I was blown away with how thought out the design seemed to be. From the card motifs hanging from the front entrance to the style and comfort of the chairs everything was thought out nicely. I only have two small gripes. As others have said, the tables are closer together than I would like but once in your seat you feel at home. The second is a plus as much as a minus. The room is open to a considerable walkway along it's entire length. This opens the room up to an abundance of noise from people and machines but also helps to bring in potential dead money. In my opinion the room is a 4 1/2.
I can only rate the room as fairly as one 3 hour visit will allow. I played the 1/3 NL game and was surprised to have 3 players at the table I had to be careful against. I'm pretty lazy about playing my A game because I like to drink copious amounts and just play TAG but they changed my strategy real quick.
The dealers were technically proficient and professional. Which is my nice way of saying they didn't talk much. I was a poker dealer and I don't fault them for keeping the chit chat to a minimum. It only takes one drunk customer to take a comment the wrong way for them to get fired. I would prefer a small amount of friendly banter but it's not necessary. I came to win money everything else is gravy.
Again, I can only rate this on the three hour window I was there on a Wednesday night but the service was decent but not spectacular. The waitresses were very attractive but the alcohol came sporadically and without personality. They could have just had an off night but both servers seemed sad and distant. Come to think of it I'd be sad and distant too if I had to wear that outfit in those heels.
Not much interaction with management. I noticed they were also sad and distant. Must be something in the MGM water. * Cough *Cough Bellagio.
This is were I'm a bit confused. I picked Aria for the quality of the room, amount of games, and the generous comps. When I got home I expected to see my $6 dollars in poker comps + my slot play on my M-life card when I logged in at home but it wasn't there. Is Aria poker room comps not accessible to be viewed online? $2 - $3 poker comps are excellent no matter how you slice it.
