You may have read my post from last year (link here) documenting the construction progress of the City Center project on the strip in Las Vegas. I just returned from a weekend out there for the final round of the AMA SuperCross series at UNLV's Sam Boyd Stadium, and the now-open (after more than $8 billion and five years of consruction) City Center complex, which houses the new Aria hotel-casino, was on my must-see list. After touring the Bodies exhibit at the Luxor - a bit creepy but very interesting and informative - the massive City Center complex was just a short drive north on the strip, crammed between the Monte Carlo and the Bellagio. It's all a bit overwhelming as you drive in - tall metal and glass towers packed tightly together just yards off Las Vegas Blvd. Pedestrian and monorail flyovers span the entry to the Aria's spacious circular front entrance, which is ringed by a 25 foot high water-wall and shielded from the oppressive Vegas sun by a massive steel and glass cantilevered covering structure. The Aria's two towers are so tall, however, that this area is entirely in the shade for half the day anyway, so go figure.
Aria towers and entrance canopy - click photos to enlarge
Part of Aria lobby view from mezzanine ( that security guard was eyeballing me snapping pics)Everything about the place is fresh, modern and impressively designed in a way that says high-end luxury without being stuffy or pretentious about it (Bellagio). This is the direction Vegas should have gone in the 90's instead of its Disneyland-on-steroids (Excalibur, Circus Circus, Treasure Island) and geographically themed developments (Paris Las Vegas, The Venetian, New York NY) that currently dominate the strip. It's good to see Vegas architecture take a stab at competing on the world stage, instead of being the overfunded joke that it's been for the past 20 years.
Elvis Theater - up a long escalator ride from the casino
That curious structure is part of Morton's Ocean Club in the near-deserted Crystals shopping plaza (calling it a 'mall' is just too San Fernando Valley)The obvious question remains though - can the current economy sustain this, and the several other mega-projects currently underway in Las Vegas? Me-thinks luxury hotel rooms could be cheap in Vegas for the foreseeable future...
