Background:
I’ve previously stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas when it was managed by Mandarin Oriental a little over a year ago. That stay left much to be desired, and I reviewed it previously. Now, I had a Hilton Weekend Night Certificate from my Hilton AMEX Aspire Card that was set to expire in 2 months, and decided to use it to my visit to Vegas during the MLK Weekend. As a Hilton Diamond Member which came from my AMEX card, I was curious to see what Diamond benefits would be offered and decided to give the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas a shot.
A reader reminded me that the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas does qualify as a resort, so if you have the AMEX Aspire Card, you could use your $250 credit here!
Rates for the Saturday night of MLK Weekend were very expensive, partially due to the Las Vegas Golden Knights game, and the Pacquiao fight at the MGM Grand. The rate for the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas was $400 for the Saturday night so I thought it was a great use of the certificate. Most of the other strip hotels were also in the $300-500 range.
Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas Review Summary (Out of 5)
MY OVERALL SCORE: 3.5
5: Excellent, Highly Recommend
4: Very Good, Solid Choice to Consider
3: Ok, Check Other Options Before Booking
2: Below Par, Try to Avoid
1: Terrible, Run Far Away
Rooms: 4/5
Amenities: 4/5
Service: 3/5
Location: 5/5
Cleanliness: 4.5/5
Sleep Quality: 4/5
QUICK SUMMARY: The Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas is the hotel I want to love. It is an amazing boutique option, a retreat from the hustle and bustle on the strip. While my stay was much more enjoyable this time, it still suffers from the Vegas 5 star mega-resort with lacking service.
Check-In and First Impressions:
Not much had really changed with the decor since my last visit as a Mandarin Oriental in both the ground floor and 23rd floor lobby, minus the ground floor lobby having a new WA logo.
The main lobby at the Waldorf Astoria is on the 23rd floor. Guest rooms are located between floors 4-22 while the condos/residences are on 24-47. There’s a tea lounge located to the right of check-in, and the French restaurant Twist is also located on the main lobby.
There’s a lower lobby on the ground floor with seating and elevators that can take you to the 23rd floor Sky Lobby or the 3rd Floor where the Zen Bistro/Meeting Rooms are located. From the 3rd floor or the 23rd Sky Lobby is where you can access the guest rooms.
Check-In:
The concierge emailed me a few days before departure and asked for my ETA. I replied 3 PM, and then on the day of I was texted yet again and I replied 3 PM again. I arrive to check in around 4 PM, and my room happened to not be ready. I’m assured it will only take 15 minutes, but I end up waiting half an hour before the room is ready.
Considering standard check-in is 3PM and I was asked twice for my ETA, it was a bit disappointing not having the room ready an hour later at 4PM, especially for a 1 night stay.
The hotel was fully booked for the weekend so thus there were no diamond upgrades but that part was totally understandable!
The Room:
Upon walking into the room on the 9th floor I was surprised to see such a nice 21st Birthday setup! Balloons, a dessert and champagne! That was really nice of the Waldorf and I will always remember it! I’ll have to cut them some slack for the delay at check-in. 🙂
Also, the room had a pretty good view of the Strip! I think it’s an upgrade from the City View room, so that was a nice surprise as well!
The room decor was very similar to my previous stay at the Mandarin, but thankfully they did touch up all the furnishings. Furnishings in room were in much better shape than my last stay and everything was pretty clean.
I do have to say the pillows and the beds aren’t the most comfortable, as I’m pretty sure it’s the same Mandarin Oriental bed. The sheets are the same from the Mandarin since the famous WA stitching was nowhere to be seen. I wonder when they will update the rooms with Waldorf bedding as I would much prefer that. The mattress and bedding during my stay at the Waldorf Astoria Berlin was much more luxurious.
I tested out the rollaway bed and it was pretty comfortable as far as rollaway beds go! A real mattress! But, I still very much prefer the Westin Heavenly Rollaways 🙂
Thankfully, the room wasn’t a connecting room, thus it was very quiet (unlike my last stay).
Bathroom:
The bathroom was nice, with a beautiful tub, separate shower and double vanity. Toiletries are provided by Salvatore Ferragamo, which I remember from my stay at the Waldorf Astoria in Berlin. The scent is a bit too strong for my liking, but not too bad.
The room has a valet closet section which is a nice touch where it can be opened from the outside. If you want shoes shined/clothes dry cleaned you can just put them in the valet closet so the staff can grab them without knocking on your door. A very nice touch!
Another nice touch that I’m glad carried over from the MO to the Waldorf is the Tea and Coffee Service. Complimentary hot tea and coffee is served on the 3rd floor every morning from 6-10am.
Breakfast:
The Hilton Honors Diamond breakfast benefit at the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas is $25 per guest (up to 2) so it comes out to a $50 credit per night.
I was told it couldn’t be used for room service, only at the Zen Bistro. So, I used the credit at the Zen Bistro’s takeaway section as it was a 45 minute wait for a table at the Zen Bistro itself. I actually liked that I could use it at the grab and go! I got 2 sets of a breakfast burrito, fruit cup and juice which worked out nicely right under $50.
Resort Fee:
Thankfully, the resort fee is waived when you redeem Hilton Honors points or use free night certificates! But if you don’t, its $45 a night (yikes!).
This includes: Guest Internet access; fitness club access; fitness and yoga classes; gourmet tea and coffee on 3rd floor; house car service (2 mile radius); notary services (2 documents daily); local and toll-free calls.
Amenities:
I didn’t visit the spa or gym on this stay but from what I remember the Spa and Gym are located on the 8th floor and I don’t think much has changed. The gym was pretty nice, with treadmills that overlook the city. The pool is also located on the 8th floor as well.
Location:
The Waldorf is at a lovely location, in the center strip at CityCenter and only a few steps away from the Crystals Mall and Aria.
There’s only valet parking which is $35, or you can self park at Aria and walk a little bit over. Aria self parking is $18 (or if you have M Life Pearl which can be obtained by the Hyatt Credit Card, parking is free 🙂
Service:
Service was really a hit or a miss. I really do like giving credit when it’s due so here are the instances where I applaud the hotel and appreciate their exemplary service.
Positives:
- The Birthday surprise (of course!)
- When I realized at 1AM that I forgot toothpaste. A quick call to the front desk and dental kits were delivered to the valet closet to my room within minutes.
- The hostess at the takeout section of the Zen Bistro was so nice!
Negatives:
- 4PM room not ready
- Rollaway bed wasn’t set up upon arriving to the room. Earlier that day on text, I was assured it would be set up when I checked in. I then call, and the front desk associate says that it’s normally done during turndown service. Okay that’s fine I guess, until I return to my room at 1 AM ready to sleep and the rollaway bed is still not there. I then phone down again, and the rollaway bed eventually arrives in about 10-15 minutes. The whole hassle of asking repeated times for the rollaway is just draining and not a 5 star experience.
- Good thing I went to review my bill, because somehow at check-out it said I had to pay for valet parking! I didn’t even bring a car though. Thankfully Jeremy was really nice and quickly removed the charge but it still makes me a bit uneasy that a valet parking charge ended up on my bill.
- The poor hostess at Zen Bistro had a line of 7 people waiting and she was the only one working and had to run back and forth from the kitchen to get the orders! She was so kind and I felt really bad for her! The hotel definitely understaffed the restaurant.
The Verdict:
When my travels bring me back to Vegas, I’ll definitely consider giving the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas another try. Hopefully the service kinks can be fixed and maybe the rooms will all be renovated very soon! It’s definitely my favorite location to be in Vegas and I like the boutique vibe as well.
Cheers,
theresorttraveler
Just completed a 1 night stay. They only offered us continental breakfast as a diamond member no take out. They also did not have our room ready.. no diamond upgrade. Then we were in our room for over an hour before they brought us our luggage. It was a very unimpressive experience.
Oh wow that sucks! Thanks for the comment!
How many points did you use? What were the prices like at the Zen restaurant? That’s sad that you could only eat at the one restaurant and then they excluded room service. But at least you could use that $250 credit there.
Next time you stay there I’d really like to know what the service at the spa is like.
During my stay, it was 80,000 points for the night but I used a free weekend certificate. Sometimes I’ve seen it go as low as 57,000 points a night.
The prices at Zen were about $25-$35 per main entree for breakfast so the $50 diamond credit doesn’t go too far.
Good to call out that the Waldorf Astoria is also considered a resort, so you can use the $250/year credit from the Hilton Aspire to cover the room cost as well.
That’s right! Thanks for reminding me!