My visit was 16 - 24th March.
I got back yesterday and couldn't wait to right a review of the hotel, especially to counter the negative ones that nearly dissuaded me from staying there.
As I said above, if I were to listen to have listened to the negative reviews placed about this hotel I wouldn't have opted to stay there.
The hotel is very clean, very relaxing and very serene. The staff are ALL polite and friendly, made more impressive by the fact that many of the staff are in their 20's and 30's. The first thing that hits you is the smell of the place .... it's a light non-intrusive perfume which is very soothing and not at all nauseating. The other things that you'll notice is that this is not a gaming hotel so there is noisy casino to trawl through nor smoke (as it's a non-smoking hotel - great!!!!) and it's very serene and offered a nice peaceful oasis of calm - even though it's slap bang in the middle of the Las Vegas strip. I felt very fortunate to have chosen this hotel.
I stayed in their standard room, but upon seeing my room had to ask whether they'd given me an upgraded room by mistake. My room was on the 31st floor and the views were amazing .. I was able to watch the Bellagio water fountain display from the comfort of my sofa. So let me describe the room: upon entry to the room you are in a kitchen area, where there is a huge microwave, a small cooker hob, cupboards, drawers, coffee making machine, a sinke (complete with it's own food disposal port) and two fridges - one fridge was for my own use, the other housed the mini-bar. 'My' fridge housed never ending supplies of coffee (for the machine) and bottles of water. Once past the kitchen you're into the bedroom, which has a table (complete with two chairs), a 36" flatscreen television and a sofa and coffee table, a king size bed and desk and leather office chair. Additionally there is a wardrobe which includes hangers, suitcase rack, his'n'hers bathrobes and slippers. The bathroom is in a seperate room, which is joined to the bedroom, this houses a bath, walk-in shower, sink, toilet, mirrors (including one that can be lit up), and lots more cupboards lots and lots of towels of various sizes, hairdryer and lots of Aveda products for your use.
There are three telephones in the room; by the lavatory, on the desk (this one can be used wirelessly) and next to your bed.
The hotel charges a $15 per day resort fee which covers daily newspapers, magazines, wireless internet access all over the hotel, free use of the computers for flights (online check-in, boarding pass printing etc.) amongst other things I cannot quite remember.
The staff were very very good, efficient and friendly. The concierge desk was very very good in meeting my needs from booking show tickets to helping me out when I sprained my ankle in another hotel.
If you wish to hire a car (like what I did) no need to stress, the hotel has its own pool of cars which it hires out - the smallest being a Ford Focus - I would recommend you hire with Hertz if you want the car for longer than a few days as it may be cheaper. Having said that the hotel allows you to drop their car off at the airport should you prefer - so no need to worry about transport to the airport at the end of your holiday.
As said before the hotel is situated right on the strip in an area called City Center. It ajoins the Bellagio Hotel and is next door to the equally modern & stylish Aria hotel. The Aria & Bellagio are both on the free monorail that runs long the strip in Vegas.
The hotel has a pool, spa and hairdressers on site - you need never go anywhere, but I recommend you do and see the delights of Vegas.
The lifts are very very quick and are split (this saves an incredible amount of time) - in the left corridor the lifts take you to the floors 1-28 and the lifts in the right corridor take you to floors 29-53 - each corridor has 6 lifts!
In addition, you can charge food, shows and services attained at other hotels to your room at the Vdara. My friend and I ate and saw shows at the Mirage, MGM, Aria, Mandalay Bay etc. and was able to charge it all to our hotel rooms at the Vdara. The only thing we were unable to charge was afternoon tea at the Four Seasons (which was good, but not as good as the afternoon tea at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai).
On the last day my friend and I had lunch at the Silk Road restaurant .... the food was amazing, the stass were impeccable and I can't recommend their homemade ginger ale enough yummy beyond yum!
The hotel lobby has lots of seating and a bar which has a very zen outdoor space. When I went on a helicopter ride I got talking to some other people who were staying at the Riveria (a hotel I stayed at 10 yrs ago) and they complained about the lack of peace and the fact that there was no where in the hotel they were able to have a quiet sit-down drink at, without having to put up with the noise of the casino or walking through the casino hall just to get anywhere. I felt very fortunate to have found the Vdara, it's a gem of a hotel!
I can't recommend this place enough as it's a great escape from the noise of Vegas without being out of town. Go and experience it. I intend to go back next year without a doubt ... Vegas is more than just gambling and this hotel helps facilitate such thought!
Fantastic!!!!!