Do not arrive at the ARIA
My wife was with me this trip. So only played for 20 hours. The Aria is a loser all around. I have spent 8 days @ the Aria in 2 visits in 2 months. I was able to get 3 hours playing time for a $4-8 limit game. The dealers are lame. Do not control the game , have too many long conversations with players while dealing. Allow talking about the game etc. Not a pleasant place to play even for 3 hours.
The hotel is pathetic. Employees, although very pleasant, know nothing. Simple questions garner the wrong answers. Calls to housekeeping result in the wrong things being sent or just ignored. The place obviously is devoid of management. Found a $9 charge for the chocolates left on the bed one night. Of course, I had it removed. The room is very nice. ThatÕs the only plus. I canÕt imagine why I went back a second time. Must be a masochist. IÕll stick with the Bellagio which is where I play anyway. I like the B poker room. ItÕs not perfect, but other than me, what is. There is always action and much of the mgt. is very nice. I also played thr Venetian which I just do not like. CanÕt put my finger on why. I always get a soreish throat there. Must be that junk they use as a deodorant in the a/c system.
Did have a few good meals at reasonable prices. Pamplemousse on Sahara. Great duck and short ribs . Great service. Under $150 with wine
Off the Strip. Well worth the 15 minute ride from the strip. Terrific NY Italian. Grat veal satimbocca. Everything delicious. $140 with $50 bottle of wine.
Mortons on Flamingo. A chain, but great steak and service for under $150 with wine. A lot better and cheaper than the strip joints.
I would respectfully disagree with the comments on the poker room based on my visit last month. It is not the best I have playyed in but I thought the floor and dealers were above average, friendly and kept the games moving. I even had an instance where they scolded a player for not following the game while he kept tracking baseball scores.
Can't speak for the rest of the comments on the staff other than to say I found them friendly and helpful for what little I needed.
I have a completely different opinion of the poker room, too. I played a tournament while I was there in March. I found the dealers to be very efficient, friendly and knowledgeable. During a break, I even had a floor and a dealer ask how I was doing in the tournament, and wish me luck.
I will be staying @ Aria in a little over a week ( 1st time @ Aria) so I will give my honest review on the poker room and hotel... I know there has been spotty reviews on the hotel itself, but I have not seen many bad reviews on poker room (except for number of players). In all honety, I'm staying at Aria due to central location, great room deal, and newness factor, so the poker rooom does not really mean much to me. I will mostly be playing elsewhere for poker.
As for your reports on Venetian and Bellagio, I think most people on this board have the exact opposite reviews of the two rooms. The Venetian has better service and better attitudes. I like Bellagio ( not as much as V), but the room is small and cramped and the attitudes are beyond rude and snobbish at times. I still play at B for a change in scene, but my first preference is V.
James,
I played Aria during last month. It was certainly a nice room. My table was full of guys that would bet their stacks on jack-high flush draws, and right before Clem grabbed me to go play a mixed game at the T.I. I got killed on a hand from a guy who beat my set with a flush after risking everything he had on a draw after the flop. Nevertheless, and although my experience was limited to 5-hour Thursday afternoon session, I would certainly play there again. The room is certainly worth going to form your own opinion. Plus, consider that this is the first year it is open during the WSOP, which could significantly alter what has been found there in the past. Let us know what you think.
@vinnyboombots
Was this a bad play? I thought you were supposed to routinely call off your stack while way behind only to get there on the river??? I thought everybody plays this way?
Just saying that Aria was full of those types when I played there. It wasn't just me in hands like that. Saw other people had to deal with it as well. I know this type of play is common, but in some places, more common than others. Aria is one of them, which to me, tells me what type of players you are dealing with. I much prefer the places where players are smart enough to know they'll lose on this type of hand 4 out of every 5 times.
Again, I think James should make his own opinion of the place.
OP stated:
Off the Strip. Well worth the 15 minute ride from the strip. Terrific NY Italian. Grat veal satimbocca. Everything delicious. $140 with $50 bottle of wine.
What restaurant are you talking about???
@bigdom302
I too was a bit confused. I was confused several times in the OP, and was wondering if maybe English isn't his primary language. Then I went through some other posts and decided that it is. This one was just hard to read.
@Sauza
I too was a bit confused. I was confused several times in the OP, and was wondering if maybe English isn't his primary language. Then I went through some other posts and decided that it is. This one was just hard to read.[/quote]
Just a guess but if you get rid of the empty lines the OP would read like this:
Did have a few good meals at reasonable prices. Pamplemousse on Sahara. Great duck and short ribs . Great service. Under $150 with wine Off the Strip. Well worth the 15 minute ride from the strip. Terrific NY Italian. Grat veal satimbocca. Everything delicious. $140 with $50 bottle of wine.
I think the two lines were meant to all be together - it makes sense.
The Pamplemousse it is!
Hold it, Hold it!
Check it out: http://www.pamplemousserestaurant.com/page3menu.htm
Doesnt look like NY Italian. The mystery begins.
It would also help if he mentioned that "off the strip" is more than a geographic location. It is, in fact, the name of a restaurant.
The Pamplemousse is a FRENCH restaurant. Ain't nothing NY Italian about it. Maybe the OP plays Poker likes he knows restaurant cuisine. Please let me know next time you're in town, I need a new laptop, and I think you'l be able to pay for it for me.
Ok.............well.............there it is..............Off the Strip the restaurant. I feel better now.
I found the Aria poker room to be very good. The dealers knew what they were doing, and I didn't see any issues in the couple of cash games sessions and one tournament I played in March. I think the room is very good in terms of the set-up and comfort. I think that some of the food options close by are overpriced, but you will see that in Vegas.