Welcome to MtM #Vegas – Our weekly look at the cool #news and happenings in Sin City.
Las Vegas may be slowing down a bit as Summer winds down, but the crowd levels are still pretty large even midweek. I was down on the Strip this week and will talk about my disastrous room at Aria, the crowd levels on the Strip and how Caesars Palace Bacchanal buffet is now that it has returned at a $75 cost.
Speaking of Caesars we will also dive into the construction and new entrance for the Strip icon, plus discuss the sale of an entire town outside of Vegas, where you can score a deal at Conrad if you hold an Amex Platinum card, all about Cosmo’s newest restaurant and take a look at Wynn’s latest bar renovation which is quite stunning.
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Produced by: Shawn Coomer
Episode Guide:
0:00 Welcome to MtM Vegas
0:10 Real life Schitt’s Creek sold outside Vegas. Small town sold for $8 million
4:01 Wynn renovates Overlook Bar making it one of the nicest spaces in Vegas
5:44 Vegas hotels struggling to find housekeepers
7:44 My absolutely disgusting Aria room this week
8:59 Why Aria is overrated and how it doesn’t compare to Bellagio – Little effort towards maintenance
11:14 Caesars Palace entrance construction update – How it will make things better
13:28 Bacchanal review – Busy but worth the $75 admission price?
14:25 Why the crab is not the same as it was before
16:30 What to expect when visiting a buffet in Vegas right now
18:09 How Bacchanal has devalued the Diamond experience
19:00 Las Vegas Strip midweek crowd levels right now
22:20 Cosmo announced psychedelic replacement for Rose Rabbit Lie.
24:50 Conrad Las Vegas now available on Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts (sort of)
Relevant Links:
Cal-Nev-Ari Sale –
Wynn Renovated Bar –
Housekeeper shortage –
Superfico coming to Cosmo –
Conrad on Amex FHR –
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Host – Shawn Coomer – @MtM_Vegas
Host – Mark Ostermann – @DetroitMark
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46 comments
"Mystery stains" wow. Nice job aria
What a shame about Aria.
Stayed there when they first opened, It was the newest and so different.
But I also stay at COSMO
and that hotel is the Coolest hotel I have ever
stayed at. Just the views alone are amazing.
Will the housekeeping shortage continue after the government subsidies run out?
I would agree that Aria buffet won’t be back. They can lease out the space and not have to do any work or pay employees.
I ate at bacchanal on my last trip in July, had 2 plates of crab legs. Once I figured out where to crack them I feasted!
When we stayed at encore in sept 2020 we had a bottle of wine outisde at parasol down. We have reservations at Mizumi day before the meet up. That’s going to be a party weekend! Wynn is the best hotel in the world. Good place for a meet up
Fellas – it's more about not making mistakes than it is about a good buffet or a new, pretty bar that determines who gets my business in Vegas. I couldn't care less about the new bar at the Wynn. The most important things to me are a big, quiet, clean, room and good service across the board. The Wynn and Venetian are my go to properties. Service at the Wynn has been disappointing on my last two stays. Examples are: long lines at check-in, being put on hold for long periods when calling the front desk, and broken stuff in my rooms. It feels like the Wynn is getting cheap when it comes to service and maintenance. Are they struggling financially or is this caused by not being able to hire enough staff?
Aria is ELEVEN YEARS YOUNGER than Bellagio!! How the HELL is falling apart THAT badly? The last time we were there in 2018 it was already looking worn down even THEN, so this IS NOT A COVID-era thing!
Sad to hear that Aria’s buffet might not come back…for $40, it was almost as good as Wicked Spoon , which was still quite wonderful when we were there in late July and I would think worth the $48 a person we spent A LOT more than $75 for Bachannal!
We'd stayed at Aria (pre-parking fees) about a half-dozen times, and it was always excellent – great pool, great casino service and lovely, clean rooms. It's incredibly sad to hear that it's being left to rot.
Not having the crab legs cut for 2 reasons. People get frustrated with cracking them so they don't eat as much so it saves $ and it also slows people from eating as much during your limited time there. Personally I feel the same, hurts your hands and you get so little meat out for all the work. Only place I used to eat them was Vegas because not they were cut.😥
Lake Mead almost dry, power generation @ about 60%, another 5/10ft. drop in supply and all power is turned off. Without power & water what then? It'll happen like a thief in the night very soon.
People can’t live on minimum wage. The workplace is changing, and workers at many levels have more options than ever before. If I had a job that paid a low wage plus expose me to Covid-19, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to get back to it. If they raised wages significantly, the housekeeping “problem” would go away. (Many women with children also have trouble now finding affordable childcare, so there are some real reasons why workers aren’t coming back.) Love the Aria but lately stay in a wellness room, which are cleaner, have extra air filter, etc.
We are at the point where you have to go up with staff and see the room before paying
I'm staying at Aria for 6 nights starting tonight. I hope your experience was a one off!
The Aria was previously a joint venture…. now MGM have bought it out they will do a full renovation.
No offense guys, but I don’t wish to know about substandard housekeeping. There are some labour-management issues being worked out extending to hygiene and health safety. I don’t know the date of title transfer, but I think Aria and.Vdara changed ownership to Blackstone Group.
On one hand you imply that the housekeeping jobs are "good union jobs," but on the other hand somehow there may be a "shortage" of those who seek those jobs. I admit to being confused . . . .
Always good to hear another's point of view and experience.
Thank you to our hosts Shawn and Mark. I had a traveling job and in a couple of instances witnessed an investment into the lobby and entrance (and not the rooms).
Yes, good point about sawing crab legs in half. Probably occupies the diner longer trying to figure out how to access the meat within the legs. Glad the buffets are back. Glad the crowds are back, too.
interesting perspective – I disagree and have never been that impressed with Cosmo
So if I was to do Aria have to go full Bougie like Bethany, otherwise pass. Got it
Cal Nev Ari is named for the three states which all come together just up the road.
I stayed at the four queens last week for 4 days. When I checked in they gave me a form to initial the form just said I wouldn't be getting housekeeping and if I needed toiletries to call the front desk. Not a deal breaker if they are just short of staff, but you just KNOW these casino hotels are going to cut these housekeeping services for good if we let them.
I’ve stayed at Aria several times, including within the past year and disagree with your assessment of the property overall. Not diminishing your experience though. We did stay at the Sky Suites the last couple of times though so maybe it’s just a huge difference between them and the regular hotel part.
Buffets are definitely quintessential Vegas (and casinos in general)
Thanks as always for info. Fingers and Toes crossed I'll be in Vegas for Raiders home opener U Bro's have helped with this NO 2 RIO! YES 2 PLANET HOLLY WEIRD! "AS ALWAYS LIVE LONG AND HIT A PROGRESSIVE" ObieJuanKaNoBee! My Suite Life!
I respect your opinion on the Aira, but I think you’re missing a big part about a Vegas hotel. The casino! In my last two trips, I’ve stayed in the Aria Tower Corner Suite and the Bellagio Cypress Suite. The Bellagio room was nicer, but I’m a gambler and the room is really just somewhere to shower and sleep. The casino and gaming at Aria is 100x better than the Bellagio. I only play video poker and the video poker machines at the Bellagio are extremely old and beaten up. If those machines were at a Caesar’s property, Mark would be criticizing the heck out of them. The games at the Aria are much newer and nicer and we also run into more bums in Bellagio than the Aria. I think that’s because the Aria is a further walk from the strip so there’s less casual people walking in. The chip crumbs on the floor are unacceptable, but I’ll take some scratches in the room furniture to have a better gambling experience. That’s why I go to Vegas.
With that being said, the Cosmopolitan is the best hotel on the strip for nice rooms and gambling. I just get better offers from MLife to stay there.
Keep up the good work.
My room was cleaned during our stay last weekend.
Stimulus money hurt the employment pool, juiced inflation and slowed down the recovery.
I was disappointed at Bacchanal because they didnt have. oysters last time I went there
How Las Vegas of you, only there would people prefer to eat pre-cut crab legs. You obviously don't know how to eat real seafood. Why not buy canned crab.
I stayed at Palazzo for 4 nights in August, in two ajoing rooms and it was so filthy I had to be moved twice! The 3rd room was still dirty but much better than the other two. I won't be staying there again.
That is because that is snow crab not king crab.
Pay the housekeepers a decent wage and problem solved , I believe the Casinos are asking too much of the staff they have too save money , probably giving them too many rooms too clean , Wynn and Encore know how to treat their staff , hence no problem there , why can’t these major chains like MGM wake up and smell the Coffee ☕️, you can’t keep your profits high by canning the staff into submission.
I was just there 2 weeks ago and my friends were there last week. This is definitely not the real story about Aria. I suspect he's pissed because he's not comped. Yes – their rooms are already dated (it first opened in 2012) but they in currently in the process of updated all the rooms. They've started with the Sky Suites – then on to the Tower Suites and then the regular rooms. Aria continues to be awesome – of that you can rest assured.
Ha! The real world problems of not having your crab pre-cracked for you? I remember going to the Rosewood Grill back in the day and having 4 different waiters crack the lobster for you. You paid for it for sure but was a nice luxury.
I stayed at the aria when it was fairly new, I agree with you for the dark atmosphere I am Wynn Encore, bright floral happy ambiance girl
Great video my question is with stadium gaming what kind of limits are they putting on it the same as tables?
Wow I'm shocked I was there a few months ago pre mask, and it was wonderful! Clean room, awesome gaming! shocking that it's gone so bad in a few weeks….
I recently ate at the buccannal Buffet and i gotta say they had quail,escargot.. a person walking around with hot dumplings..umm if your commenting on having to actually crack your crab legs. that's a little bit whiny..just saying
I live in northern ca with fresh dungenous in season ,i dont eat snow crab legs ,too much work.
Luxor buffett is open but i hear it was horrid before covid but no reports yet.
Did the same people that decorated Wynn's casino…..do Ostermann's apartment???
No one is going to be fighting for low paying, low appreciation jobs anymore.
These jobs were being filled by a community that was especially hard hit by the pandemic, hence the lack of truck drivers as well.
Now that MGM is going to take over operations at Cosmo , I am scared if they let the aria go that badly, then it shows they simply do not care , how sad .