Caesars Entertainment has 50% offers for Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Harrahs Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe Spa Getaway discounted travel packages on sale today Thursday April 14, 2011 at DiscoverAmerica.com. The sale begins at 12 noon ET (New York time). There are a limited number of items for sale.

DiscoverAmerica.com Daily Getaways link.

$264 Harrah’s Las Vegas. ($237.60 with American Express payment)

• 2 nights in Mini-Suite room and
• roundtrip Airport Transportation, and
• bottle of champagne in room.
• 15 packages available.
• Maximum one package per person.

$275 Harrah’s Las Vegas ($247.50 with American Express payment).

• 3 nights in Deluxe room,
• 2 show tickets and
• $100 dining credit.
• 20 items for sale.
• Maximum one package per person.
• Travel must be completed by May 12, 2012.
• Travel must be booked at least 30 days in advance. 

$275 Lake Tahoe Spa Getaway  at Harrah’s or Harvey’s ($247.50 with American Express payment).

• 2 nights accommodation in luxury room plus spa treatment at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Resort or Harvey’s Lake Tahoe.
• Two spa treatments with either 50-minute Swedish Therapeutic Massage or a Classic European Facial.
• Sunday through Thursday nights only. No weekend stays allowed.
• Travel package must be redeemed by March 29, 2012.
• 5 items for sale.
• Maximum one package per person.  

$481 Caesars Palace Las Vegas. ($432.90 with American Express payment).

• 2 nights accommodation (no room type specified).
• 2 all-day Buffet of Buffets passes.
• 2 fitness center day passes.
• Roundtrip airport transportation by limo.
• 25 items for sale.
• Maximum one package per person.
• Travel must be completed by May 12, 2012.
• Travel must be booked at least 30 days in advance.

$1,110 Caesars Palace VIP Stay ($999 with American Express payment).

• 3 nights in a suite.
• $250 dining credit.
• 2 show tickets of your choice at any of 8 Caesars Entertainment properties.
• 2 Roman Rituals day passes for QUA Baths & Spa.
• Roundtrip limousine transportation from Las Vegas Airport.
• Bottle of champagne in room.
• Travel must be completed by May 12, 2012.
• Travel must be booked at least 30 days in advance.
• 20 items for sale.
• Maximum one package per person.

These hotel discount sales are high value discounts and some items sell out quickly. You need to be ready to make a purchase at the start of the sale if you really desire one of these items.

About DiscoverAmerica.com

DiscoverAmerica.com is the official travel and tourism website of the United States. The Daily Getaways are sponsored by American Express and prices are discounted by 10% when using American Express as payment. DiscoverAmerica.com has 25 days of discounted travel opportunities with a focus on hotels and car rentals through its “Daily Getaways” on its website.

Hyatt Gold Passport points Daily Getaway offer, Friday, April 15 – 12 noon ET

Hyatt Gold Passport points are available at a significant discount through DiscoverAmerica.com (about $10/1,000 points) compared to the purchase price through Hyatt Gold Passport ($24/1,000 points).

Currently the first three weeks of DiscoverAmerica.com DailyGetaways offers have posted.

Week 1: April 11-15, 2011

 

Week 2: April 18-22, 2011

 

Week 3: April 25-29, 2011

Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa officially rebranded April 1 from the formerly independent Alila Villas Hadahaa Resort. This is the first Hyatt in the Maldives, a chain of 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean southwest of India. The Hyatt press release states the hotel is located just south of the equator, yet every map I have seen including Hyatt’s own hotel location map shows Huvadhoo Atoll just north of the equator and Hadahaa island at Latitude 0⁰, 30 N.  Atoll is a word derived from the Maldives language according to Webster. Hyatt’s press release reminds me of the 1969 film Krakatoa, East of Java. Krakatoa is actually an island west of Java in the country of Indonesia.

Park Hyatt Maldives rates look to start around $1,000 per night and increase to $1,200+ for a pool villa. 13.5% tax is additional. Dan of Dan’s Deals states Gold Passport Diamond confirmed suite upgrades will not be accepted at the Maldives property.

At 22,000 points for a category 6 reward night this hotel gives great point value. Hyatt points are worth about $50 per 1,000 for this Maldives vacation. Free nights saves money for all the other expenses of a trip to the Maldives which some guests who have actually been there estimate at $400 to $800 per day for meals, drinks and an activity or two.

 

Las Vegas Resorts The Venetian and The Palazzo officially are now hotel partners of IHG Priority Club in a new type of IHG brand called InterContinental Alliance Resorts. Priority Club members earn 2,000 points per stay and reward nights are 40,000 points per night. InterContinental Ambassador benefits apply to stays.

Mandarin Oriental is a small luxury hotel chain with fewer than 30 branded hotels worldwide.  The hotel brand is planning to grow by 50% over the next few years with hotel projects currently in development. There are six Mandarin Oriental hotels in the U.S. and one in Bermuda and one in Riviera Maya Mexico.

Link: Global Mandarin Oriental hotel locations.

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas is one of three hotels in the MGM/Dubai World $9 billion dollar CityCenter project on the Las Vegas Strip between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo casino resorts. Aria Resort & Casino is the focal point of CityCenter and the only hotel of the three with a casino. Vdara is a mixed-use hotel and residential building located adjacent to the Cosmopolitan, the newest Las Vegas casino resort opened December 15, 2010, although a separate property from the CityCenter complex.

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas opened one year ago in December 2009 with the CityCenter Las Vegas grand opening. Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas at CityCenter is a 539-ft building. The building is 47 stories, with the hotel in the lower 23 floors containing 392 guest rooms and suites.

The 23^rd floor is the top Sky Lobby hotel floor at the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas. 

The lobby reception desk on the 23^rd floor is also the concierge desk on the right end. The lobby is a bright space in day with large windows letting in the Vegas sunny sky and a dimly lit space at night with great views north along the Las Vegas Strip and City Center building lights and sights.

The reception desk, lobby seating, Mandarin Bar and Twist restaurant are located at the Sky Lobby. The 3^rd floor holds the hotel conference center wing and the all-day restaurant MOzen. 

The hotel ground floor lobby entrance has elevators giving access only to the 3rd floor and 23^rd floor Sky Lobby.

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas elevators have a cushioned bench.

Eating and Drinking at the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas

Tea Lounge: The lobby lounge area seating offers a high tea service daily in the afternoon from 2:30 to 5 pm. 

MOzen is seemingly Mandarin Oriental zen, although I like the American twist for mo’ zen in a BustaRhymes  gimme some mo’ word way to have ‘more zen’ all-day dining restaurant. Prices are high with oatmeal breakfast in double digits and breakfast plate around $30.

Mandarin Bar is currently only open evenings with 5pm to 1am hours or 2am Friday and Saturday. The view from Mandarin Bar is one of the best publicly accessible views in Las Vegas. One drink is worth the cost of admission if a good window seat is available. Think $20 to $30 for each set of drinks for a couple.

I lounged for about an hour in a chair by the picture windows looking out to Planet Hollywood and Paris Las Vegas. Great bar snack crunchies of three varieties including wasabi nuts came with the beer. $12 poorer upon departure. Cool feature for CityCenter hotels is charges for Aria and Vdara bar and dining can be direct billed to Mandarin Oriental hotel bill and same for guests of those hotels.

Twist is evening fine dining on the 23^rd floor of Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas. The cuisine is fusion, creative, and around $50 per entrée.

Large Windows on 23^rd floor define Mandarin Bar and top of Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas Hotel. Higher floors are Mandarin Oriental residences.

Sky Lobby and Mandarin Bar are left window bank and Twist is right window bank on 23^rd floor.

Arrival at Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas

Mandarin Oriental is a luxury hotel with prices in the luxury range for everything except the room rates. Room rates under $200 per night, particularly with a flight inclusive travel package through sites like Expedia and Orbitz make Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas one of the lowest priced Mandarin Oriental hotels in the world.

Parking is valet only and $30 for overnight at the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas. The hotel entrance is on Las Vegas Boulevard just past the City Center entrance. You can save $30 parking fee if you take the CityCenter entrance and self-park at Aria Casino and walk to the Mandarin Oriental hotel.

Aria Resort & Casino has free self-parking and takes a five minute walk to Mandarin Oriental from the Aria self-park garage casino entrance using the outdoor sidewalk in the CityCenter complex.

By the large colorful typewriter eraser art sculpture is a flight of stairs from the sidewalk to the entry level of Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Alternative to the stairs is a sidewalk escalator by the pedestrian overpass and at the bottom of the escalators is the world’s slowest 3-ft. elevator ride from the CityCenter sidewalk down to the Mandarin Oriental driveway.

The Aria garage is at the left side of the Aria Hotel in the background. The Mandarin Oriental is to the left of the pedestrian overpass.

The Lower Lobby

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas has a small ground level lobby with seating area, staff desk and elevators to the 23^rd floor main reception desk in the Sky Lobby.

Sky Lobby – 23^rd floor Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas

The hotel guest is greeted with this image when the elevator opens to the Sky Lobby.

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas  CityScape Room

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas requires two sets of elevators to go from the entrance to guest rooms. A separate set of elevators takes guests from Floor 23 Sky Lobby level down to lower floor guest rooms within the hotel. Key card access is required for hotel elevators to guest rooms.

Hotel guest room floors are 4 through 22. There is no floor 13. Spa, fitness rooms and pools are accessed on Floor 8.

I stayed in room 1124 on the 11^th floor booked in a King CityScape room basic room on a higher floor. 

Link to Mandarin Oriental hotel room and suite categories.

Here are my photos of this room with a different orientation in the hotel. 

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas PR image for CityScape room differs from my image in that the sliding doors on the bathroom wall panel reveals the robed woman and conceals the glass bath wall from the bedroom when opened.

The TV shows the electronic master controls available for room lighting and entertainment using the TV remote. These are same electronic controls found in Aria Resort with wall switches, TV master remote and a nightstand remote pad.

The nightstand remote pad was not working properly in my Mandarin Oriental room. Actually, the remote may have worked, but the screen was too dim to read icon options. I reported the dim nightstand screen twice and I was told to contact them again if I couldn’t figure out how to make the screen brighter.

Hey, I had already pushed every button on the gadget to no effect. I used the TV remote for my stay. The remote system ran a little more smoothly than at Aria room.

Weirdest thing about the hotel is my hotel room in this building had the distinction of providing the worst access I’ve ever had in the USA to Verizon Wireless. Mandarin Bar was much better than my room.

Internet access at Mandarin Oriental is $18 per day.  

In contrast to the high tech room electronics was the old fashioned tub with bath salts for a relaxing soak.

A small TV and vanity mirror are on left side of counter. Aromatic sandalwood soaps are provided. I like the smell. My wife, the soap purist, thinks the Aromatherapy Associates soap makes her skin too dry.

My pictures do not give the room justice. Furnishings were all high quality. The bed was quite comfortable for me and my preferences. Funny thing is I commented on the Aria hotel bed being too soft for me in my Loyalty Traveler review and a highly detailed review I read of the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas complained the bed was too hard.

To each his/her own.

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas 10-minute video walkthrough

HeWhoTravels (Ether on FlyerTalk) has a FlyerTalk post describing the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas in far more detail than I will here. He also posted an excellent January 2010 edited 10-minute YouTube video with musical soundtrack. The video opens with views of CityCenter from the pedestrian bridge and a walk-through of the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas with detailed views of a Premier Room. All the features of the premier room are the same as the CityScape room I stayed except for my lower category room did not have a sink by the toilet and the Premier room video shows an extra chair with footstool and small table.

My initial thought was being thankful I had stayed in Aria Resort the week before this stay since I probably would have been less favorable to Aria if I had stayed in the Mandarin Oriental hotel room first. I always prefer to finish my stay with the top of the line hotel when hotel hopping in a city.

Mandarin Oriental 8^th Floor Lap Pools and Spa Tubs

Every staff member at the hotel told me the pools were closed for the winter, except for the guy who actually works at the fitness center in front of the pool doors. He said pool hours were 9am to 5pm.

The pool area was lovely in the 65 degree weather of December. Odd everyone kept saying it was closed.

Spots on the pool deck showed cement bubbling and cracking from the intense desert sun and those 14 hour days of summer heat. 

View from Mandarin Oriental room 1124 of hotel’s north lap pool and Aria Resort & Casino in background.

North pool view across CityCenter. Hot tub is located at far end of this pool near patio windows.

Light and Dark

Light plays an important role in the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas experience.

 

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas Building

The building itself is a beautiful structure designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox. Their KPF.com architectural firm website has several nice photos of the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas hotel property.

The windows and metal frame reflect a variety of colors as the day evolves.

Mandarin Oriental hotels are outside my normal realm of loyalty travel. The opportunity to stay at the AAA 5-diamond Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas hotel came at an incredible bargain of $12 for one night in a CityScape King room for an Expedia.ca Air + Hotel travel package with airfare included on US Airways from San Francisco to Las Vegas.  Here is my Loyalty Traveler November 20, 2010 post on this special 48 hour Expedia Canada opportunity for incredible Las Vegas hotel deals that put me in CityCenter Las Vegas for three nights at the Aria Resort and Mandarin Oriental in December 2010 on two separate trips from California for under $100 all-in, including airfare.

Related Posts:

Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]

CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)

Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)

Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)

Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010) 

Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)

Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas is part of the Marriott Autograph Collection of independently branded hotels. Marriott won the musical chairs game in branding the Cosmopolitan for its Marriott Rewards members.

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas could have been a Grand Hyatt. That was the plan reported in the Las Vegas Sun April 6, 2005 when the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino was scheduled for an early 2008 opening. Hyatt pulled out of the project.

Then the Cosmopolitan was reported to become the first representative of Hilton’s new Denizen hotel brand. Months after Deutsche Bank foreclosed on the Cosmopolitan project in 2008, the news broke in March 2009 that Hilton would rebrand the hotel-casino project.

Denizen Hotels never got off the ground due to legal troubles brought from an April 2009 corporate espionage lawsuit by Starwood Hotels claiming Mr. Ross Klein, former president of Starwood’s luxury brands group  took proprietary Starwood Hotel plans to Hilton Hotels Corporation when he became head of Hilton’s luxury and lifestyle brands and launched the Denizen brand project in amazingly short time.  USA Today story of Denizen. Lawsuit puts Denizen brand on hold - Hotel World Network (April 17, 2009). Mr. Klein was suspended from his position and the Denizen hotel brand was shelved by Hilton.

Finally in August 2010 Marriott Hotels penned an agreement with the Cosmopolitan to brand the hotel in the Autograph Collection of independent properties.

Identity – The Cosmopolitan loyalty program

No wonder the Cosmopolitan came up with the name “Identity” for its gaming rewards program. The hotel also participates in Marriott Rewards, so there is confusion with two hotel loyalty programs competing for guests.

Marriott Rewards members earn 10 points per dollar at the Cosmopolitan just like other full service Marriott Rewards hotels. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Rewards category 7 hotel reward at 35,000 points for a free night. FlyerTalk members report there is a Marriott Rewards representative at the hotel working with the Cosmopolitan to integrate loyalty benefits for its Marriott Rewards members.

Identity may be the preferable rewards program for guests more interested in the Cosmopolitan property than Marriott Hotels in general. Identity members receive 10 points per $1 for hotel room rate and a free night after 8 nights at the Cosmopolitan. Assume $200 per night average room rate and you earn a free night after just $1,600 in hotel spend. Use your free night on a weekend for best value.

Marriott Rewards requires $3,500 in base spend to earn a free night, although elite members and promotion bonuses may reduce that hotel spend amount significantly.

The big advantage of Identity is for gamblers.

Earning Identity Points

Identity Points reside in a member’s personal account and are based on the amount of dollars either spent or wagered.

Identity Points can be earned by members as follows:

· 10 points for every $1 spent on room or suite accommodations

· 10 points for every $4 of other resort spending (e.g., restaurants, spa, selected retail)

· 10 points for every $15 wagered on reel/video reel slot

· 10 points for every $50 wagered on video poker

· 10 points for every $100 wagered on table games (approximate – varies by game type)

· Identity members who book their hotel stay through a third-party partner or online travel agency will receive a flat amount of 1,000 points per night of accommodations, in addition to points earned on their other expenditures.

Identity points may be used for room upgrades. 

FlyerTalk member Cova provides a detailed description of the Identity loyalty program and membership tier benefits with qualifications.

 

The Rooms at the Cosmopolitan

The vibrant blue of the couch, contemporary art and open space  bathrooms are modern decor for guests. The type of guest being marketed by the Cosmopolitan is a little difficult to ascertain from this 60-second TV spot.

The Cosmopolitan appears to be a pet-friendly hotel!

The club scene of the Cosmopolitan with the Bond Bar located right on Las Vegas Boulevard and the upstairs Marquee nightclub extending right out to the adults pool area with eight elevated clear glass hot tubs is the kind of place you lounge with a martini, but not in solitary comfort. The Cosmopolitan  is designed for partying, playing, dancing, dining and viewing Las Vegas from your room terrace. The Cosmopolitan is designed for people to hang out.

There is gambling too at The Cosmopolitan.

The Cosmopolitan is the last major new casino and hotel planned for Las Vegas over the next three to five years. Rates in the $200 to $300 range for the lowest category rooms over most of the next few months is a bold move in this economy.

One of the unique features of The Cosmopolitan is 70% of the nearly 3,000 hotel rooms have terrace balconies. No other major casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip offers terrace room balconies in regular hotel rooms.

Currently the lowest rates over the next several months are $135 for a Studio Terrace on January 2 and 3. You can book a Terrace Suite on these dates ($235) for less than the price of a Studio Terrace on most weekends (Studio Terrace $260 Friday Jan 28; Terrace Suite $410) for the next three months .

The rooms at The Cosmopolitan add 1.5% more rooms to Las Vegas. My gut feeling is room rates over the next few months will drop to the $120 to $150 range from their current $160 to $200 average. The Cosmopolitan will be a good indicator hotel to watch for rate fluctuation settling somewhere more specific in the Aria to Encore to Mandarin Oriental price range.

Pre-Opening Press Tour Tuesday, Dec 14

The pre-opening press tour did not permit photography inside the hotel. This Loyalty Traveler post has links to websites showing photos and videos of  The Cosmopolitan. YouTube video links uploaded by The Cosmopolitan show room tours. Room photos posted here were received from The Cosmopolitan hotel PR department.

There are five basic room types at The Cosmopolitan:

• Terrace Studio (620 sq. ft. + 110 sq. ft. terrace – kitchenette with microwave and refrigerator)
• City Room (460 sq. ft. studio with two queen beds – no terrace)
• Terrace One Bedroom (610 sq. ft. + 110 sq. ft. terrace – Japanese square soaking tub; kitchenette with stove, microwave and refrigerator)
• Terrace Suite (910 sq. ft. + 160 sq. ft. terrace – two bathrooms with master bath spa tub )
• Wraparound Terrace Suite (1,200 sq. ft. + 480 sq. ft. terrace - in-suite washer/dryer )
• Terrace Studio Premium View, Terrace One Bedroom Premium View and Terrace One Bedroom Plus with oversize terrace are better locations for these hotel room categories; likely a  Bellagio Fountain view.

The two Cosmopolitan tower buildings are about 600 ft. tall. The floor numbering is creative just like at Aria Resort where floors 40-49 do not exist.  The Cosmopolitan is confusing too with guest floors starting at 15 and no room floors in the 40s.

How to fit 75 floors in a 603 ft. tower?

Las Vegas has creative floor numbering.  My memory recalls 75 as the top floor elevator button in the east tower of the Cosmopolitan. I read a review by a person who stayed on the 68th floor last week. So how does a hotel not built for hobbits get 75 floors in a 603 ft. building?

I noticed during my stay at the Aria Resort that no elevators had buttons for floors 40 to 49 in the 59 floor tower. I asked several employees about the missing floors. Nobody simply explained that no floors in the 40s exist in the hotel. The floor numbering goes directly from 39 to 50. The 59th floor penthouse is actually a 49th floor location.

Wikipedia lists the tallest buildings in Las Vegas. Aria Resort at City Center is 600 ft. and 50 floors. The Cosmopolitan East Tower I toured last week is listed at 603 ft. and 51 floors. Check out the elevator numbers when you are going up the tower. There must be a lot of missing floor numbers between the Promenade restaurant level and the 75th top floor.

The reason cited for no floors in the 40s is an association with bad luck/death in Asian cultures. Others think it is just a way to make Las Vegas hotels appear taller to hotel guests than they actually are. Encore, Wynn and Palms Place also do not have room floors in the 40s.

Room Photos

The Cosmopolitan Terrace Studio

Video: The Cosmopolitan Terrace Studio (YouTube 33 sec)

 

The Cosmopolitan City Room

Video: The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas City Room (YouTube – 21 sec)

The Cosmopolitan  – Terrace One Bedroom

Video: The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas = Terrace One Bedroom (YouTube – 27 sec.)

 

The Cosmopolitan - Terrace Suite

Video: The Cosmopolitan – Terrace Suite (YouTube – 49 sec.)

The Cosmopolitan Wraparound Terrace Suite

Video: The Cosmopolitan Wraparound Terrace Suite (YouTube – 1:03)

This Loyalty Traveler Dec 14 post shows the room view from a wraparound terrace suite on the 58th floor of the east tower.

Blog.Vegas.com has a gallery of photos of the lobby floors of the hotel and the central focal point of the hotel-casino Chandelier.

Related Posts:

Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]

CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)

Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)

Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)

Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010) 

Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)

Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)

Vdara is a mixed use condominium residences and hotel rooms in the 57-floor tower north of Harmon Avenue.  The building is part of the CityCenter MGM Resorts/Dubai World Las Vegas Strip complex between Bellagio and Monte Carlo casinos. CityCenter has three hotels on its 67-acre property with Aria Resort, Mandarin Oriental and Vdara. The imperfect blue building planned as the Harmon Hotel at the corner of Harmon and Las Vegas Boulevard in CityCenter sits empty due to construction flaws.

The Vdara Hotel location is accessible from the Aria Hotel Casino floor level via an elevated circular drive over Harmon Avenue revealing Nancy Rubins’ Big Edge, the large-scale canoe sculpture located between the two hotels.

Vdara is a non-smoking, non-gaming hotel with a bar, a restaurant, a spa and pool, and a walkway to Bellagio Resort and the CityCenter electric tram station. The Cosmopolitan casino and Marriott Autograph Collection branded resort is adjacent to Vdara, between the Bellagio and the main CityCenter complex on Las Vegas Boulevard, the Strip.

Vdara Hotel is low-key without the formality of Mandarin Oriental or the immense size of Aria Resort & Casino. Vdara Suites are large, condominium style rooms with small dining areas and kitchen space with refrigerator, microwave and stove, a sleeper couch, bedroom, two TVs and bathroom.

Vdara hotel has lower room rates than Aria for December 2010with rates as low as $119 compared to Aria at $129. Mandarin Oriental is typically the highest base room rate of the three CityCenter Hotels with lowest rates around $199.

Vdara can save money on a Las Vegas vacation by cooking for yourself in the room kitchen rather than dining out. Silk Road provides lobby food service.

Vdara Hotel occupies an extraordinarily convenient location between Bellagio, The Cosmopolitan and Aria for three very different resort casino experiences within five minutes walk from your room.

The lobby bar has seating in the main bar, off to the right indoors and a terrace outdoors.

The lobby has a small seating area near the elevators with a concierge desk cubicle off the main hotel registration desk.

Peter Wegner is the artist for the Vdara lobby with two pieces Day for Night, Night for Day on the east wall (orange colored paper, 45 feet x 10 feet 9 inches) and west wall (blue colored paper, 34 feet x 10 feet 9 inches).

Vdara Deluxe Suites are the basic room category and provide a kitchenette and nearly 600 sq. ft. of room space. Vdara website has a video of Deluxe Suite Option 1 floorplan. Here are my photos of this room category.

The sitting room had a large wall mounted TV and the bedroom also had a wall mounted TV.

Vdara City Corner Suite

City Corner Suites are over 800 sq. ft.  with a four burner kitchen stove, full size refrigerator, four person dining table, washer-dryer, queen size sofa bed and large spa tub.

Vdara Penthouse Suite

The Vdara Penthouse Suites are one and two bedroom and one floor or two floor suites. I toured a two-bedroom, one story penthouse suite on the 54^th floor. This apartment space is 1,200 to 1,400 sq. ft and provides the full hotel residential style living quarters.

Vdara Pool Deck

Related Posts:

Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]

CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)

Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)

Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)

Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010) 

Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)

Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)

Aria Sky Villas offer two- and three-bedroom luxury suites on one or two floors on the top floors of Aria Resort & Casino. Aria Sky Villa 19 is a 58th floor bi-level three-bedroom suite with living room, dining room, bedroom, and fitness room with sauna and 2.5 bathrooms on the lower level. A spiral staircase and elevator access an upper floor with a sitting room, two bedrooms, four bathrooms, massage room, salon and kitchen pantry.

40 to 50 people were in Sky Villa 19 at one point during the wine reception. All guests were comfortably positioned around the main living room and dining area. A bar was set up in the corner of the living room. 

Sky Villa 19 is a large space for entertaining.

The lower floor of Sky Villa 19 has a half-bathroom with toilet and sink at the main room entrance and one bedroom with full bathroom. There is a fitness room with sauna and shower and a connecting room with sink and toilet.

The lower floor fitness room across the hall from the bedroom has a shower, sauna and connecting toilet and dressing room. A door from the fitness dressing room leads to the main bathroom for the lower floor bedroom. 

Aria Resort Las Vegas, Sky Villa 19, fitness room doorway to dressing room

 

The second floor of Aria Sky Villa 19 is accessible by stairs and elevator. Two bedrooms, each with two full bathrooms, salon, massage room, kitchen pantry and sitting room are located on the second floor of Aria Sky Villa 19.

Aria Resort Las Vegas, Sky Villa 19, Master Bedroom

This completes the tour of Aria Resort Sky Villa 19.

 

Related Posts:

Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]

CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)

Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)

Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)

Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010) 

Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)

Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)

Drinking wine in the 7,000 square foot Sky Villa 19 on the 58th floor at Aria Resort Las Vegas was beyond my expectations for an $82 two-night stay with airfare from San Jose, California included through my Expedia.ca SAVE300 package deal. 

The stars aligned, well actually, the Luxury Travel Expo 2010 travel agent attendees aligned with my stay for an exclusive opportunity to tour various categories of Aria Resort & Casino hotel rooms followed by an evening wine and food reception in SkyVilla 19.

Aria Hotel has 4,004 rooms including 568 suites. The basic room category at Aria  is a 520-square foot “Deluxe Room” space with floor to ceiling windows, electronic master controls for curtains and lights and all entertainment options and a bathroom with separate tub and shower. The size of a typical luxury market segment hotel room is generally around 520 sq. ft.

There really are not bad rooms at Aria, only less favorable locations for the room view. There are two factors to keep in mind when booking at Aria Resort, height and width.

Aria is a 59-floor hotel with only one location for elevators on each guest room floor. The size of the hotel may literally require walking over 100 yards to your room from the elevator on the larger floors. Keep this in mind if you need closer proximity to the elevators and make your request known when booking.

The higher floors have preferred views, but there really are not any sides of the hotel with undesirable views when on a floor above 15 or so.  Aria’s rear hotel wings overlook the Aria pool complex and Monte Carlo casino or face Harmon Avenue with a view to the Vdara Hotel and the just-opened Cosmopolitan Hotel. Lower floors locations can view the rooftop over low sections of the resort. Some lower floor rooms on Harmon Avenue side have a close-up view of  CityCenter electric tram cars.

The CityCenter complex has beautiful architecture. Rooms overlooking CityCenter provide architectural views of Veer Towers, Crystals, Harmon Building and Mandarin Oriental and may have a view of the Las Vegas Strip. These central CityCenter facing rooms are Deluxe Room City View which is the next higher room category from the basic level room. 

Floor height is the more important factor for a room at Aria in my opinion. The closer you are to the ground the more noise you are likely to hear from traffic and such. There is a fire station on Harmon Avenue between the Vdara Hotel and The Cosmopolitan.

My room was on the top-level 24th floor overlooking the pool from the northwest wing of the hotel.

The room tour of Aria showed a 31st floor King Deluxe similar to mine. The room was a City View room in the front side of the hotel, room linens had trim, chairs had better upholstery and the shower head was different.

This Loyalty Traveler post has more pictures of the King Deluxe room category features from my hotel room stay.

Aria Resort & Casino Suites

Regular suites are 920 sq.ft at Aria Resort. The four basic suite categories are Corner Suite, Crystals Suite overlooking the CityCenter Crystals retail shopping area, Cirrus Suite at 1,500 sq.ft. has a formal dining area, and Executive Hospitality Suite is 2,000 sq.ft. overlooking pool area and includes a 12-person conference room.

I only visited the Corner Suite room category among these suite categories.

Aria Resort & Casino Las Vegas Sky Suites

Aria Sky Suites offer an exclusive resort experience with airport limousine transfers, private check-in and exclusive Sky Suite guest lounge access. There are separate sets of elevators for Sky Suites guests with closer access to restaurants and the casino floors than the elevators for other hotel guests.

Rooms range in size from 1,050 sq. ft. one bedroom Aria Suite and two bedroom Aria Suite at 1,630 sq. ft.

Penthouse one bedroom suites are 1,465 sq. ft. with a bedroom, dining room, kitchen, oversize bathroom, and entry hall toilet.

Penthouse two bedroom suites are 2,060 sq. ft.

Aria Sky Suite one-bedroom photos shown here are room 51-002 on 51st floor. The room view looks directly down to the Lumia Fountain at the Aria central entrance and floor-to-ceiling windows place the guest directly in the center view of CenterCity Las Vegas.

The Aria Sky Suite bathroom in room 51-002 has two entries from the bedroom with sliding doors.

The length of this piece with photos favors placing Aria Sky Villa 19 photos in a separate Loyalty Traveler blog post.

Related Posts:

Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]

CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)

Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)

Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)

Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010) 

Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)

Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)

Hotels are the modern secular equivalent of grand cathedrals. Large hotels are semi-public places with grand architecture and increasingly function as locations for great art. This piece is an overview of CityCenter as an entity with descriptions of the architecture, shopping, electric tram, and art. I will add hotel links once I have my set of articles written for CityCenter’s three hotels – Vdara, Aria Resort’s high category rooms and the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas.

City Center Las Vegas shows Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas on left, Aria center background with lighted rooftop and Vdara right background is the skyscraper of tiered curvilinear rectangular prisms. Crystals CityCenter is front center. Colored buildings are Veer Towers residential units in the center of the complex. Front right is The Harmon which was planned as a shared hotel-residences, however, construction issues have left the building empty and currently in litigation with the general contractor. A demolition of the Harmon building, possibly in 2013, appears to be the future of this hotel project located directly across Harmon Avenue from the newly opened Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino.

CityCenter Hotels

Aria Resort and Casino is the only casino hotel in the CityCenter complex. Vdara and Mandarin Oriental are just hotels.

Aria Resort places you in the center of the action for CityCenter with easy access to more than a dozen restaurants, casino, Elvis theater, numerous bars and Crystals, a luxury brands shopping center.

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas is truly a luxury hotel with the finest basic category room of the three CityCenter hotels including all the high-tech features found in Aria with added touches of higher quality room furnishings. Mandarin Oriental has two restaurants, Mandarin Bar and the Spa. The hotel is a five minute walk from Aria Resort and Casino and the CityCenter tram.

The 47-floor Mandarin Oriental only has guest rooms up to floor 22. The hotel’s main lobby and bar are Floor 23 and higher floors are residences. Guests entering the hotel at ground level must take the elevator to the Floor 23 lobby and then change to a different set of elevators and go back down to room floors.

Vdara is a condominium-style hotel with cooking facilities, dining area and bed-couch in each room. There is only one bar. Major advantage of Vdara is indoor corridor access to Bellagio and CityCenter tram.

Vdara building view from pool deck reveals curvilinear form.

CityCenter Tram

An electric tram operates from 8am to 4am everyday to carry passengers along a near half-mile elevated track running from the Bellagio Resort north of Vdara through the CityCenter complex to the Monte Carlo Resort Casino south of Aria Resort with a center stop at Crystals retail area.

Roundtrip from Bellagio to Monte Carlo takes six minutes and 15 seconds to cover the 2,187-foot track at a speed of 13.5 miles per hour. Two 95-foot long trains have four cars each and carry up to 33 passengers per car.

View of Aria Resort Lumia Fountain and Hotel Entrance from CityCenter Tram tinted windows.

The Harmon Tower

The lower floors of The Harmon Hotel were being papered over with CityCenter advertisements during the week I was in Las Vegas.  Construction issues and a lawsuit with the hotel project’s general contractor have left the building sitting unused and plans for demolition in the next couple of years.

Architect Norman Foster, designer of the Reichstag New German Parliament building, designed the Harmon as a tower with 47 stories like the Mandarin Oriental, however, construction stopped when improperly installed rebar, the reinforcement metal bars used in concrete,  was discovered on several floors. The hotel building has been called the world’s most expensive billboard.

Workers placing large ads on Harmon Building windows CityCenter Las Vegas in December 2010.

Veer Towers

Two 37-floor residential towers in the center of City Center were designed by Helmut Jahn and lean in opposite directions 4.6 degrees from vertical center.

Crystals Retail Space

Just off the Aria Hotel lobby and on the CityCenter tram line is Crystals retail area where you will find high-end luxury brands like Dior, Bulgari, Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Fendi among others.

CityCenter Art

CityCenter Las Vegas prides itself on a fine art collection and provides tourists and hotel guests with a CityCenter “Fine Art Collection Map” to highlight 20 pieces of art around the 67-acre property.

One of the largest corporate collections of publicly displayed art in the world is present in CityCenter. Many large scale installations make CityCenter art worth seeking out. Here are a few of the pieces I noticed around the complex among the twenty listed on the CityCenter Las Vegas Fine Art Collection map.

There is a large electronic message display in the lower level of Aria in the street outside the Haze nightclub. Vegas has some uplifting and some dark content passing along the walls.

Related Posts:

Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]

CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)

Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)

Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)

Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010) 

Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)

Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)

“Hey man. Can I ask you a question? Can I really buy a beer here and walk outside the casino and down the street with it?”

I looked at the young guy from my bar stool in Bar Moderno at the Aria Casino and replied, “Sure. This is Vegas!”

“Hey, I just wanted to check,” he exclaimed. “I don’t know these things. I’m from Nebraska and I just stepped off the plane two hours ago.”

The bartender reaffirmed to the cornhusker just off the plane from Nebraska that he could indeed walk down the street with his beer in hand and not fear arrest for drinking in public.

“Welcome to Vegas,” I greeted him as I headed over to a table to listen to the piano man playing classical pieces on a grand piano in the bar lounge 20 feet away.

That was last Thursday on my second night at the Aria Resort. This Monday night when I was staying at the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas I debated going to the Mandarin Bar on the 23^rd floor of the hotel with great views of the Las Vegas Strip. The thought of paying another $12 for an 11.2 oz bottle of Stella Artois ($10 + tax + tip) didn’t really light my fire. Granted though, the view and bar snacks make the price of a drink a reasonable exchange for the ambience of the Mandarin Bar.

I thought of that guy from Nebraska. I actually could not recall ever having carried a drink outside while walking Las Vegas Boulevard.

A trip to CVS next door to the Mandarin Oriental detected a double size bottle of Stella Artois (22.4 oz) for $3.99 and I headed down the Strip to Planet Hollywood. I positioned myself against the wall outside near a line of people trying to win one million dollars from a slot machine and the music of the Who blaring from outdoor speakers.

Then I realized I was not carrying my car keys with my bottle opener. In fact, I was not carrying any kind of object to open my beer except for the coins in my pocket from the beer purchase change. Determination and the combined tools of a dime and quarter allowed me to successfully open my beer bottle after a couple of minutes.

I strolled by Paris and over to Bellagio for the fountain show, all while drinking a beer on the street on a cool Las Vegas evening in December.

Crossed off my list of  life’s travel achievements:

Drink a bottle of beer while walking Las Vegas Boulevard.

Related Posts:

Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]

CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)

Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)

Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)

Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010) 

Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)

Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)

Spent about four hours at The Cosmopolitan today. This hotel is branded as a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel and officially opens in 24 hours (8pm Dec 15). Extensive tour of the property followed by extensive champagne and signature drinks. This media pass gig is kinda cool.

Unfortunately photography of the hotel interior was not allowed today and the press packet has some room photos, but not any others of the property. There are some very cool spaces in The Cosmopolitan. I am about to board a flight so this post may abruptly end.

While I could not photograph inside the hotel, I was allowed to photograph from the balconies. Loyalty Traveler likes a room with a view and the Cosmopolitan may be unsurpassed for incredible room views right on the Las Vegas Strip from the 75-floor east tower. There is also a west tower. About 70% of the hotel rooms have balconies; a unique feature for a major Las Vegas Strip Hotel. This is the place to be for a photography buff.

The Italian Restaurant has wonderful window views of the Bellagio fountains.

But the room views are quite spectacular from the 58th floor.

Take off. More tomorrow.

Dec 15 update: Here are more photos from the wraparound corner room balcony of  Terrace Suite 5878 on the 58th floor of the East Tower overlooking Bellagio Fountain and Las Vegas Boulevard.

I have stayed at Planet Hollywood and had incredible views of the Bellagio Fountain, but the windows are an obstruction to great photography. The Cosmopolitan has totally unobstructed views from the balconies on the north side of the east tower.

The other side of the hotel is across the street from City Center with views of Aria. The tour did not take us to that side of the hotel. I’ll post a thorough review in the next day or two with room photos and links to property photos from other articles showing the interior spaces I found appealing. There should be plenty of photos after tonight’s opening.

Related Posts:

Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]

CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)

Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)

Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)

Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010) 

Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)

Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)