Vdara Hotel & Spa
We drove up from the Phoenix area after work and arrived in Las Vegas just before 10:00pm. Being regular visitors to Las Vegas, we had a general idea of where the Vdara Hotel & Spa was but did make the mistake of turning into the main City Center entrance instead of the Harmon Avenue entrance. After getting onto Harmon, we looked in vain for the self park. We were disappointed to learn that the hotel has only valet parking on site. It wasn’t a cost issue, as the service is complimentary, but I am just a control freak so hate letting some hooligan behind the wheel of our car.
We waited only a minute or so for those in front of us to check in and then were greeted by a friendly staff member. We were soon on our way up to our 20th floor room in a very classy elevator with blue glass textured walls. Our room was equipped with a kitchenette, a spacious combo sleeping / living room, and a sparkling clean bathroom. Furnishings are modern with dark brown wood, tan walls and carpet, and citron colored accents. The beds are very plush. My wife loved the included bath robes and slippers. The TV was a relatively large LCD unit with a large selection of crystal clear HD channels. Wireless and wired internet are free for guests and are relatively speedy.
We had Mother’s Day brunch at Silk Road restaurant. Chef Martin Heierling, who also oversees Sensi at the Bellagio, put together a tasty selection of food including homemade ginger ale, fresh fruit, Lox and bagels, homemade breads, eggs, bacon, chipotle sausage, salmon, beef sliders, apple french toast and banana nutella crepes.
Speaking of crepes, be sure to check out the Jean-Philippe Patisserie at the adjacent Aria Resort & Casino, for a truly decadent treat.
Although the hotel is quiet, smoke-free, and is a great place to decompress, it is conveniently a few hundred feet from Aria. There you will find the hustle and bustle of the casino floor, Cirque du Soleil’s Viva Elvis, Haze nightclub, and several additional restaurant options including a reasonably priced buffet. The upscale shops and restaurants of Crystals at City Center, Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile Shops, and the famous Fountains of Bellagio are within easy walking distance.
Our room overlooked the entrance to the hotel and the pool area, and the north entrance to Aria. We did not use the pool during this stay, but it appears there are a total of five pools / jetted tubs along with private cabanas and plenty of chaise lounges.
Aside from the annoyance of valet-only parking, we found two very minor issues in the hotel. First, the slick do not disturb / housekeeping requested indicator did not work initially. We notified the front desk and it was promptly repaired and worked flawlessly for the rest of our stay. Also, the sliding bathroom door was not hung quite plumb and was hard to latch. We notified the front desk on check out and the desk attendant noted it down for the maintenance staff to fix. Neither of these issues was a deal breaker and are to be expected in such a new hotel.