ARIA Tainted With Legionnaire's Since OPENING DAY!

 JamesAt15 posted on Thursday, 14th July 2011 - 4:49 pm

Let's say that again...

The Review Journal - DICKS!

 StudiodeKadent posted on Thursday, 14th July 2011 - 8:36 pm

"the bacteria that causes Legionnaire's disease has been detected at ARIA since December 2009.... THE MONTH THE PROPERTY OPENED!"

Ummm, most large water supplies contain some level of legionella.

The fact is that even in standard-issue tap water, or even bottled water, you can find some bacteria which AT HIGH CONCENTRATIONS are harmful.

But the first rule of toxicology is that Its The Dose That Makes The Poison. Most substances, at sufficient levels, can kill a human being.

The fact that there has been SOME amount of legionella in Aria's water since opening day doesn't shock me. Indeed, there's some legionella in your current tap water.

If Aria hid the info about Leigonnaires', they'd be setting themselves up for a whopper of a class action suit. They came clean about it and started additional water treatment. Good on them. You don't make a profit by killing your customers.

STEP 1: Give Customers Leigonnaires, STEP 2: ?, STEP 3: Profit! is NOT a reasonable business model.

LVRJ are simply stoking a panic over something in order to sell papers. This is nothing new. The story doesn't make me want to stay at a different hotel.

 Drake posted on Friday, 15th July 2011 - 4:13 am

Well, since Aria has produced The Dose That Makes The Poison, that DOES make it a significant problem, no? And a rather big problem, I would think, at least from a building management perspective.

Have they identified the structural issues that allowed the bacteria to proliferate to toxic levels in the first place? Or are they just going to throw chlorine at the problem whenever it pops up?

 vegaspilgrim posted on Friday, 15th July 2011 - 6:19 am

How sad to see Alan Feldman, who predicted great things for City Center two years ago at Podcast-a-Palooza, now trying to defend MGM during this vile situation. He certainly earns his pay--saw him on Channel 8 last night, and in the RJ this date. Aria disease--great complement to the Vdara Death ray!!!

 StudiodeKadent posted on Friday, 15th July 2011 - 7:15 am

Drake,

You're misinterpreting my argument.

What I argue is that "Legionnella was present in the water since opening day" isn't necessarily a cause for alarm, since the bacterium is only dangerous when it reaches a specific level. This isn't controversial. You can find amazingly dangerous bacteria around your house without very much effort, but you aren't likely to die from it since these bacterium aren't dangerous unless they reach certain levels.

You are completely correct that when bacteria reaches that specific level, there is a problem. I didn't dispute that. And it appears that Aria is working on combating the problem. Whilst, naturally, one has reason to be somewhat skeptical of PR, I simply argue that it wouldn't be in Aria's (rational) interests to lie about such a thing given that doing so would expose them to the Class Action To End Them All.

I'm not suggesting we should all start loving Leigonella. I'm simply saying the headline tries to create a panic way out of proportion to the actual threat. I'd bet a hundred bucks that if you tested water from every single hotel on the strip (even Wynncore and Mandarin Oriental) you'd probably find SOME legionella in the water and most of them probably had legionella in the water on their opening days too.

 adztheman posted on Friday, 15th July 2011 - 9:29 am

At the end of the day, six people out of something like 18,000 were stricken...all are fine..I want to see what this does to rates at Aria..if they drop like a stone, I'll stay there on my fourth quarter 2011 trip..if you're looking for rates to head downward, this is the best thing since the Monte Carlo fire a couple of years ago...

 dpo1013 posted on Friday, 15th July 2011 - 11:31 am

If the R-J doesn't want to give you proper credit, maybe you should sic Righthaven on them..... LOL!

 Drake posted on Friday, 15th July 2011 - 11:39 am

Okay okay... I got your point Studio. It's just fun sticking it to Murren and the whole MGM crew.

Actually, if the price was right I'd still stay at Aria myself. And if I had to choose between this and a hotel with a recent norovirus intestinal bug outbreak, I'd take my chances with the legionnaire's in a heartbeat.

 parchedearth posted on Friday, 15th July 2011 - 11:52 am

I love the combined shower/bath areas in the Aria rooms, but have noticed they have no ventilation. They act as a heat/moisture trap and the air starts to smell after awhile. I hope they don't find the baths are acting as bacteria breeding grounds.

 levans posted on Tuesday, 19th July 2011 - 12:22 am

So when do the please stay here offers start? Legionnaire's disease even with a small number of cases doesnt make Aria somewhere I would want to stay at.