HotelChatter

What’s this now? How hadn’t he heard of one the newest, most highly anticipated hotel openings in Vegas? He was aware of CityCenter but this strange word “V-daaaarrra” baffled him. He had us spell and say it multiple times, and then proceeded to repeat it to himself on our ride over there, chuckling each time.

We were amused by his amusement—until he took a wrong turn off the Strip and wound up on the south side of Aria instead. “Arrrria?” he said, trying to make it sound like “Vdara.” Ha ha ha. Uh, no.

Finally, an Aria valet directed us to Vdara and we made it safe and sound. But that wasn’t the end of our transportation delays. We later waited 20 minutes for a CES shuttle, which had been running but then decided to stop. Cabs did drop by at this time, but they were scarce. Luckily, some nice AT&T folks let us hitch a ride in their limo over to the trade show.

Trying to get to the airport on Saturday morning was another waiting game. This time? Half an hour. And we don’t mean there was a long line and we just had to wait our turn. There were only a couple of people ahead of us, and no cabs in sight.

What gives? Do cabbies not know their way to the quiet child in the CityCenter complex? Or do they simply not care since there’s no casino attached to Vdara, therefore less drunk patrons wanting to head over to Industrial Road for some “entertainment”?

Whatever the reason, if you’re staying at Vdara, be prepared to wait for a taxi. (Or, if you don’t have luggage to haul, you could walk over to Aria, where you’re bound to have more luck).

On the upside, chatting to the friendly bellmen kept us from tapping our feet too loudly. They were lovely—but no Bradley Cooper …