Tag: CityCenter
View All TagsViva Vegas / Hotel Deals / Hotel Packages / CityCenter / → All Tags
Viva Vegas! Aria Has $99 Rooms With $75 Resort Credit
Over at our sister website VegasChatter, we’re always combing Sin City hotels for the best deals. We’ve had $1 rooms at Sahara and suite-but-not-sweet upgrades at Luxor, recently, but our absolute favorite deal of the summer has come from new kid on the block, Aria.
Its Summer Deal has changed three times now, and each time, it’s changed for the better. The latest incarnation? Rooms for $99 Sunday to Thursday, and $129 Friday and Saturday, from now until September 9.
And if you’re thinking that doesn’t sound so hot, hark at this – they’re including a $75 resort credit in with that. So you can stuff your little faces at Todd English’s PUB or whatever, and get the room for $25 or $55 respectively.
Viva Vegas / Hotel Transport / CityCenter / Hotel Cabs / → All Tags
Inside the Vdara Vacuum—Where Peace and Quiet Means Long Waits for Cabs
Ah, waiting for cabs in Vegas. In the past we’ve found this mostly a simple affair: walk out of your hotel-casino and there they are, lined up and ready to go. We did expect to wait longer than usual when in town for CES this past Thursday to Saturday, but what we didn’t expect was a phenomenon we’re going to call the Vdara vacuum.
It began when we checked out of the Flamingo and decided to be lazy and cab it over to CityCenter. (Who wants to schlep their bags down the Strip in the middle of the day?) “Vdara, please,” we told our cabbie, who promptly replied “Huh?”
HotelChatter 2009 Awards / CityCenter / Hotel Openings / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
Best Hotel Opening: The Risky Gamble of CityCenter
It's what you've been waiting all year for--The 2009 HotelChatter Awards! We'll be bringing you the best and worst of the year (and the decade) all day today and part of tomorrow. Agree or disagree with our picks? Air your thoughts in comments below.
BEST HOTEL OPENING: CITYCENTER IN LAS VEGAS
While 2009 was a brutal year financially for everyone, ironically it was the year that hotels conceived in the boom years began to come to fruition. The biggest hotel project dreamed up (that almost didn't make it because of money troubles) was the massive CityCenter complex in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip.
After just five years of construction, CityCenter finally began to open on December 1st with the first of its three hotels--Vdara. Soon after that, followed The Mandarin Oriental and two weeks later, the piece de resistance that is called Aria opened with a sparkling new casino, high-tech guestrooms, the Viva Elvis Cirque du Soleil show, a plethora of nightlife options and an orgy of restaurants from top chefs like Jean-Georges, Michael Mina and Julian Serrano.
Keep reading for more on CityCenter, videos of the hotel rooms and the runner-ups for the Best Hotel Opening award.
Video / Pitch Your Hotel / Hoteliers That Matter / CityCenter / Paul Berry / Hotel News / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
How Aria Is Different from the Rest of the Hotels in Vegas and Probably, The World
Welcome to our regular feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
The other day during the madness of opening day for the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, we were able to track down the vice president of hotel operations, Paul Berry and have him do an on-the-fly Pitch Your Hotel with us.
We asked Mr. Berry what made Aria so different, not just from the rest of the hotels in Vegas but also within CityCenter. His answer? "Everything is different." According to him, the genesis of this entire project was to create something different that people had not yet seen before. "We're changing the paradigm, the rules and the landscape" here in Vegas.
Video / Hotel Openings / Hotel Video Tours / CityCenter / Viva Vegas / Hotel News / → All Tags
Inside Aria Resort and Casino, The Newest Hotel on the Strip
We spent yesterday inside the new Aria Resort and Casino at CityCenter in Las Vegas and we were fortunate enough to get a room tour before it officially opened to the public.
This video here is a room on the 39th floor in the Aria Sky Suites towers, which has its own entrance, round-trip transfers from the airport and other personalized services a la MGM Grand Skylofts or Hotel32 at The Monte Carlo.
But a hotel rep assured us that all standard rooms in Aria look just like this one, including that wall of glass with killer views.
Video / Hotel Openings / Hotel News / CityCenter / Jim Murren / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
'Welcome to CityCenter. Have a Great Day'
Those were the final words of MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren at this morning's press conference, officially introducing Aria Resort and Casino to the world. Watch him kick off his speech in the video above.
It's been a long and bumpy, very bumpy, road to
We're still in the midst of digesting what we saw today but we did want to say that having Aria open has truly made CityCenter complete. Vdara, The Crystals and Mandarin Oriental are all nice but not that exciting. Those properties were meant to be give off an "out of Vegas" feeling. But you know what? We like being IN Vegas.
Hotel Video Tours / CityCenter / HotelChatter Reviews / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
The Mandarin Oriental Takes You Up and Brings You Down in More Ways Than One
So you've rocked out to the music from our Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas video tour and you've drooled at the pictures. Ready to look some more? Well, we've got enough eye candy from this hotel to whet your appetite. But all is not zen at the MOLV.
In a break from our standard HotelChatter reviews, we're going to start off with what we loved about the hotel first. Then we'll get into the real heartbreaking stuff after that.
Service: It seems that we must be suffering from early Alzheimer's or else we've just been in Vegas far longer than is recommended. You see, we arrived at the hotel a day early. But the hotel easily accommodated us. In fact, they apologized to us. When it was really our fault because we apparently can't keep our dates straight.
The front desk worked their magic and in about 10 minutes, we were up...er...down to our room on the 10th floor. Check-in actually happens in the Sky Lobby on the 23rd floor, which offers sweeping views looking out at Paris and Planet Hollywood as well as the north end of the Strip.
Hotel Openings / Aria / CityCenter / Hotel News / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
A Sneak Peek Inside Aria Resort and Casino, Opening Today
Today is THE day that Aria Resort and Casino, the most important piece of the CityCenter project opens its doors. For the past few days media folk have been wandering around the Aria checking things out. MGM Mirage employees from all properties have also been staying there to test out the casino operations, the rooms, and the restaurants in something called Play Days. (We hear the Play Days people only get fake money to gamble with. Booooo.)
Yesterday, we sampled some of the tasty delights at Sirio from Le Cirque's Sirio Maccioni, Jean Georges steakhouse and Michael Mina's American Fish. We also got a sneak peek of the Viva Elvis show from Cirque du Soleil and had a post-show drink at The Light Group's new GOLD Lounge.
Now, the madness gets turned up full steam with an 11am press conference to officially open Aria. We'll be tweeting every moment of it all for VegasChatter (well, not every moment because that would be insufferable) and we'll file our updates as soon as we can, especially on the hotel rooms at Aria. Got a question about Aria, Vdara, Mandarin Oriental, The Crystals or Viva Elvis? Hit up the request line and we'll get back to you on it.
For now, enjoy some of the photos we've taken thus far.
Viva Vegas / CityCenter / Aria / Viva Elvis / Hotel Parties / Hotel News / → All Tags
CityCenter Gets 'All Shook Up' with Viva Elvis Press Conference Today
The Viva Elvis wrap on the Harmon Hotel, opening date TBD.
And so it begins again. While the grand opening for the Aria Resort and Casino is not happening until tomorrow (there's a press conference in the morning and a fireworks extravaganza at night), Cirque du Soleil will be hosting a press conference very shortly to show off their newest Vegas show, Viva Elvis.
Founder Guy Laliberté, CEO Robert FX Sillerman and Priscilla Presley will be on hand to comment on the creation of the show and the show's cast is expected to give a sneak peek performance.
After that, folks will head on over to the GOLD Lounge at Aria, a nightclub run by the Light Group that pays homage to the life and times of Elvis Presley. Yes, signature Elvis Presley cocktails will be served here.
Snapshot / Anti-View / CityCenter / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
More Photographic Proof That Bellagio Rooms Will Have a CityCenter Anti-View
A few months ago, a tipster sent in these shots that showed some of The Bellagio's suites would be overlooking the new CityCenter monorail. While those pictures certainly told a certain truth, we still were shocked to see just how close the monorail was to the Bellagio rooms.
This is the view from our room on the 14th floor at Vdara. That white canopy is the monoraiil stop but also a walkway that leads inside The Bellagio and while we were walking under it, we could see The Bellagio room windows right above us. They were dark so we surmised no guests were in there but we sincerely hope that The Bellagio makes a better use of those rooms.
No one deserves to be gawked at by monorail riders. Certainly not while soaking in the tub!
HotelChatter Reviews / Hotel Video Tours / CityCenter / Hotel News / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
Inside The Vdara Hotel and Spa
Here it is, what you've been waiting for Vdara Hotel and Spa porn.
Yesterday on VegasChatter, we detailed the step-by-step process of checking into Vdara and now we follow it up with our video tour and some more in-room shots. The room we are in is the starting room category, a Deluxe Suite on the 14th floor. The square footage is 582-sq. ft. with large windows taking up the entire side of the room. Too bad our view is of the back of the Bellagio.
When you walk in, you are essentially in the kitchenette which has a small dining table with two chairs, a microwave, stovetop and a mini-refrigerator that has minibar goods on one side and free space to store your own minibar goods on the other.
Beyond the kitchenette is a small seating area with a comfy sofa that pulls out to a queen-sized bed and an interesting media center. This dark wood column is planted in the middle of the room and has a giant flat-screen TV on both sides--one for folks laying in bed, one for folks sitting on the couch. Extending from the column is a desk with a sweet media hub to plug in all your gadgets.
The bathrooms are long and narrow but still fit a vast vanity sink, a good-sized shower and a large soaking tub with a handheld nozzle. The bath products are, much to our disappointment, Aveda which always leaves our hair and skin very dry.
Party Dispatch Report / CityCenter / Hotel Openings / Hotel News / Viva Vegas / Orlando Bloom / Rosario Dawson / Celebrity Scoop / → All Tags
Orlando Bloom Warms Up the Vdara Hotel's Opening Party in Vegas
Yes, the newest hotel in Vegas is the Vdara Hotel and Spa and we were fortunate enough to spend opening night at the hotel AND to attend a special, private-ish Vanity Fair party to commemorate the very first opening of the massive CityCenter complex.
We say private-ish because although there was a tightly enforced guest list, anyone who had booked a room at the hotel last night could also attend. Which would explain why there were some folks decked to the nines in cocktail chic attire (Vegas locals and media) and others who roamed around a little bewildered in jeans, t-shirts and boots (hotel guests.)
Needless to say the Vegas glitterati was in full force, even if the party vibe was classy and low-key. For the women that meant hair (lots of it), boobs (lots of them), crazy patterned black tights and short mini-dresses. For the men that meant suits or nice slacks and a button down. Thankfully, there was no Ed Hardy in sight. A success!
Of course, the high-up execs from MGM Mirage were there including CEO Jim Murren (who we saw getting pumped for info by the dapper gossip pirate, Norm Clarke) as well as a few real deal celebs like Rosario Dawson, photographer Sebastian Copeland and our husband Orlando Bloom.
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