Aria Las Vegas: Amenities

 Once we settled into our room, we went downstairs to explore the City Center amenities. Here is my wife at the base of the elevator, on the casino floor. Notice that, as opposed to most casinos, there are not wild colors. It is all shades of brown.

 Here she is close to one of the bars that line the casinos. I don't show it anywere, but there are numerous restaurants on the second floor. There is also a very nice chocolate shop on this floor that our friends drooled over, but we're not much into chocolate so we didn't go in ourselves

 Veer Towers are pretty interesting. One tilts to the left, one tilts to the right. These are condominiums that are for sale, and we could see right inside many of them from our hotel room. Not much activity there, not sure if they are finished and ready for sale yet.

 Another view of the Aria tower with the tram track in the foreground. If I had turned the camera to the right, we would be able to see the shops at City Center. They are all ultra high end shops where a pair of shoes would cost, say, $2000. We walked through but did not stop. Thankfully.

 Out front near the hotel entrance is a fairly spectacular water fall - here's a shot with Nikki. Unfortunately, I don't think it can be fully appreciated except in person. But the movies below will help.

 We also spent two afternoons at the pool. Actually, there are at least 3 pools and a spa. Here is Nikki on the way to the pool. It was very relaxing, very laid back, and relatively kid free (no splashing!). There was also a bar at pool's edge so the liquid refreshment just kept on coming.

 Here is what the hotel looks like from the pool's edge. Our room is on the opposite side, so we had a view of the Monte Carlo pool, not the Aria pools.

Another view of the other side of the pool. Now bring me my liquid refreshment (we recommend the Poolside Punch - very good). Speaking of liquid, they also have a 4th pool for adults only called Liquid. It is topless and actually more like a nightclub with a live DJ. Since it only costs $20, we decided to give that a try and went in...it was going to be Nikki's first time topless. Well, what they forgot to tell us is that it is another $60 - each - to sit down! Every seat in the place had a "reserved" sign on it, and a "host" would choose which seat we could have for $60. We decided it was not worth that price to us, so we got a refund and left. Then we noted that scouts from Liquid kept coming by offering to "comp" the young females around the regular pools into Liquid....they weren't getting many takers, but a few did go.

Anyway, that's our take on the amenities. Our recommendation: if you want to be close to the Vegas strip but want something just a little more laid back, not as loud, more adult, try Aria. It's a great hotel.