ARIA Resort & Casino

Aria is our homebase in Vegas. As soon as we land, we go to Javier's for ceviche and margaritas — that's the ritual, that's how every trip starts. Aria and Vdara are the two hotels my wife and I end up at almost every time, and Aria wins every category except the room product itself.

The rooms are still good. Even the standard room feels nice enough, and the corner suite is one of our favorite rooms in Vegas — long walk down the hallway to get to it, but worth it. The honest comparison is that we actually prefer Vdara's rooms because they're suites with kitchenettes. That's the one thing Aria doesn't beat. (The top-end Sky Suites are a different category entirely — those are insane if the trip calls for it.)

The food is outstanding, and it's why we keep coming back as much as anything else. There's a constant mix of classics — Carbone, Bardot Brasserie (especially for brunch), Catch — and new experiences that keep showing up. The latest is Gymkhana, the two-Michelin-starred Indian restaurant from London that opened in December 2025 in the old Julian Serrano Tapas space. We haven't been since it opened — that's the top of the list for our next trip. The soup dumplings and Thai food are especially good. And once they put in the food court, that changed the game. The food court was the one area we used to prefer Cosmo for, but Aria has done a real job of catching up. We've had a lot of great quick meals down there.

Two honest weaknesses. The gambling kind of sucks on a budget on weekends — the casino is nice and lively but I often end up walking over to Park MGM to play blackjack, because it's smoke-free and the table minimums are lower. And this is not the place if you're going to party. Jewel and Liquid are fine but not elite, and there are better hotels for clubs and daylife. If a friend asked me where to go to party, I wouldn't send them here.

Aria is more expensive than the alternatives, but the central location and the ability to stay in one place and do most of what you came for is the real benefit. The pool is one of the main reasons we keep choosing it. Vdara when we want suites and quiet, Aria when we want the full Vegas experience without leaving the building. We end up at one of these two almost every time.