My standard hotel reviews include a breakdown by the following topics. Feel free to skip to whichever section you find most interesting.
- Highlights
- Lobby & Check-in
- Room
- Hotel Space / Ambiance
- Food & Drink
- Fitness
- Miscellaneous
HIGHLIGHTS: MGM Grand Las Vegas Hotel & Casino
My stay at MGM Grand, through the Crown & Anchor Society, was an interesting experience. Their ridiculous $30+tax per night resort fee was paired with favorable hotel rates and a $150 food & beverage credit. Due to some miscommunication on their end, a small issue in my room, and my negotiation ability, I was able to get two off-peak weekday nights for under $95 – and free $150 credit to food. Highlights include some decent food, some bad food, and not much else. It was an okay time, and I would not stay here again without sufficient incentive.
LOBBY & CHECK-IN
During National Finals Rodeo, expect to see lots of cowboys and similar attire. Very fascinating, this sub-group of American culture. They put a gigantic cowboy hat on the MGM lion decorating the lobby area. Check-in was smooth, although they were unable to upgrade me. They also confirmed my $150 food & beverage credit as part of my stay, however they neglected to communicate what it covers (only a few establishments). Thus, this was definitely an issue later in my stay.
ROOM
A basic King room, it looked recently remodeled. However, the desk lamp had a broken and dislocated plug, which had exposed wiring. MGM’s engineering department was unable to replace it, and I wanted to inform them so it could be fixed for the next guest. Also, the internet was poor at times and inconsistent.
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- Bed
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- Room
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- Broken Lamp
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- Nice Stone
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- Batj
HOTEL SPACE / AMBIANCE
Lots and lots of cowboys & cowgirls. This casino seemed to cater to both young millenials, with its Level Up Bar, VR game ($50, are you kidding me), and skill-based slots, while also placating the old lifers who take up all the casino floor space and destroy years of their lives and the lives of others with their putrid cigarette and cigar smoke. Quite an interesting dynamic. I have been here previously with friends, but only to visit Hakkasan and the like.
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- Outside, on the way to $1 Blackjack at Hooters
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- Broken Elevators
FOOD & DRINK
This could be its own section, as I had to find a way to spend $150 including tax, but excluding gratuity, with just me, someone who can eat once per day and be fine. Note there is no refrigerator in the room, so there was a lot of waste (I’m sorry).
Wolfgang Puck
First, I had a MyVegas coupon for $25 off two entrees at the Wolfgang establishment in MGM Grand. I had a burger with sweet potato fries and pepperoni pizza. The burger was thick and juicy, and the pizza was just falling part and of poor consistency. At $17 it was not worth it. The waiter offered to take off the pizza and save my coupon but then I’d have to pay more out of pocket. I should have pushed harder, nobody should ever have to deal with pizza like that.
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- Wolfgang Puck Burger
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- Wolfgang Puck’s sad excuse of a pizza
EMERIL’S NEW ORLEANS FISH HOUSE
Dinner that evening was at Emeril’s in MGM, for a $34 Short Rib entrée. It was decent, although of course not worth the cost. I would recommend looking at the Tix4Tonight dining card if you intend to eat here more than once – $5 saves you 20% for a week here, and different amounts at other places. I came back to eat at Emeril’s a couple more times, as they have excellent breads & butter, happy hour (grilled/broiled oysters), and an average quality lunch. The lobster roll’s had good bread, but a low amount of lobster and weird sauce that threw off the taste.
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- Emeril’s Short Rib
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- Emeril’s Lobster Roll & Side Salad
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- Emeril HH Grilled Oysters
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- Seat me away from Everyone Else!
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- Emeril Addicting Bread
Breakfast at the food court.
Food Court
Their breakfast food court options vary as all the places sell some breakfast foods. I opted for biscuits and gravy which were decent.
The Grand Wok and Sushi Bar
This Chinese and Japanese cuisine serves passable fried rice, the staple of which I judge all Chinese restaurants. At $19, it was roughly in line in terms of pricing to other entrees.
Grand Wok fried rice – Devoured!
To the Spa / Gym
FITNESS
The gym here is a far, far walk from the towers, as expected, but had a nice open view of a second floor of something else above. It was fun imagining a gunfight and optimal firing and covering positions, something I do more than I probably should.
MISCELLANEOUS
Lots of discussion was had the last day and with the agents at the front desk. I was not informed adequately about the policies involving the food credit, and I was not going to be charged for food I did not want and ordered only to use the credit. They agreed to cover it by waving my resort fees for both nights and thus I only ended up spending about $95 total. It was an okay time at the MGM Grand – something to cross off my Vegas list of hotels.
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I was actually at the MGM as well during NFR (though not for the actual rodeo) in a Marquee Suite (very nice suites if you ever wanted a larger place for a group to hang out). I’ve never had good consistency with food at Wolfgang Puck, but have always enjoyed the Pub 1842 and usually try to eat there (If you ever made you way back I’d recommend trying their fish & chips). Obviously a (the?) big draw of the MGM is the pool complex, so winter isn’t a great time for that. Without good offers from the Grand, I’d… Read more »
Agreed on your last point! Pub 1842 was very busy and I didn’t see any food options, I thought it was just drinks and live music. It was an interesting first experience – and lucky you on a Marquee! They didn’t give me anything, how did you get that?
I gamble just enough to get comps on regular rooms within Mlife properties (at the MGM Grand a Grand King/Queen). That combined with putting all rooms and activities (bottle service, cabanas, shows, etc.) that the groups I go with 1-2 times a year (and the 1-2 solo times I go as well) has bumped me to Platinum status the past few years (25 tier credits per $1 of non-casino spend at MGM properties). The perk I use often is the tier discount (not gambling dependent, and is also available to lower tier levels as well) on suites. I have found… Read more »
Excuse me, how do I be your friend and get in on this?! What you’re saying makes a lot of sense, unfortunately I don’t have the group or gambling volume. That sounds awesome though!
Ha, I also don’t think I gamble enough to warrant comp’d rooms either (I’m a $10-$25 a hand BJ player), but I’ll take it while they give them to me.
for how long though – I normally do tables maybe up to 2 hrs but not more than that.
Yea I’ll normally do 3-4 hours a day, so maybe that’s the difference. Obviously only gamble an amount/time that you are comfortable with, but that amount of play seems to generate decent offers for me.
That would make sense. I shifted away from tables after discovering advantage play, and for the most part I have consistently profited a few hundred or more each trip. My bankroll is small.
I assume you are talking about AP with VP, which I don’t have any experience with. But if you can make a profit then obviously that beats out whatever possible comps you might get on your play.
not VP – but AP with bonus hunting. I wrote a few posts on them if you’re interested:
https://travelupdate.com/gamble-advantage-play-plants-vs-zombies/
https://travelupdate.com/advantage-play-continued-adventures-sinbad/
https://travelupdate.com/casino-advantage-play-aladdins-fortune/
I’ll check them out, thanks
My most recent posts also continue it – my june one i netted over $3,300, with ~2K of that from the airport alone!
https://travelupdate.com/food-hotel-review-aria-resort-casino-las-vegas/