Kitchen at Caesars Palace, visiting neighboring casinos or heading to Sphere for Friday night’s concert, getting around was straightforward.

Even though ARIA opened in 2009, it still feels remarkably contemporary.

The sweeping glass towers remain among the most recognizable buildings on the Strip, while the interiors favor stone, timber and understated finishes rather than themed spectacle. Wide corridors, generous ceiling heights and extensive natural light give the public spaces an openness that many older Las Vegas resorts lack.

Rather than trying to recreate Venice, Paris or ancient Rome, ARIA simply feels like a modern luxury hotel that happens to contain one of the largest casinos in the world.

It’s easy to focus on the casino, restaurants and rooms, but I found myself appreciating the quieter parts of the property as well. Even walking back to the room each evening didn’t feel like trudging through anonymous hotel corridors.

Our Deluxe Strip View Two Queen room was actually a nice surprise.

It wasn’t luxurious in terms of finish, but the layout was generous, with two comfortable queen beds, a proper desk, a large television, seating and plenty of usable floor space. Storage was excellent; there was plenty of wardrobe and drawer space if you’re someone who prefers to unpack.

Generally, everything that was included was useful and nicely finished. There were no unnecessary gimmicks or extravagant design features in the room itself.

If one part of the room did stand out, it was the bathroom.

A large double vanity provided ample space for more than one person, while the separate walk-in shower and full tub made the room feel a level above what I would have expected.

Things had inevitably aged slightly since the property opened, but everything remained comfortable to use and was well maintained.

I don’t know whether every Strip View room enjoys this sort of outlook or whether we were simply fortunate with our allocation. Either way, I was more than happy.

Looking across towards Planet Hollywood, Paris and the northern Strip was a reminder that we really were in the middle of Las Vegas. Returning to that view each evening was a welcome end to the day.

Despite spending four nights at ARIA, we actually ate surprisingly little on property. Our one proper meal was brunch at Salt & Ivy on the morning after arrival.

After my usual early Starbucks run, we wandered over to Salt & Ivy later that morning without a reservation, and waited around ten minutes for a table. The late morning timing worked well for us; it was late enough for me to justify a burger and Bloody Mary while my daughter happily ordered waffles.

I’d say the food was good rather than great, while service was quick in the familiar American style, where drinks rarely remain empty and the expectation of a generous tip is never far away. I’d happily eat there again if staying at ARIA, but I wouldn’t make a special trip across the Strip for it. Having now tried both, I would still place Sadelle’s at Bellagio comfortably ahead for breakfast.

Apart from Salt & Ivy, our only other on-property spending came from Starbucks, the nearby coffee and doughnut stand during a couple of early mornings, and drinks from the lobby bar on our first evening. In hindsight, we’d probably skip the bar next time. Casino cocktail servers are constantly circulating through the gaming floor, so ordering the same drinks while putting a little money through a nearby slot machine would almost certainly have been cheaper.

The one restaurant I really wanted to try was Din Tai Fung. I used to visit the Din Tai Fung branch in Taipei 101 regularly during my international road-warrior years, and I’d also eaten at the London branch. I was keen for my wife and daughter to experience it too. Unfortunately, even joining the waiting list shortly after checking in, the earliest availability came after we had already left Las Vegas. If it’s on your list, book well in advance.

That disappointment at least confirmed one thing: ARIA has one of the strongest restaurant line-ups on the Strip. Alongside Salt & Ivy sit Carbone, Bardot Brasserie, Catch, Din Tai Fung and Gymkhana, enough to give me several reasons to return.

Gymkhana was perhaps the easiest for me to skip. Having eaten at the original London restaurant, I couldn’t quite justify flying to Las Vegas for Indian food. The irony, of course, is that we happily crossed the Strip for Hell’s Kitchen, where the signature dishes are beef Wellington and sticky toffee pudding.

Perhaps my logic isn’t entirely consistent.

Having previously stayed at Bellagio, one difference stood out.

Bellagio’s casino constantly feels as though people are passing through on their way somewhere else. Tourists wander in from the fountains, cut across the casino and continue towards neighboring resorts.

ARIA feels different. Most people seem to be there intentionally, either staying at the hotel, dining at one of its restaurants or spending time on the gaming floor itself. The atmosphere, while never quiet, is a little calmer and less congested.

For someone intent on spending a little time gambling this time, rather than simply walking through, I actually preferred it.

Absolutely. Not because it is the most luxurious property in Las Vegas, or has the best restaurants, or because it offers the lowest prices.

I’d happily return because it gets almost everything right. The rooms are comfortable, the bathrooms excellent, the location arguably the strongest within MGM’s portfolio, and there are still several restaurants I’d like to try on a future visit.

Rather than crossing ARIA off the list, this stay firmly established it as somewhere I’d be very happy to base myself again, assuming, of course, MGM continues to send the right offers.