Las Vegas isn’t short on in-your-face attractions, but it’s just as full of subtler pleasures if you know where to look. We chatted with Nancy Nitsche, the director of concierge services at ARIA Resort & Casino and a member of the prestigious Les Clefs d’Or concierge association, to sniff out the best hidden gems within her Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star hotel and beyond. Follow her insider advice for the city’s best exotic dishes, frozen drinks and where to take a trip down the aisle.
Favorite dining secret: “At Blossom, ARIA’s authentic traditional Chinese restaurant, we have a secondary menu that is given out to guests only by request. This menu has some Chinese delicacies for our more well-traveled guests who are familiar with the regional cuisine, featuring dishes like shark fin soup. Blossom is also one of the most romantic restaurants in the hotel, set in a beautiful modern Chinese-style garden with delicate mirrored vines climbing up the textured walls.”
Favorite spa secret: “I think the spa suite at The Spa & Salon at ARIA is one of the best deals in the hotel. It’s an amazing spa suite that features a full private locker, steam shower, hydrotherapy tub that fits three, relaxation lounge with food and beverages available [pair champagne with snacks such as shrimp cocktail, sliders and caviar], flat-screen TV with an overhead sound system and your personalized spa host. It is perfect if you are celebrating a birthday, bachelorette party, bridal shower or any special occasion with loved ones, and the cost is only $40 per hour with a three-hour minimum, with each person booking two services in the suite.”
Favorite Strip secret: “When it’s 110-plus degrees and you are looking to cool off, you will want to check out a little place called Minus5. It is just a short two-minute tram ride away from ARIA at the Monte Carlo. Everything is made of ice — the walls, the bar, the seats and even the glasses you drink out of. Guests can relax on couches covered with deer skin while enjoying a wide variety of cocktails. While Minus5 is known for its premium vodkas, they have a full-service bar.”
Favorite ARIA secret: “We recently opened a wedding chapel here at the hotel that is just incredible. We had such demand for people loving the style of our property and wanting places to get married that we designed and opened our own chapel this summer. While it is intimate, it can accommodate seating for as many as 60 guests and it has the ability to broadcast the wedding live online for those who are unable to make the ceremony.”
Photo Courtesy of MGM Resorts International
