Thursday, February 11, 2016

Wynn Boston Opening Late 2018

Wynn Resorts reported fourth quarter and full year 2015 earnings results earlier today. The results were down from last year due to continued weakness in the Macau market, and lower gaming in Las Vegas.

Despite the lower earnings Steve Wynn seemed fairly positive on the company's earnings conference call. He said Las Vegas results so far in 2016 have been strong, calling it "Apple pie shaped" - whatever that means.

Steve Wynn has been personally buying a good amount of Wynn Resorts stock lately. He gave a fairly extensive list of why he's buying the stock citing "latent" Las Vegas assets, namely a new shopping esplanade which will replace the old Ferarri showroom.

Wynn revealed the projected opening date for the Everett / Boston project. The resort will fully break ground in April 2016 and be completed 30 months from then - in late fall 2018.

Monday, February 08, 2016

Aria Deluxe King Room Review

I had a chance to stay at Aria Las Vegas recently. Normally this fine hotel would be out of my price range, but on this particular weekend it didn't seem to be that much more expensive than some of the other joints on the Strip - so I figured I'd give it a shot.



I booked a deluxe king room through the M life website, which was easy enough. Prior to my arrival I received numerous emails offering me online check-in, but I was travelling at the time so I didn't take advantage of that option.



I arrived to the hotel at 9:30 pm and after a long walk from the parking garage I found there was hardly any line at the check-in desk. Five minutes later I had my room key and was on my way.



My first impression of the room was the size. It's 520 square feet which I believe is about 100 square feet larger than most classic sized Las Vegas hotel rooms. Definitely a good sized room and bigger than I was expecting.



One of the things I had heard about Aria was that the beds are supposed to be really good. It didn't disappoint. This was a super comfortable bed causing me to sleep a lot - something I don't usually do that much in Las Vegas.



Before staying at Aria I was concerned about the long walk to the Strip through Crystals. It's slightly annoying to be that far offset from the Strip, but it wasn't too bad. Monte Carlo, Bellagio, Cosmo, and Planet Hollywood are all easily accessible by foot or tram. Overall I found the property to be very walk-able and easy to get around.



One of the things I like about Aria is that it's one of the nicest hotels in Las Vegas, but also provides a good value. It's a great option if you want to step up to a nicer room but don't want to pay Wynn or Bellagio prices.