You can find the best luxury hotels and finest artwork from all over the world in Las Vegas but you don’t have to spend $2,000 a night to have a good time. Las Vegas hotels offer the best accommodation at reasonable prices, compared to their counterparts from all over the world. While lodging is cheap, the hotels, as well as the casinos they host, are quite expensive and records are being shattered every decade. It’s been a while since the last milestone was set, but the Aria Hotel-Casino is ready to set a brand-new record. With an estimated price of $8.5 billion, the price of this complex is unlikely to be surpassed in the foreseeable future.
The most expensive private construction in the US
The Aria Hotel-Casino is not only going to be the most expensive casino ever built in Las Vegas, but also the priciest private construction in the entire history of the United States due to the fine artwork and interior within the walls. This is not a small achievement, given the high number of extraordinary buildings scattered nationwide. The complex consists of a hotel that has 4004 rooms, condominiums and shops scattered across the Las Vegas Strip. It was designed by Cesar Pelli, the veteran architect behind the famous Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia.
$8.5 billion is a huge amount and it is expected to breathe fresh life into the new urban center located close of the Bellagio casino which was voted “casino of the year” amongst visitors online, you can compare the best casino sites for 2020 here. With nearly 2.500 condominiums and retail spaces, this complex also includes several other amazing hotels, such as the Vdara tower and the Mandarin Oriental hotel. The grand opening generates a lot of enthusiasm, as expected, with celebrities from around the globe attending. 12 hours of parties, live music and a brand-new Cirque du Soleil production make sure that the official opening of Aria Hotel-Casino didn’t go unnoticed.
A boon for the land-based gambling industry
Las Vegas casinos are the ones that keep brick-and-mortar gambling alive in the United States, as Atlantic City casinos are fading. Many players have migrated to online casinos and only occasionally visit land-based operators, mainly when they are on vacation. This is obviously not enough to pay for all the staff and monthly expenses, so many casinos are closing their doors. Under these circumstances, the fact that $8.5 billion was spent on the most expensive casino to be built in Las Vegas is nothing short of amazing.
The construction was not without problems and at one point Dubai World, who was the joint venture partner, sued MGM Mirage. The former are struggling financially and if they go bankrupt, MGM Mirage could end up acquiring their half of the ownership stake. Las Vegas casinos and hotels have recorded the worst downturn in decades, with falling room rates and fewer visitors every year. Aria Hotel-Casino and its CityCenter should help bring more people to Las Vegas, curious about this majestic project. Sadly, this is unlikely to be enough to turn the tide and make land-based gambling great again.
