ARIA Resort & Casino Rings in the Holiday Season with Life-Size Gingerbread House
ARIA Resort & Casino is making the holiday season sweet with a custom-made, life-size gingerbread house (Photo credit: MGM Resorts International).
Located in the main lobby, the house is a colossal 15 feet tall, seven feet wide, 12 feet deep and is made of edible ingredients. ARIA Executive Pastry Chef Mathieu Lavallee and his highly-talented team spent over three weeks constructing the masterpiece, showcasing their skills in the details with elements such as peppermint tiles, giant sugar bears, gingerbread bricks and more.
Gingerbread House at ARIA Resort & Casino
Photo credit: MGM Resorts International
“Creating the gingerbread house was one of the most exciting and unique projects we’ve worked on together,” said Chef Lavallee. “It was truly a team effort comprised of great communication, creativity and hard work. We are all really proud of the finished piece.”
The gingerbread house provides a festive photo opportunity for guests along with a scrumptious menu of delightful treats from ARIA Patisserie for purchase. Sweet offerings include peppermint bark, hand-decorated cookies, hot chocolate, lollipops, candied oranges, chocolate Christmas trees and more. The retail store is open daily from 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.
ARIA Gingerbread House fun facts:
- The house resembles a bakery, with stunning three-tier cakes and treats on display along with a chimney made of colorful gingerbread stones and cotton candy smoke;
- The festive creation required more than 400 pounds of gingerbread, 64,000 peppermints, 200 pounds of royal icing, 80 pounds of chocolate and over a thousand pounds of candy;
- The towering structure is covered in 900 gingerbread bricks while the roof is layered with 960 peppermint tiles;
- Colorful sugar bears adorn the front and back walls, graham cracker tiles line the entrance and large gumdrops made of white chocolate top the roof;
- Guests are greeted by a friendly gingerbread man, standing at five feet tall and weighing 120 lbs., made of dough, royal icing and fondant.
ARIA’s Gingerbread House is on display now through January 6. Additional holiday offerings at ARIA include special treats at ARIA Patisserie and a holiday tea experience at Lobby Bar. For more information, visit ARIA’s website.