My first visit to Las Vegas was in 2001 and I stayed one night at the MGM Grand. I hadn’t been back until my stay recently in November of 2024. When the MGM Grand opened in 1993 it was the largest hotel in the world with 5,000 rooms. As of 2024, it is still the largest hotel in the USA.
I booked a Grand Two Queen room for my stay over Veteran’s Day weekend.
Location
The MGM Grand is located on the southern end of the Strip at Tropicana. Across Las Vegas Blvd is New York New York. The Tropicana property (now an empty lot) is across Tropicana Ave.
The MGM Grand property is massive. In addition to the hotel and casino, there are the three Signature at MGM Grand condos, a Topgolf location, MGM Grand Arena, and a monorail station.
Check In
I arrived very late on a Friday night. My Uber from the airport dropped me off at the porte cochere which is right off of the hotel lobby.
I already checked in online so I went to one of the self service kiosks to print a key card.
The elevators for the Grand Tower (which is where 80% of the rooms are located) is a short walk from the lobby. You do need to use your key to access your floor in the elevator.
Room
I was assigned room 7327 on the 7th floor of the hotel (out of 30 total floors). The hotel tower is in a cross shape with four wings. My room was on the southern wing.
The Grand Room is the standard room at the property. As you enter, the bathroom is on the right followed by a closet.
My room had two queen beds that faced a TV on top of the main storage for the room.
The storage has a few drawers in addition to the mini fridge. The safe is located in the table between the beds.
There are two chairs against the large window that looks out onto the porte cochere and the OYO hotel across Tropicana.
There are two rolling shades for the window. One that is opaque and another that blacks out most of the light; though there is some bleed around the edges.
Bathroom
The bathroom has white marble type floors and walls. There is a single vanity under a large lit mirror.
The bathroom has a large tub and shower with traditional shower curtain. The shower head is wall mounted and adjustable.
All the bath products are in large bottles and branded for MGM Resorts. No bar soap is provided.
The Grand rooms feel dated and are due for a renovation. Recently the Studio Tower (the original, former Marina Hotel building) rooms were updated. I would guess that the Grand rooms will get a refresh in the next year or two.
Overall I found the MGM Grand to be a very generic hotel and casino. The location is central but the size of the property means quite a walk to get to any of the other hotels or casinos in the area.
There are better properties in Las Vegas at the same price point, even within the MGM Resorts brand. New York New York, just across the street, has more recently renovated rooms and a more lively casino. The Park MGM offers a non-smoking property that is much more manageable to navigate.
MGM Grand is not a bad hotel and casino; it is just a big mediocre property that is completely skippable.
