MGM Grand Hotel Las Vegas

The first time in Las Vegas was 17 years ago, when what we could afford was Excalibur, and the 6 of us had to schedule room use, because we cannot afford to pay full.  In 1995, staying in MGM was a far-fetched dream.

Now in 2012, the dream became a reality.  Finally stayed at MGM Grand Hotel in Vegas.  There are now 2 MGM hotels in Las Vegas - MGM Grand and MGM Signature.  We decided to stay at the bigger MGM Grand because it is at the Strip.  The MGM Signature though newer and nicer, does not have casinos in the hotel itself and is a block away.


At Vegas, the action starts at the arrival section of the airport.  There are slot machines as you exit your gate.

Amazing, that they have progressive jackpots, right there at the airport

No, we took the airport shuttle.  But it was fun to take pictures of several stretch limos outside the airport.

Incidentally, the Pacquiao-Bradley match was a few days away, thus the boxing ring is the hotel's centerpiece that week.

The MGM elevator is golden.

And the image of the Golden Lion is seen about everywhere.

This is the hallway upon exiting the elevator

The golden hallway to the guest rooms.

See, the golden lion oversees everyone entering their rooms.

Hmmm. the rooms were not really impressive. I was surprised that it was really basic.  We've stayed in better 4-star hotels even in Manila. Not to mention the faucet that is very slow to drain and the bathroom that was only 80% clean.  But we did not plan to stay long in the rooms anyway.

The Vegas skyline is the view from the room.

And this is the majestic buffet area.  I'd say, this is the mother of all buffets.

for where else can you have 4 Carving stations in a buffet!?

Rooms are lackluster, but everything else at MGM Grand Hotel Vegas is golden.