First look: Life in the CityCenter

After spending a day as a guest at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, I said to myself: “I could live here.”

Well, almost.

Aria is part of CityCenter Las Vegas, the budget-blowing, awe-inspiring “urban community” on the Las Vegas Strip. (How budget-blowing? Try $11 billion. And how awe-inspiring? Just look at it.)

So what’s it like up close?

Every bit as awe-inspiring. And budget-blowing.

I’ve lost track of my expenses. I can’t bear to look at my guest folio. But I’m also mesmerized by this project, and have gotten lost several times while wandering around CityCenter on my own, without the benefit of a guide or a map.

Since the property is so new, even the employees occasionally lose their way here.

I’m here for two reasons: To cover the Consumer Electronics Show today and tomorrow and to do a remote broadcast of our radio program, Rudy Maxa’s World With Christopher Elliott. Aria is hosting our show, so please tune in to the show this weekend to find out more about the resort from some of the key people who work here.

In the meantime, here are the highlights I’ve experienced so far:

• Jean Philippe Patisserie is the place to go for a latte and muffin after a long night at the tables. I don’t gamble (Kari’s last words to me: “Have fun. But not too much fun.”) I’m told that you must try the crepes. This ain’t no Starbucks: Jean-Philippe Maury is a world pastry champion.

• Lemongrass is the only Thai restaurant on the strip. I had lunch with a friend there yesterday, and enjoyed a nice basil soup and a spicy pad dish. Highly recommend it.

• Sage serves contemporary American cuisine “spiced with global influences”. We’re going to have Chef Shawn McClain on the show Saturday to talk about his artistry. Meantime, I recommend the mushroom salad starter, Turbot and anything on the desert menu with chocolate. Sage combines farm-to-table produce, artisanal meats and sustainable seafood with an emphasis on simple, clean flavors and seasonal ingredients, according to the restaurant.

• And don’t forget to stop by the Spa at Aria where I spent an agonizing — but ultimately, pleasant — 10 minutes in its eucalyptus steam room. Do the deep-tissue massage if you have the time, and then unwind on its heated-stone ganbanyoku beds (they’re said to have healing properties) and its infused salt room.

Once the rest of CityCenter opens, I’m sure it will be possible to live here without ever leaving. I’m waiting for someone to blog about it.

Rooms at Aria start at around $149 at this time of year, and you can expect to spend at least that much every day on food and beverages, so a vacation at CityCenter isn’t for the faint of wallet. But it is a decidedly upscale experience you should consider if the rest of the glitzy Las Vegas Strip is a little off-putting.

(Photo: Trey_Campbell/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • http://williambeem.com William Beem

    It’s easy to think you could live there, until you realize there’s no place to buy groceries, walk your dog, or do many of the other things that people do at “home.”

  • Thomas Brenneman

    Wow, how do you live on $149 a day in LV?

  • Sam Petersen

    I live here in Vegas, and actually worked in the construction industry while it was being built, saw the blue prints. You CAN live there, some of the towers are condos not just hotels. It was designed to be live, work, play. It has it’s own fire station even. Stores are there, and grocery stores are only about five minutes away. You don’t even want to know the starting prices on some of the condos in the towers around The Strip that have been built in the last five years or so. No local could ever afford to live there. The concept behind this is called Manhattanizing.

  • Justin

    @ 149 a day x 365 days. 54,385 dollars a year and this life style can be yours! Don’t all run, push, and shove at once!! Vacation here would sound great. Living here? Completely unaffordable for the masses. I am sure those condos are at least a cool million.

  • Ed

    #Sam Petersen;
    You said; “Stores are there, and grocery stores are only about five minutes away. ”
    I find that very funny. Anybody who’s ever been to a Las Vegas Hotel/Casino *KNOWS* that it takes more than 5 minutes just to get OUT OF THE DARN HOTEL! So yeah…if you’re already outside the hotel, grocery stores may indeed be only 5 minutes away…but if you are in a room on the 25th floor of a hotel, you gotta figure on at *LEAST* 20 minutes just to get to the lobby (that’s figuring on the elevator only stopping 2 or 3 times on the way down…it may take longer if there are more stops). Then another 10 minutes to get to the front door and depending on the time of year, another 10 minutes to get a cab…so a 5 minute grocery trip just turned into a 45 minutes ordeal! sheesh!
    Ed

  • http://williambeem.us William Beem

    Sam,

    People in Manhattan don’t need a car to drive to a market five minutes away. They have markets and bodegas within walking distance of their homes. Manhattan also has a great mass transit system, which is really lacking in Las Vegas.

    The concept of City Center is that everything you need to live is right there. Well, where is the grocery store in City Center? Can you walk to one in five minutes? Where do you take your dry cleaning? Where do you walk your dog?

  • Keith

    In Manhattan, we don’t go to grocery stores.
    We get our groceries & sundries delivered.