We have been to Vegas 4 times in the last 6 years. We 've stayed at (in Chronological order) Luxor, Signature at MGM, and Encore X2. We have a standard room booked at Aria for an upcoming trip in three weeks. We've loved Encore in the past, but wanted to try to Aria for a variety of reasons (location, like their casino, newer) Over the past couple of days, I've been thinking about upgrading to the Sky Suite. I have a limo booked right now throguh Aria, that I will pay for. If we upgrade to Sky suite, that transportation is included in the sky suite rate, so there's some offset to the cost there. there seems to be additional benefits to to sky suites as well - Does anyone have any experience to compare and contrast the overall experience of sky suites vs. the standard rooms at Aria? The cost difference (if nothing gets comped) is about $1000 over a 4 night stay - if you deduct the limo cost, it's closer to $800. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Let me start by saying Aria's standard rooms are very nice and certainly nothing to turn your nose up to. However it would be very hard to go back to staying in a normal room staying in Sky Suites. While the suites are significantly nicer than the standard rooms, the biggest difference in Sky Suites is service. It is impeccable. I have never once had a complaint about how I was treated or how my needs were met. Another thing I much prefer about Sky Suites is the location. The elevators are very close to the baccarat room and the high limit lounge. If this is a special trip I would absolutely take the plunge and go for the Sky Suite. If you can get a penthouse definitely do that.
What kind of room are you looking to upgrade to in the Sky Suites? I don't think the cost of the upgrade is worth it, if it is just for the regular room in Sky Suites, because you will be paying extra for the same room type as you have now...you just get additional amenities and the limo.
what Sin said...I'm a big proponent of Vdara though...100 yards away and more "bang for the buck" than even Sky Suites check the price on Vdara Hospitality suite or one of their Penthouse room options?
Sox, here is my two cents: The Aria standard room is probably the second best on the Strip (IMO) behind only Wynn. The skysuites are very nice. The advantages compared to the standard room are: very good view, comfortable living room area (which is good if one person wants to stay up while the other person sleeps in the room), very nice bathroom with a steam shower(and not to sound like a total snob here, but its an average steam shower; still, its a steam shower, lol), bigger bedroom, turndown service in the evening, separate elevators that are never as crazy as the main hotel elevators, access to the skysuite lounge, usually a shorter checkin process, and the Japanese toilet in the master bathroom that will spritz your butt for you. Are all those things worth an extra $200 a night? You have to decide that. I very much like the skysuites, but I get them comped and have never thought whether I would pay that extra money out of pocket for one. Good luck and post a review if you decide to do it
Thanks for that comparison UK. I love the standard aria room, that's all I get comped, but have wondered about the sky suites. Personally they are worth $200 a night for me. I'd rather try to get an upgrade in the regular side atbcheckin for a fraction of that price. Hopefully I can get an upgrade in December.
Just a random thought: can the standard front desk checkin even do that? I wonder because there are separate keys for the skysuites, which you have to flash at security to get to the elevators. I wonder if the front desk even has those keys. I have only checked into a skysuite from the skysuite lounge, so I don't know the answer. But it is something to consider
UK, I just meant an upgrade to a regular suite, not sky suite. I don't think the regular desks can upgrade you over there.
I have read several reviews on Trip Advisor of people getting upgraded to the Sky Suites from the regular Aria check in desk so I believe they can do that. Having stayed in three different Sky Suites rooms(standard room, 1 Br, 2 Br) and both regular and Corner Suites on the Aria side, The only time it's really worth it to me to have a Sky Suite is when my wife is with me. Sindustry is correct in that if you get a regular room(550 sqft) in the Sky Suites it's probably not worth the cost. If you get a 1Br or above and you are with someone special it's probably worth it.
You guys are the best - I love this site!! So after reading your responses and a handful of late morning/early afternoon cocktails(it's a cold miserable day here in New England - nothing else to do), I called the sky suites and upgraded to the 1 bedroom sky suites for our trip! Total additional cost was $784. Because the sky suites comes with the complimentary round trip limo transportation, I can deduct the $120 each way for the car service I had booked for the "regular" Aria room, the increase nets out to $544, or $136/night. Thanks for the input - I'll be posting reports on the trip in 22 days!!
I will be in the sky suites around the same time late November early December and I agree once we stayed in the sky suites the king deluxe was beautiful but not the same wow as the before.
Will arrive at the Sky Suites tomorrow night... but just having a standard room. Never got an upgrade...
There are other amenities besides round trip limo transportation that will offset your stay in the Sky Suite. The private check in entrance and desk alone Is fantastic but the Sky Suite lounge is another great perk. Each morning they put out fruit, pastries, coffee, tea etc so you can have a nice light breakfast for free. There is unlimited free juice, water, soda etc in the refrigerators beneath the counter where the food is placed. When I have stayed in the Sky Suites I have taken a few back up to the room to have there while I am relaxing (do it warly in the day though because if you try to get anything from those refrigerators later at night after the attendants have gone home, you will find it completely stripped bare by the other Sky Suite tenants). Another perk is in the evening they serve wine, cheese, crackers, chocolate covered strawberries etc in the Lounge. You will really be spoiled, and find it hard to go ever back to a regular room lol. I have stayed in the Sky Suites many times and really like those rooms, but in the last few years I have mainly stayed at Vdara, which I do personally like better (the Vdara property is a lot quieter as there is no casino, and there is quick and easy access to Bellagio, Cosmo and Aria) and they also have a washer/dryer which I love because I go for long periods of time and I can bring half the clothes and just do laundry at my convenience. The one other tip I would give you for the Sky Suite is that for some reason, the curtains in the Sky Suite (actually ALL the curtains at Aria including regular rooms I have stayed in) do not go all the way down to the floor, so at the crack of dawn, bright light comes flooding into the room. It might not bother you, but I prefer a room to be pitch black when I am sleeping. I would bring a few binder clips so that you can clip the curtains shut, and if you find the light is too much for you in the morning, you can always ask for extra towels to put underneath the bottom of the curtains before you head to bed so it blocks the light somewhat. Have a great trip and enjoy the Sky Suite - you will love it!!
I was in SkySuites for last 5 days. Booked several additional standard rooms for employees and business associates.I booked them on Orbitz because it was significantly less than Aria website. One of the guys called me when he arrived to thank me for upgrading him to SkySuites.......Huh? Told him I did not and that he must be mistaken.I suggested they must have put him in a corner suite. He was correct. He was in a one bedroom Aria Suite. Never heard of that happening before and I have been to Aria 20 times with different size groups of people.