Just left 4 nights in SkySuites and went to the new SkyPool Sat,Sun and Mon. Thought I would pass on a couple thoughts about it. Memorial Day is obviously a crazy weekend so Aria was full. Sat and Sun. All the cabanas were full but I'm not sure I would pay the up charge for one there without a group. Overall the pool is more quiet than the regular pool despite the music being fairly loud. Despite being next to Liquid,the sound did not really carry into SkyPool. The lounge chairs are padded and very comfortable,way nicer than the other pools. There are plenty of pool attendants helping find chairs and setting up.They were very helpful. Umbrellas are plentiful and built into the pool surface.A major plus!! Periodically the attendants make the rounds with frozen fruit slices,cool towels and spraying cold water. They will also get get comped bottles of water or the fruit infused water available for self service just past the sign in area. If I had to come up with a negative it would be the cocktail and food servers. Not that they were not good as they were literally running the entire day.The problem is there were simply not enough of them working. A couple of them even mentioned they did not understand why they were short staffed on a busy holiday weekend when there were 3 different events at the Garden Arena. This was clearly a management screw up. SkySuites guests get in free and guests of Aria can buy in for.........................$100 per seat which I saw several couples do. Honestly, I would be comped but if I paid $100 a seat and had to wait a significant time to find a cocktail server I would be really pissed. At one point around mid day on Sun. there was one server there.Not Good! Overall though it was really nice and hopefully management figures out the staffing.
This is endemic to Aria's pool operations for some reason. Maybe it's usually fine and I just have bad luck every time I'm there, but it's probably the biggest single frustration I have with Aria (with the bell desk a close second). Considering how great the property is overall, and how well-run most of it is, I don't understand for the life of me why they can't figure out how to get the pool service right.
That concept is really what the Skylofts needs. One of the biggest differences between the lofts and mansion is the mansion's private pool. If the lofts had a reserved pool with butler service that would bring them much closer together.
Is the food and bev menu different in the sky pool area? The Aria main pool menu is pretty basic and the presentation in a plastic bag is quite odd.
Yeah that seems to be the theme at all with the lack of beverage servers management is not very good at forecasting the needs for the pool area. We were there on Valentines weekend and it was the hottest weekend on record and yet they only had like two waitresses for the whole pool area
Thanks very much for the first hand feedback Nittany. I will be curious to see what its like in 3 weeks. I never go on weekends, nor holidays, so I will see if slower times beget better service. Sounds like they couldn't have too many fewer servers. Regardless, I look forward to it.
The Skylofts have a way higher $$ comp value or price point than most SkySuites even the Penthouse. I'm guessing there are just not enough of them to block off a pool although you would think they could combine the Skylofts with the high end suites and block off the small pool in the back close to the convention center.
Don't know if it's different (never saw it at the main pool), but all I tested was fresh, tasty and not covered in plastic. I just tried theire fruit plattern and the greek youghurt (great!!!) All I've seen from others looked as it was really good too. Also they offered a couple of virgin cocktails like a strawberry magerita, just ask for it. The regular cocktails looked great, but I didn't try them. There were always 4-5 waitresses available, a lot of attentive pool staff and you can also book a massage direct on your lounge chair. Loved this pool.
Now that the one pool is for sky suites guests- are the other two pools really crowded? I stay at Aria a lot and felt you could always get a seat at the pool at any point during the day, but has that changed now?
I really did not pay attention as the entrance to SkyPool is right after walking into the main entrance. That being said,the SkyPool was full on Sat and Sun on Memorial Day weekend with primarily guests of SS. Those people would be at the regular pool so I'm guessing it would be no more crowded than it has been in the past. I always found that arriving in the morning,even late morning, increased your choice of seating.