CityCenter's new gold LEED-certified Aria Resort & Casino opened Wednesday night amid a fireworks display and a party for 5,000 meandering guests inside. At midnight, the doors swung open to the public, and the much-anticipated clatter of slot machines began.
The 4,004-room steel and glass structure, with an art collection that includes an 84-foot silver cast of the Colorado River by artist Maya Lin, was designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, and includes 300,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.
Aria has four pillarless ballrooms. The Bristlecone Ballroom is 51,560 square feet with a ceiling higher than 24 feet. It divides into 10 sections ranging from to 2,040 to 17,135 square feet. Two loading docks are adjacent. The Pinyon Ballroom has 38,300 square feet, also with a soaring ceiling, and divides into eight sections ranging from 1,968 to 11,600 square feet. Pinyon and Bristlecone are directly opposite, allowing a program to flow over almost 90,000 square feet of space. The Ironwood Ballroom is 38,300 square feet, and all three of these ballrooms have theatrical stages measuring about 70-by-36 feet. The Juniper Ballroom is located on the third level and is 20,275 square feet.
Thirty-six meeting rooms are located throughout the trilevel convention area. The Bluethorn meeting rooms on the first level and Starvine meeting rooms on the third level can serve as offices or breakout rooms, complementing the ballrooms. The Copperleaf meeting rooms on level two feel more separate from the large function space. The meeting areas range in size from 840 to 3,912 square feet and feature built-in projection systems, drop-down projection screens, and electronic control panels.
Two executive boardrooms, Cottonwood and Senna, hold 24 each.
Dining options come from the likes of Michael Mina, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Sirio Maccioni, as well as a host of others, ranging from casual to upscale.
Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Jean Georges Steakhouse is a modern approach to a traditional American steak house, serving dishes like black pepper crab beignets with Asian pear and lime dressing, spiced veal chop with roasted peppers and prosciutto jus, and broiled bone marrow with parsley-lemon gremolata. Decor includes abstract cow-face cut-outs, ceramic tabletops, a glazed lava rock bar, and a chandelier designed to look like dripping milk. The main dining room holds 192, a private dining room holds 22, and the bar and lounge hold 52.
Masayoshi Takayama's Bar Masa serves spicy octopus, Peking duck with foie gras, and uni risotto, as well as 100 varieties of sake by the bottle and 20 by the glass. The space has an airy feel with a vaulted ceiling and holds 156 in the main dining room and 100 in the lounge and sushi bar. Next door, and accessed through Bar Masa, Shaboo has room for 52.
Michael Mina's American Fish focuses on boutique American growers and producers, plus cocktails invented prior to 1940. There's room for 156 in the main dining room, and 64 in the bar and lounge area.
Le Cirque owner Sirio Maccioni's space, Sirio, serves rustic, home-style Italian specialties like shrimp scampi over soft polenta and ossobuco alla Milanese with saffron risotto. The decor is meant to evoke Rome circa 1960, with vibrant colors, ornate decoration, and clean lines. The main dining room holds 152, the cafe 84, and the lounge and bar 15.
And for entertaining a stressed out group or client, the Spa at Aria is an 80,000-square-foot bilevel venue with 62 treatment rooms, a full-service salon, a fitness center, a boutique, and poolside spa cabanas. It also offers what it bills as the city's first co-ed spa balcony, with an outdoor therapy pool and views of the hotel pool. For groups, Aria has three private spa suites, each with high-end amenities, a lounge area with entertainment offerings, lockers, a steam shower, and a hydrotherapy tub with room for three. Catering, flowers, and gift baskets are also available in the suites, each of which holds as many as eight guests.
