This upscale bar may be too exclusive for its own good

Glutton for punishment? Or open-minded enough to give a joint a second chance? Neither, actually.

Curiosity prevailed when I was invited to go back to CityCenter on Thursday to celebrate turning Sensuous 60. Or maybe Superb 60? Well, one of those milestones upon which you're expected to ponder past and future, be grateful for the first and hopeful for the second.

The friend kind enough to invite me to lunch had been too busy working on helping homeless kids to read my Thursday column, and didn't know I'd voiced a few concerns about CityCenter.

Top issue: The deliberate absence of seating at the Crystals shopping area.

Often casino owners don't provide seating because they prefer customers sit in front of a slot machine or a bar, someplace where you'll feel compelled to spend money. But this is a mall, albeit a mall with art.

It's unfair to the elderly and disabled to open Crystals, holler to the heavens that it's the greatest must-see in Las Vegas, and then make it so uncomfortable your first visit becomes your last.

I'll let you know if MGM Mirage officials decide to put in seating at Crystals. Maybe they'll discover seating is less cheesy than people sitting on the floor, on stairs and on a steel bar, as I observed Thursday.

Then there was the shock of learning I needed a reservation to get a drink at the Mandarin Oriental's bar. Also, I needed to be more stylish before my butt deserved to plop at this bar.

Needless to say, I dressed a little better for my lunch at Vdara's Silk Road Restaurant -- and didn't need to. The dress code is casual. A lovely lunch and excellent service at the Silk Road, plus the feeling of serenity at Vdara placed it on my list of places to recommend. This nongaming hotel was a twofer -- elegant and friendly -- and $159 for a room tonight isn't exorbitant.

The lunch crowd had abandoned the peacefulness of the Vdara, which opened Dec. 1, for the frenzy of Aria, the final piece of the puzzle and the only hotel-casino in CityCenter. Fewer than 30 people were lunching at Silk Road when we were there.

Aria was cranking. The crowd looked like the same crowd you'd see in any major casino on the Las Vegas Strip, whether high-end or not.

Every employee we came into contact with was friendly and courteous. And the design details are ooh-and-ahh worthy. By the way, Aria provides seating in the lobby. It's rock hard, but it's a place to sit.

I asked my friend for a favor. Would she go into the Mandarin Oriental? Alone. The place I'd been dissed.

She was casually dressed, wearing corduroy jeans and open-toed sandals. OK, her lace top was stylish.

She was greeted warmly and invited to go to the 23rd floor if she wanted to look around. Nobody gave her The Look.

Maybe after my column ran, the staff was taught how to refrain from looking at guests like they're riffraff.

Yet a handful of readers shared stories of rude treatment at the Mandarin Oriental bar since it opened Dec. 4.

Rhea Nicholas wrote with indignation about how two Wall Street executives with clients were turned away from the bar. One was wearing Prada shoes, jeans and a sweater.

Nicholas, a Las Vegan with roots in the restaurant industry, wrote me, "Not that the value of a potential customer should be judged on their income, but it is ironic that a 20-something hostess making an hourly wage can wield the power of refusing revenue from those who make $1M+ per year. Who else would spend $18.00 (give or take) per drink?"

Don't say you weren't warned.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.