BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME!

I'm not too sure if that movie line will apply in this day and age, but this town is holding its breath in anticipation.

The Aria will open its doors to one and all on 16 December with mid.-week room rates of $149 - $159.

Viva Elvis prices will be $99 - $175 plus 10% live entertainment tax and a $5 "ticket service fee", but ......

Preview performances start on Dec 18 and are offered at a 25% discount.

Regular performances will start around 17 January 2010.

Needless to say, there will be a good number of fine dining options available within the hotel:

BarMesa, Chef - Masayoshi Takayama - Japanese delicacies.

Shaboo within Bar Mesa - Shabu-Shabu

Sage - Chef Shawn McClain - Contemporary American cuisine

Julian Serrano - Spanish fare

Jean Georges Steakhouse - Steak and fish

Sirio Ristorante - Italian dishes

American Fish by Michael Mina

Blossom - Chinese cuisine

Union Restaurant & Lounge - American favorites

Casual dining will also be offered as follows:

Lemongrass -Thai cuisine

Skybox Sports Bar and Grill - American cuisine

Café Vettro - Breakfast, lunch or dinner

The Buffet -- Various live-action cooking stations

Breeze Café - innovative, healthy and fresh gourmet cuisine

Jean Philippe Patisserie

Sweet Chill - Ice cream

The Roasted Bean - Coffee and tea

The Aria's premiere night club is called HAZE

More to come once I get inside

I just got back from a big "media event" at Aria. Aria has been through testing with MGM employees and big wigs for the last 3 or 4 days. There are more media events all day long up until the fireworks at 11pm. I had to tap out because once the facts are read, the rest is just blowing sunshine up anywhere it will fit. Stuff like "it's what the community has been waiting for", "it's what the country needs", "it's the greatest thing to happen to Las Vegas".

Aria is a super nice property that has the potential to compete with Red Rock, Wynn, Encore, Palazzo, Venetian, etc. Aria, along with the rest of City Center is an art snob's dream come true. One of the cool room features is a remote control for the lights, TV, music, curtains, that all integrate into the wake up alarm also. And all of your preferences are stored in case you decide to visit a second time.

Nightline, the "after the news" show is in town and will focus on City Center and Aria tonight.

I did a walk-through within the Aria this afternoon and although it is very huge and quite elaborate, I was not as impressed as I still am with the Wynn dot and the Encore.

My camera lens was not functioning properly so I didn't take any photos as I had originally planned.

I'll return after the holidays and try again.

Aria Special Offer (Now through March 31, 2010)

...... A limited time offer of 15% off room accommodations plus a $75 resort credit. Use your resort credit to experience exceptional cuisine by award-winning chefs, extraordinary treatments in our spa and salon, and the new production Viva ELVIS™ by Cirque du Soleil®, a tribute to the life and music of Elvis Presley.

Mid week rates start as low as $127 per night. (This includes the 15% discount but I am not sure if they add on any "resort fee" such as the "M".

Call 866-359-7757 and mention Booking Code AR15C75.

But I still recommend that you consider the Wynn dot or the Encore if either offers a comparable 'package'.

No resort fee at Aria.I am staying there next trip.

Thanks on that resort fee info, Snookie.

I took a stroll through CityCenter last Monday night around 6:00 to 8:00 pm and it was very quiet.

Crystals had a few people strolling through the mall but very little (mostly none) activity in the shops.

The one place that had a decent crowd was Besa (Beso?) the steak house . It appeared that they were doing good business with most of the tables occupied.

The Aria casino had a few table games open with no more than 3 to 4 gamblers playing BJ, Craps, Pai Gow, and Baccarrat.

The Aria buffet looked empty and all the other restaurants that I looked into had about three full tables with two to four diners at each one.

Vdara had about four visitors in the lobby bar and there were no more than ten people dining in Silk Road which I understand a great place to eat.

It appeared to be a very quiet evening through.

The Aria hotel exterior looks beautiful when seen at night from the vicinity of the "canoe wreck" art structure. Especially when the tram comes rolling by.

On the way out I stopped in the Bellagio and it was relatively crowded with a good degree of table action.

If it wasn't for our weekend visitors, we'd be in a heck of a mess here.

Monday evenings are always relatively slow throughout town though.

I also stopped by the Golden Nugget downtown and was a bit surprised by the amount of activity they were having. It was very crowded for a Monday evening.

It's probably way too early to offer an accurate assessment but it appears that the Aria will not be getting similar foot traffic that the casinos which are smack dab, front and center on the Strip usually get just because of the extra 'effort' in the form of a few hundred more steps that it takes to get into the Aria Hotel Casino from Las Vegas Blvd.

But ... I want to encourage all you new Las Vegas visitors to make a tour through the entire CittyCenter complex. It is an amazing development and I strongly suggest that you see it during the evening hours.

That's cool Snookie. I'm looking forward to your impressions. I do have a few tips. First, wear comfortable shoes as you visit City Center. You can easily do a whole lot of walking. Two, don't eat there. I had an easily forgettable buffet and a low quality overpriced burger in their coffee shop. Three, bring your digital camera. There are a lot of photo ops in the design. Later they will help you kinda put the layout of the place together. Visit the Mandarin Oriental after 5om for a very nice view of the strip from 20 something floors up.

JMT, regarding the Mandarin.

Is the 20th floor accessible to the public?

And is there a cocktail lounge on that floor or just the check-in desk?

And ... what is that small desk used for when you first enter the hotel? Is it for information only?

Hows many people greeted you between the time you walked in and the time you reached the 20th floor? I actually counted five very gracious greeters before I even reached the elevator but I felt that I was under-dressed to continue on to the 20th floor.

I do plan to re-visit based on the information you provide herewith. And I'll take my camera too!

Thanks, JMT

It's either 22,23,24,25 or something like that. The elevator only has 3 stops. Ground level, 3 (convention level), and the twentysomething. I'll say 23.

Go after dark in decent clothes. Not a suit, but just not the typical local slob. If I can get in, it can't be too bad. You'll need to be above slob level to get into the bar.

As you exit the elevator lobby on floor 23, there is a check in desk in front of you. A small tea lounge is to the right, and the bar is to the right of that. It all has floor to ceiling windows.

To the left of the check in desk is a hallway. Go down the hall and there are restrooms to the right. Go into the restroom. It is extremely nice and has huge floor to ceiling windows. Continuing down the hallway is a restaurant. You can actually see the kitchen, wine room, and again the seating area has a great view.

Coming down, I stopped at level 3, walked down a hallway to the convention area, which faces the strip. Not a lot to see there, other than building design.

Thanks, JMT. I'll do my best to get in there soon and have a martini overlooking the Strip .... and you are correct about the 23rd floor.

Do you know of any other hotel which has the check-in desk above ground level?

I stopped by the Gold Spike early this evening. Not much gambling activity but the bar was crowded. Every stool was occupied with various types of people in various modes of sobriety.

I played the $1.00 BJ machine with a fiver and left with an eight-er which I proceeded to lose in one of those wolf slot machines, but it took a while to lose it all.

I would say that the machine I played was relatively loose... maybe a "6" or "7" on a scale of "10".

They sure made an improvement to that place and I hope that they do well.

Prime rib dinner at $4.99, but I had dinner waiting at home so maybe next time .....

Thanks for the Info. Will & JMT.I am leaving in about a week.

WAIT! Don't make an Aria reservation until you check out these possible new prices!

MGM Mirage might be reducing room prices at the Aria between $30 and $90 a night through March.

MGM Mirage executives say that the Aria has had strong occupancy but any possible price reduction more than likely means that the Aria is not "filling up" due to the current room rate competition in LV.

Ask reservations if and when you call.

Will be having guests stay at the Vdara later on this week and I'd appreciate any dining advice from anyone who is familiar with the dining joints in the CityCenter complex.

I hear that Bosa is getting some darn bad reviews and so far no one has recommended having a meal there.

Also heard that Silk Road was far less than expected. Any truth to that?

And when I did a walk through the CC complex last week, I took a look into most of the restaurants (if not all of them) and each of them was just about empty.

The Aria buffet was completely void of people and that was around 7:00 in the evening midweek.

We will be seeing Viva Elvis on Tuesday evening so I'd like to take one and all for dinner beforehand, but have been advised to avoid the CC dining establishments until they get better organized.

Any comments on this subject would be appreciated.

Right now I am thinking of hosting a pre-show meal in the Bellagio Cafe which we all seemed to like last year, Definitely not a fine dining experience, but it was a decent meal for one and all.

Has anyone tried one of those $20 martinis at the 23rd floor bar in the Mandarin yet? Or how about the restaurant there?

Your comments are along the same lines as what I've heard. If you play your cards right, your guests will beg you to take them outside of City Center by the time you get there. Sadly, dining in City Center is pretty sucky. If I had to gamble again, I'd probably opt for the place in the Mandarin. It's a pretty sad day when the Monte Carlo looks tempting. Trust me, I've been in that situation. Andre's has an excellent reputation and Brand looks tempting to me.

I guess you know that is in MGM country. I've posted this before, but I suggest that you check out the locals specials for MGM at http://www.mgmmirage.com/locals/ Buzz through that and see if it gives you any ideas.

Caesars is not far away and opens a lot of possibilities outside of MGM. The Imperial Palace across from Caesars now has a Hash House A Go Go, which is kinda fun for a small group because of HUGE servings of food.

For fine dining, have you thought about Encore? I've never heard bad things about Sinatra or Switch. Or how about that place on Sahara you used to talk about? Pamplemousse?

Downtown at the Second Street Grill in the Fremont used to be pretty solid and appealed to Pacific based guests.

You could go crazy on them and eat after the show at the Peppermill. Then a mandatory visit to the cocktail lounge.

That's about all I got.

BTW, If I may zero in and quote you, I think you said that you wanted to take one and all to dinner before the show. By "one and all" does that include me and 10 of my closest friends?

Will -

Although I haven't been to City Center yet, I've read a lot about the restaurants there.

Two at Aria caught my eye, both are on the upper level near the Viva Elvia Theater:

Jean Georges Steakhouse - I've eaten at his Prime Steakhouse at Bellagio and also at one of his restaurants in New York. Both were very pricey but the quality of food and service were excellent. Steaks run between $40-50.

American Fish - This is a Michael Mina restaurant. It's mostly seafood but they do have some selections of meat and poultry. Mina has Michael Mina's at Bellagio and SeaBlue at MGM Grand. I've eaten at both places and both are excellent (especially SeaBlue). But these places are pricey too. I do know that Michael Mina has a pre-theater prix-fixe menu at his Bellagio restaurant which is a pretty good deal and would save you some money. You might want to check with American Fish to see if they have something similar.

Whatever you choose, I'll look forward to your review. And I'll also look forward to learning about what you think of Viva Elvis.

ThaNKS, MIKE. I went by all the Aria/Vdara restaurants today and also went into M. Mina's in the Bellagio. If I recall right the pre show fixed price agt Mina's was $69 put the wine was an additional $55.

I'm not too enraptured by any Chef's cooking though so I was mainly looking for the benefit of my upcoming visitors.

Do you realize thate the City Center has no Happy Hour whatsoever?

Needless ot say - I complained to whomever woulod li

Mike, they both caught my eye before the grand opening. When I visited Aria on opening week and weekend, neither had more than 4 parties seated. I tried both of them before Viva Elvis.

The steakhouse had nobody at the podium. Waiters, hostess looking girls, and suits walked by. Nobody stopped to say anything, nobody smiled as they passed by. The phone rang a couple of times and nobody answered it.

American Fish had a suit and hostess at the podium. They were arguing about something. The hostess kinda paused and asked if I had a reservation, I said no and asked to see a menu. She pointed to a menu and went back to arguing with the suit.

Hopefully, both will be more professional by the time you visit. American Fish seems to have a ton of potential.

I ended up at the coffee shop which looks really cool. The service was very unorganized. There was lots of food being delivered to wrong tables, and mine came out in 3 different batches, most of it cold. I was willing to walk out without paying until a lady asked how my meal was. I ended up paying about $10 with no tip.

We just returned home from a three-night stay at the Vdara. I have to say that we were all very impressed by the young and very curtious staff.

We had a room on the 45th floor with a very kice northern view which included an overlook of the Bellagio fountain and the Eiffel Tower.

Only one small complaint - we couldn't get the coffee 'contraption'/machine to make a cup of coffee. So when we reported that problem, up came another coffee contraption which we couldn't make work either.

So we just figured that we were too darn dumb to brew a cup of coffee and had a cup-ful of laughs instead.

The Vdara offers valet parking only - but those valet dudes have eo be commended for their promptness and courtiess-ness. Same for the young front desk crew.

Another complaint is that there is no place to get a cup of coffee and a do-nut in the Vdara unless you decide to spend a few hard earned bucks in The Silk Road in which I've never seen more than three people at any one time.

I wonder how long these expensive, chef driven dinning halls go customer-less before they throw in the dish-towel?

And no one knows why there isn't a 44th floor in a building that continues on much higher into the Las Vegas stratosphere.

There is no Vdara casino but if you are so inclined it's only a short 2 minute walk to the Aria, but if you plan to do any dining there, bring a heavy wallet.

Even an ice cream cone will set you back $9 or so.

We sure as heck wern't in Kansas no more!

And we weren't in Tupelo either!

We saw Viva Elvis on Tuesday evening at the 7 pm show.

I didn't like it too very much, but the dancers and the muscians were very impressive and a very few parts of the production were OK.

But most I don't even remember!

But I do recall ther good parts, such as -

The opening juke box production

The Presley brothers acrobat number. Elvis' brother died and fell from the guitar contraption into the 'smoke' below but I would have enjoyed it more if he had passed away in an upward direction.

The Elvis in the army scenes.

And most of the scenes in which Elvis was shown on the giant screen while the cast did some pretty impressive dancing.

And most impressive was the Super-heros trampoline number, but I don't know how that ties in with the Elvis I used to know.

I did not like the following:

Colonel Parker scenes - Very boring part and way too much talking.

The burning lasso number.

The wedding ring number was definitely not impressive.

And another scene I don't know if I liked or not - because I don't think what was supposed to happen, happened at all. This was the Jail House Rock number where three tiers of jail cell convicts did the background singing in a movie and a few other TV presentations.

On this Tuesday evening, those jail house cells and those jail house convicts must have been paroled because all this scene consisted of was a prison guard running around the darkened stage with a flashlight for roughly three minutes.

Maybe he was searching for a jail house rock and I simply didn't get the jail house humor.

This show definitely needs a lot of work and I'm sure the owner agrees entirely.

I'm no big time Broadway Producer, but here's what I'm gonna suggest when he gives me a telephone call ....

From the very start Cirque decided that there would be NO ELVIS IMPERSONATORS in this production.

But that is mainly what this show is missing.

Cirque should hire two or three of the finest and use each at appropriate times depicting the real circumstances and events that made people throughout the world love him and his singing.

Hire a young Elvis and show how he first got into the recording business and have him lip sync some of Elvis' very first songs using Cirque performers as appropriate.

Then a more mature Elvis showing his rise in popularity with Ed Sullivan, the army, the Hollywood movies, Priscilla, etc.

Then some of the hard facts about the rise of the Beatles and all that entailed. and the older, overweight Elvis and a brief mention of his drugged induced death.

Get ELVIS on that stage! Great Elvis impersonators will bring me to my feet swifter than a couple of athletes swinging 30 feet above that dance filled floor.

I hope someone listens ... ..... even just a little bit.

Elvis is/was too great to die an early death!

And certainly not in Las Vegas town.











The pole 'dancing"/acrobatics was terrible..

First, Vdara. On opening week there was a coffee kiosk sorta in the lobby. If you were walking from the elevator to Silk Road, just before you get to Silk, the bar entrance is on the right. The coffee kiosk I saw would have been on the left, just before the long hallway to Bellagio.

OTOH, there are great options nearby. The guy that has that neat chocolate fountain at Bellagio has that huge pastry shop in Aria. But there is a really neat pastry shop if you walk out of Mandarin and turn right. The main entrance to the place is on LV Blvd, but there is back entrance facing Mandarin. This place has fancy chocolates and ice cream too.

One question about Vdara, did you get the feeling that your room was designed as a studio apartment? (because it was)

I'm not surprised that Viva Elvis didn't impress you all that much. I am glad that you recognized the talent of the dancers and musicians.

The jailhouse rock stage set is supposed to have almost the whole cast in black and white stripes swinging on bars, sliding on rails, and there are rollers and special effects tricks built into it. I wonder if someone got injured and they had to stop using it. That was a pretty solid act and I hope that isn't a Cirque change to not have it like it was.

When his brother died, I thought about it several times and wondered if Elvis fell back to earth and the angel went up, or exactly which way it was "supposed" to mean.

Burning lassos? The took a bad act and added fire?

Thanks for the report, and the picture.

Will - thanks for the review of Vdara and Viva Elvis. How nice that you got a room on the 45th floor - the view must have been spectacular!

I have a friend who saw Viva Elvis and I specfically remember him mentioning being impressed with the Jailhouse Rock number. He said there were 2 or 3 levels of jail cells with people dancing all around it, some of them even hanging upside down. He said the number was a lot of fun. Maybe they were having technical difficulties at the performance you caught?

Maybe it's in another post that I haven't gotten to yet but I'm curious as to where you dined and how you liked it.

Thanks, Mike! Yes, I figured that that well known 3 level jail set was having tech difficulties and also felt that the performer with the flashlight must have felt pretty embarrassed running around that unlit stage. I think they they even sent out a couple of the jailed dancers to help him out but it simply looked like an unplanned, unrehearsed fiasco.

We had dinner immediately following the show at SAGE which was good but quite expensive. I We started with individual Baby Leaf Salads at $11 each on a very small salad plate with some non-descriptive dressing. Sue had 6 scallops arranged in a circle and placed over some gravy (she loved it) and I had a boneless spare rib bowl with two tiny white potatoes with a small hile in the center filled with butter or cheese, with some tastey spinach under the meat.

I don't recall the prices but each was about $36 - $42 a plate.

Wine by the glass was $11 - $14 at our table and desert ($12?) was a very small slice of carrot cake with a teaspoon sized drollop of ice cream and some sort of chocolate cream on the side.

It all tasted good but the portions were small and expensive.

I forget the chef's name but in my humble opinion - all chef's are extremely over-rated.

The service was exceptionally good and one guest asked me why they liked us so much. The chef kept sending us small samples of the other stuff he was preparing in the kitchen. That was a nice touch.


Sage is located in the Aria towards the rear of the check in area.

The room at 9:00 pm was approximately 1/2 full which was a big surprise as all the restaurants I saw over that three day stay were 98% empty. And that includes the buffet.

Mike, I did post a photo of the view from the 45th floor. Will post more soon.

Thanks, JMT! No coffee kiosk in the lobby this past week. I have a feeling that the hotel just might have agreed to let Silk Road provide all food and beverages within the hotel on an exclusive basis and SR objected about that lobby coffee service,

In fact, even if you wanted a soft drink you'd have to buy it at the bar or Silk Road or from the refrigerated drinks in the room.

The entire time we were at the Vadara, we never saw more than three people in Silk Road and most of that time it was completely empty. And no one was ever seen in the SR bar at all.

Ditto for the Vdara lobby bar except that that bar had about ten customers one evening as part of some small convention group.

YES! The Vdara room was definitely a studio apartment, but they sort of divided it into two area by separating the bed area from the couch area with a big brown partition separating both areas.

That partition had a decent sized flat screen TV on both sides - one facing a couch and the other faceing the bed.

Upon entering the hotel room you find yourself in a small kitchen with a sink, a two space built in hot plate, a tiny refrigerator (double six pack size) and a small table for three.

I would guess a total of 550 square feet. Not bad for a hotel room though but not large enough to live and die there

I didn't have a $6.50 cupcake at the fancy choclate place in the Aria but I almost ordered the fancy $11 desert crape. And we did walk past the shop on LV Blvd below the Mandarin but never did stop to take a look.

I have heard from reliable sources that there are going to be some major changes to Elvis. I bet that they even reconsider their Elvis impersonator stance,

Without some sort of real live "Elvis" it will remain a flop in my humble opinion.

And come to think of it - Elvis never was a circus act.

I think they will re-think the entire production.

But if they continue with what they got, it'll only prove that Elvis was the biggest entertainment draw of all time. Even when he's bad - it's good!

What's next?? Michael Jackson!!!!?

JMT - Elvis moved to the top part of that huge guitar and stood tall. It was his twin brother who fell into the cloud/smoke below.