In this conversational YouTube review, hosts Josh and Rachael Fillbrandt recap their three‑night stay at Aria on the Las Vegas Strip, evaluating whether the property still belongs in the city’s top‑five hotels for 2024. They walk through the check‑in process, describe the standard king room and its spacious, modern bathroom, and note the ample storage and floor‑to‑ceiling windows. The casino floor is praised for its high ceilings but critiqued for outdated games, crowded table‑game areas, and inconsistent drink service. Dining receives strong praise: Aria’s upscale steakhouses, French, Italian, Mexican, and Spanish venues, plus the new Cathedral nightclub‑restaurant and the Aria Food Hall, are highlighted as among the best in Vegas, with budget‑friendly options and standout spots like Catch and Javier’s margarita bar. Coffee options are plentiful, with a quick‑service stand near the patisserie recommended over the long‑line Starbucks. The pool is described as a simple, adult‑oriented oasis with warm water and hot tubs, appealing to those seeking a quieter setting. The gym is noted as the largest they’ve seen in a hotel, and the spa area is praised for its natural lighting. Nightlife includes the Jewel nightclub and several pricey bars, though the hosts prefer restaurant bars for drinks. They compare Aria’s vibe to other luxury properties—Cosmopolitan, Bellagio, Wynn/Encore, Venetian/Palazzo—positioning it as a more laid‑back, adult‑focused hotel without kids‑oriented attractions, shows, or a large convention footprint, though recent conventions have increased foot traffic. Location is highlighted as just south of the mid‑Strip with easy pedestrian access to neighboring resorts and a tram that’s more useful for non‑guests. The review concludes by asking viewers whether they would stay at Aria again and rank it among the top five Las Vegas hotels.
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Hey everybody, I'm Josh.
And I'm Rachael.
And we are just wrapping up a 3-night stay here at Aria, and we're gonna try to help you decide whether it's still a top 5 hotel in Las Vegas in 2024.
Let's go! We are just about to check out.
It is Monday morning. We checked in on a Friday. This was on a comp offer, but we did have to pay $200 for a Saturday night.
Yeah, and it is a holiday weekend, and of course it's still the weekend.
So Aria, it's in the CityCenter area. It is just south of Mid Strip. If you're, if you're considering Bellagio, the Mid Strip, this is just south of there. It's a great location. It is a little bit set off from Las Vegas Strip, but it's very easy to walk to. So the check-in process was actually great.
Very smooth.
Basically no line Friday afternoon. We came in, got, got right into our room, and we are in a regular king room.
The nice part about the check-in process, and this is the first time I've actually noticed it, is the glass windows behind the check-in desk. It's beautiful. It's probably one of the prettiest check-in areas if you really stop and look at it.
Yeah, it's very understated. It doesn't get all the Instagram pictures as, as a place like Bellagio or even like Wynn. Yeah, you get more pictures there, but like Aria is a very understated, beautiful property.
I agree. That check-in area, and they always seem to decorate it for the seasons as well, similar to the Bellagio Conservatory. Now they're not, definitely not the same, but it is decorated in that area when you check in.
Yeah, and right now it was right after the Super Bowl, so there's still football stuff up. Yeah, not the prettiest stuff, but it still works. So in our room, it's pretty basic but with high quality.
I was like But it's beautiful.
Yeah. Yeah, it's not an overly sized room. We actually just came from New York, New York. The room itself feels a little bit smaller, but the bathroom is not.
Yes, the bathroom's amazing.
Yeah, the bathroom is very nice. It has a shower/tub combo, but not in a regular sense. You know, it's like a full-size tub set off from a full-size shower. There is a separate toilet space. But it has that frosted glass, so you know there's awkward moments there. And double vanity. And these are all standard.
Yeah, I love the standard room here at Aria. The windows that you do get are floor-to-ceiling on the windows. The room is updated and modern. I really, really enjoyed it. I feel like it's probably one of my favorite rooms we've stayed in as a basic king room.
Yeah, as a basic room, this is very nice.
Yeah. Lots of plugins, lots of outlets, lots of storage space. The way they've utilized the space is wonderful because it's right when you come in, but it doesn't feel crowded for your closet space and drawers there. But then there's areas on both sides of the bed. There is a nice desk work area as well. It really is a nicely utilized space.
There's definitely enough storage space. You could stay here for weeks and have enough stuff.
Agreed.
The casino floor It's, it's one of those where I've always kind of love-hated it.
I agree.
It's— it has very high ceilings. It is a long rectangle, basically. You got the high limit area in the middle of it, and it's kind of split. The, the one downside I've always had with Aria and even MGM Resorts is I don't feel like they update their games very often.
Yeah, agreed. So we noticed that this time around.
Yeah, and, and the casino floor has been hit or miss for drink service.
I agree with that, and I also think it's Like hit or miss with how busy it gets because sometimes it feels overly crowded.
Now, even though it's a large space, yeah, it can feel very crowded.
And I think one of the downfalls for me on the casino floor is where the table games are located because it almost feels like it separates the casino machine or the slot machines, but you can always hear and feel them when that table game area gets super crowded.
Yeah, right around the craps area is definitely where you're gonna see a lot of that. If you're a craps player, you'll probably love it.
Yeah.
We're not, so it gets crowdy and routed. What? Crowdy?
Crowded.
Crowded and rowdy.
Yeah, not crowdy and routed.
Yeah. As far as dining, dining is where Aria has been a cut above for a long time. They're, they're even updating. We actually haven't eaten at Aria too much. Mostly because we came here right away when we first started coming to Las Vegas. They have some of the best steakhouses, French restaurant, Italian restaurant, Mexican restaurant, a Spanish restaurant. They have a new Cathedral, is like a nightclub restaurant combo.
Yeah.
And over the last year, they have improved because they actually brought in some budget-friendly options.
They did.
There is no buffet because the buffet was removed and they have a new food hall, which we did try out for breakfast and really enjoyed it. And we've seen where some people are not fans of the ordering process. We actually really liked it.
We did, and I would go back there for lunch. I will tell you, as Josh mentioned, we've eaten here many times. This is home to Catch, one of my favorite brunches in Las Vegas.
I didn't even think about Catch.
And it's definitely home to our favorite margarita spot in Las Vegas, Javier's.
Yes.
So we really enjoy the food here at Aria. I think we could eat an entire weekend just here at Aria. Without a doubt. It is easily one of the best restaurant places we've seen.
Yeah, you can definitely spend your mortgage payment on just a couple dinners, but you will get some of the best of the best here in Las Vegas. And it always has been one of those. I think it's very easily— it's an arguably top 5 hotel restaurant scene.
Yeah, and I think with the addition of the Aria Food Hall now, it is. Yeah, I mean, because that had some great choices. And it was always busy.
Yeah, and I know a lot of people really enjoy the buffet. We're not so much buffet people, but I I think the food hall actually is a good upgrade.
Agreed.
As far as coffee goes, we always talk about coffee.
You know we do because we find it.
We got to start our day off with it. There is a Starbucks that's on the second floor. The line is always super horrendous.
Ridiculous. Ridiculous.
Yeah. Our recommendation is go down to the Aria Patisserie. But there's gonna be one long line where you can buy some pastries and stuff. Go just a little bit to the left before you get to the gelato stand, and there is a coffee stand. And almost never is there somebody standing there other than a worker where you can get a coffee within 5 minutes rather than standing in line for 20.
Yes, and in addition to the Starbucks on the second floor, there's also the donut place near the Aria Food Hall that also serves coffee. That line was Long every time we passed it as well. But there are options in many locations for coffee in Aria, so we really like that spot.
If you're enjoying this video and you want to see more Las Vegas restaurant and hotel reviews, go and hit that subscribe button. Hopefully you'll find a lot more options that help you. All right, pool. We are split on this.
We are split on this, and this is odd for us to be split on something so— and it's, it's a pretty obvious split. Josh, what was your initial take on this?
So my thought on the pool is It is not something that would ever bring me here.
And my thought is, I think I want to come back in the summer to spend more time at the pool. I really enjoyed the pool area.
So here's my simplistic view. There are 2 large ovals of pools and there are 3 hot tubs. There's also a day club and there's a Sky Suites one, but it's just a basic pool area with some palm trees. So in my book, the pools I like is Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Bellagio, You know, they all take me to a different place, whereas I feel like the Aria pool is— it's a concrete area with just a circular pool.
And my take on it was it took me to a different place. It felt like a nice resort pool that you could find at when you're going anywhere on vacation. The other part was it is simplistic, but it appeared to have lots of seating there, and only one side was open. We are here in February, so that's a bit different.
But that's a key. They do have the warm pool.
They do have a warm pool and the hot tubs were open. So that, that is awesome. And my part was it's simple enough that you're not gonna be overrun with kids splashing around and playing. It's likely going to be adults just wanting to enjoy a peaceful, quiet day at the pool. And that is what I'm looking for when I go to a pool.
Which side are you on? We actually did walk down by the gym. It is the largest gym I have ever seen in a hotel.
And has the most beautiful seating area, the spa, salon area.
There's natural lighting.
Well, it's bananas. I've never seen something like that in a hotel. Yeah.
Now we did not use it, but we did walk by it.
That's right. So we don't know any of the sizes of weights or anything, but I will tell you it is gorgeous. And if you are here and need to use the gym, this one is worth using.
Yes. Now there is a nightclub here. I'm gonna put the name down below because I don't remember it because we don't go to nightclubs.
True.
But I want to say it's Jewel. Maybe?
That does sound right.
Yeah, so that is the nightclub. Uh, it's gonna be for the hip children.
Young adults, Josh.
It's gonna be for the hip people, not, not us. Uh, but there are, there are some bars. I'm not the biggest fan of the bars here though. There's, uh, one right over by the elevators. There's one in the lobby, the Alibi, which is Very expensive and— But I kind of like that one.
Isn't that the one?
It's a smaller one.
Yeah, it's a smaller one.
It's right— they're, they're all right along the casino floor.
Yeah, I kind of liked that one when we did have drinks in there one time. But I agree, the drinks were very pricey for basic drinks. Yeah.
Now me, if I'm gonna go for some drinking here at Aria, I'd actually just go to one of the restaurants.
Agreed.
We went into Javier's, grabbed a seat at the bar. Which, if you didn't know this, at Javier's there's this area just beyond the bar because you're never going to find one right around the bar. But there's a section back there you can just grab a table anytime.
Yep. It's where the TVs are located. It's pretty nice. We've managed upon a table there the last couple of times.
Yeah. But all the restaurants in Aria will have very high-end, nice drinks. The setting is going to be probably better than just right off the casino floor. So I would recommend just go to one of the restaurants, see if you can get a seat at the bar.
Yeah, as Josh mentioned, besides Javier's, we've actually really enjoyed the cocktails at Cathedral and at Catch. So, and they both have bar areas.
For an overall vibe, I think this is where I was talking with Rachael this morning about what separates Aria versus Cosmopolitan and Bellagio, which are the 3 top-end hotels for the MGM Resorts area. And that's where it gets into the conversation of top 5 in Las Vegas, because I think that these 3 are better than what Caesars is offering. And then you've also got Wynn Encore together, Venetian Palazzo together. We haven't been to Fontainebleau yet, so I'm not gonna say where that one lands, but those would be the ones that we look at as running for top 5. And this definitely is the— it's an adult hotel.
Yeah.
And it's more of a laid-back than Cosmo or Bellagio in my mind.
When Josh says adult hotel, it's not like Circa where you have to show your ID to be 21 and over, right? But it does seem to attract the adult vibe. You don't see many kids running around here, and I think it comes down to similar things as we've talked about before— pool access. I don't— there's no arcade here, there's nothing for children to do, and the restaurants are a little bit higher end. So I can't imagine that a whole lot of children would want to be hanging out at Aria with their parents.
Right. Now, it doesn't have the balconies that Cosmo does, it doesn't have the fountains that Bellagio does, but for me, like, what I prefer about this versus Bellagio is there's a constant flow of people. It's a throughway at Bellagio, whereas Aria isn't necessarily. You can actually get away from it, and so you can, you can find a corner on the casino floor and not be constantly inundated with people. Cosmo tends to be a bit more upbeat, high-level music. It's, it's more of a party. And so if you're not into that, like, that's where this could be your choice. And it, it could also just be like, depending on the trip, you could do and, and rank each one of them above each other depending on the trip that you're having.
Yep.
As far as shows, there is no show here. There used to be shows. I actually saw, um, a couple a couple Cirque du Soleil shows in the past. Elvis Cirque du Soleil and then Zarkana. Both of them I enjoyed, but they have actually removed the— that area, or it's all like convention area now.
I was gonna say, this seems to be a convention spot. The last couple times we've been here, both in December and this time, it seemed pretty busy with convention goers.
Yeah, and it's Monday morning, 7:30 this morning. I was down getting coffee and there was already some people with placards for convention goers. As far as location, we did already say a little bit. It is just south of the mid-strip area. It is set off about one city block away from the strip, but it's very easy. There's multiple ways to get to the strip from it. I think the location is very, very good.
I do too, especially if you want to be closer to mid-strip. It's a very great location for that, and the access to your basic necessities— water, if you want to grab alcohol. They have a lot of those little sundry shops throughout the hotel itself. But you aren't far from a Walgreens or a CVS.
Yeah, and there is an indoor walkway that you can get to Park MGM if you want to go that way. You have to go outside just a little bit if you want to walk over to Vdara, which then has access to both Bellagio or Cosmopolitan. There is also the Aria tram, but I don't recommend using it if you're staying at Aria because it really just is helpful if you're going from Bellagio to Park MGM. Otherwise, you're probably walking as much as you Would anyway. So just find your way either way. All right, well, those are our thoughts. Let us know your thoughts down below.
Would you stay at Aria at your next visit?
And do you rank it in the top 5?
There you go.
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