It just had a great talk with Bobby Baldwin about Aria for an article I’m writing for Vegas Seven about the first 100 days of CityCenter.
Talking to people at the property and online, and having gotten too few bars there myself, one of the questions I asked him was about cell phone service.
His response:
“The building has one of the most sophisticated cell phone antenna networks around, but unfortunately we didn’t get all of the business done before opening. All the deals are now done, and we’re going to have 100% coverage. AT&T will be turned on by next week, and Verizon by the end of the month.”
So there you have it: If you’re booking travel to Las Vegas soon, you’ll be able to talk, text, and twitter with no limits at CityCenter.
Given that you can count on one (or maybe two) hands the people in town who have more experience than Mr. Baldwin at opening up major resorts (Mirage, Treasure Island, Bellagio, re-opening Beau Rivage after Katrina), he’s got a great insight on the first 100 days. I’ve already collected a great deal of information from guests, and I’m looking forward to talking to a few other folks at the company and getting the article done.
I listened to the (good) podcast yesterday and heard there was a problem with phone reception at Aria.
If I was a guest at a state-of-the-art hotel I’d also expect to be able to use my state-of-the-art (which by the time I ever get to have “the Aria experience” will be one of those super-duper iPhones (or equivalent), with a VegasMate application installed).
That ‘experience’ may be a few years away. Sunday night I’ll be staying at the Gold Coast – having the $29 room and Virgin Mobile Pay As You Go Phone 20 cents a minute ‘experience’.
I am sure not complaining. I’m extremely grateful to even live in an age where I can carry the equivalent of a ‘payphone in my pocket’. I don’t think I’ll ever not forget what a futuristic age we live in or ever take such abilities as phoning for granted.
By the way. I once knew a girl who swore that the term was “take it for granite” hahaha.
Anyway. Being that this IS Vegas…where a change of luck can happen at any minute, good fortune might make my ‘Aria dream’ someday come true sooner than I expect.
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BTW. That girl also used to swear that another phrase was “nip it in the butt” (not “bud”). Who knows. Maybe her phrases made more sense.
I saw Hunters complaint about this in his Two Way Hard Three Blog last week. It’s a shame that they could not have had this problem fixed before their grand opening in December but with all those hotel towers there (six) it must be quite a challenge to have their cell phone antenna networks working properly.
Hopefully during your conversation with Mr. Baldwin you guys talked about how their condominium closings are going at City Center. Since this is the largest and (supposedly) the best location for any condominium project in Las Vegas this one has the best chance of being successful. But the way the banks now are making loans to people, the economy, etc. it will be interesting to see how things turn out.