Vdara Hotel, Las Vegas

[Pete]

Anyone have any personal experience of the Vdara Hotel in Vegas? Last time I was in the city they were still building it.

Seeing a rate of $179 on TravelWorm, which seems like quite a good deal for an all-suite hotel.

Pete

[Darren Wheeler]

Yep.

If you want a non-smoking, non-gaming hotel, it's very nice there. You're only a short walk away from Aria and Cosmopolitan. The Strip is a little further away, but no excessive. In October I booked a City View room and had a lovely view of the Bellagio fountains

Hi, we stayed at the Vdara shortly after it opened for a couple of nights. We had previously spent 3 nights at the Bellagio (lakeview room was awesome, as was the fountain show. What I really liked about the Vdara was that you don't have to walk through a smoke-filled casino to reach the elevators taking you to your room.

There is a direct walkway through to the Bellagio and also easy access to the other City Center hotels.

It was a real typical 5* vegas hotel with no expense spared. The rooms were marvelous and spacious, and we had a city view corner room but it was far too high for my liking - nearly got an attack of vertigo each time I looked out of the enormous glass windows in the suite.

I enjoyed the experience of the Vdara but will probably return to the Bellagio as that hotel just has the wow factor for me.

Hi Pete

We stayed 4 nights, in a corner suite which was excellent (really cheap upgrade on check in), the room had a number of panoramic views - city view, and of the Aria, Mandalay Bay, Luxor etc and the MGM out of the bathroom window!

The beds were very comfy and the kitchen, living room and bedroom all immaculate. The deep bath tub and huge glass shower, 2 TVs, american size fridge, coffee maker and ice machine (ideal for those drinks or to chill some bubbles) were added extras. There are some cups and plates/bowls but full crockery etc can be ordered from houskeeping - but its Vegas who wants to stay in and cook!?

The Vdara market cafe was great for a quick snack or breakfast in the mornings, quite, peaceful and not too crowded. The local buffets and restaurants were excellent.

Staff were friendly and professional and helpful.

The Vdara is close to the Bellagio, Aria, Cosmopolitan, Planet Hollywood, shopping centres and the frenzy of the strip but the Vdara itself is tranquil and relaxing. We would definitely stay again - in my opinion the only downside is the MGM resort fees - they are excessive and you dont get much for them but thats not solely unique to Vdara.

Definitely worth a stay.

[Pete]

So... after further investigation, the $179 rate was pretty standard. And since I could see they had a 'GTECH' corp rate (which I wouldn't have been entitled to anyway) for $120, I figured it was worth hunting around.

Tried all the coupon codes, Kayak/TravelZoo/etc searches and finally ended up on Priceline. Never used it before, but did a bit of reading up, and it looks like Vegas is perfect for Priceline bidding if you want a 5 Star hotel, since there are so many 're-bid' zones. Got the Aria (the neighbouring, and more expensive rack-rate property) for £74, or about $116 at current exchange rates. Very happy with that.