Hey everyone, I got so much help from all of your reviews and feedback during my planning process that I wanted to post my own reviews and hopefully help out some other brides with their planning!
Vdara: B+
We stayed here for a few days before moving to the Aria for
the wedding. Great location and nice big rooms. Two TVs in the room is a great
feature! The downsides: My parents were in a corner suite and had several
issues with their including a broken doorbell that was never fixed and constant
malfunctioning room keys. There are no real late-night food convenience stores
unfortunately, so you have to walk to Aria or Bellagio (which really isn’t that
bad). Lastly: when we arrived, around 10 PM and got off the elevators on our
floor there was a bag of garbage with old food sitting right next to one of the
elevators. The next morning when we left at noon it was still sitting there and
starting to smell. The lack of a casino can be nice, since you're not walking through the noisy slot machines every time you're going somewhere. The casino sounds don't usually bother me but I know my parents liked being casino-free.
However a note to people with allergies: it is a
pet-friendly hotel and my husband is allergic to dogs and cats; he was sneezing
and his eyes were watering the whole time we were there.
MiX Lounge (Mandalay Bay): A
I went here for my bachelorette, for drinks and dinner. Amazing
view and great food and drinks, plus comfortable seating and good atmosphere
even on a Tuesday night. I highly recommend it especially for bachelorettes who
want to have a good time but aren’t into things like Chippendales or clubbing.
The only thing I didn’t like was the bathrooms were kind of run-down and dirty
which cheapened the whole place for me.
Qua Salon at Caesar’s: A+++
My bridesmaid took me here the day before the wedding so we
could get a chance to chill out together. We didn’t get any massages or other
treatments but still ended up spending about 3-4 hours just in the different
steam rooms and pools. I was super nervous before but it was really relaxing
and soothing to be there, and I loved the herbal steam room – great for anyone
with sinus problems or a cold! There are also water bottles, juices, tea and
snacks all over which was really great. They have showers with shampoo,
conditioner and soap as well as hair styling tools and products so you can get
cleaned up and dressed right there. This was really helpful since my bridal
shower was right after the spa and I didn’t have to go back to my hotel room to
shower first – we left Caesar’s ready to go. I can’t say enough good things
about Qua and I will definitely be back!
Freed’s Bakery – A+++
We didn’t have a wedding cake but my sister ordered a cake
from Freed’s for the bridal shower. She said they were amazing through
email/phone and in person. She ordered a chocolate cake with grand marnier and
whipped cream filling. It was delicious and really big! The cake was for 12-15
people and about half was left after the shower, which had 10 guests. The
buttercream icing was a little too sweet for my tastes but everyone loved the cake
and it really was delicious. My husband polished the rest of the cake off with
his groomsmen. He is not a big dessert eater but he is still raving about how
good the cake tasted!
Side note: She took a taxi to and from Freed’s to drop off
the cake decoration which got very expensive since the drivers claimed to have
no idea where to go. She suspected they knew very well where it was and were
trying to rip her off - so if you end up cabbing there make sure you have a
detailed list of directions and insist on following them! It cost her almost $100 just in cab fare to go to Freed's and back.