-When you make your reservation the hotel charges you right then for the first night, and presumably refunds you if you cancel in accordance with hotel policy.
-Don't bother asking to have your room ready prior to the standard hotel check in, they won't do it.
-If you have to use the concierge to check your bags because you arrive early and your room isn't ready, tip accordingly so you don't have to wait for a LONG time for them to retrieve your bags when you are ready to pick them up.
-You don't have to use the valet (its free though), the free parking garage is close by.
-The hotel rooms are very nice, the beds are exceptional. TV has only the most basic channels (its a casino, they don't want you watching ESPN in your room!)
-The hotel itself is very clean, well decorated and very very big.
-The biggest reason I gave this an average rating is that we NEVER had hot water, no one EVER fixed the problem, and all we got were silly expressions when tried to get an explanation or even some sort of help getting it fixed.
-The casino table games were good, $5 tables early in the moring, $10 tables (and up) the rest of the time. Cocktails were slow at all times, even with aggressive tipping. For comps, you don't get rated until you are at the $25 per level.
-The spa is very nice albiet pricey ($300) for 1 1/2 hour spa treatment.
-The bars are "ok" at best, the atmosphere in the bars was an afterthought. Well drinks were $12-15, beer was $8 and up.
-The chinese wok resturaunt was very good. Service was sushi and other "standard" chines fare.
-The hotel has a couple of starbucks in the hotel, mcdonald's and a couple other fast food places.
-The hotel is the last stop on the south end of the monorail ($9 for a two way trip). So, it is convenient using public transit. Avoid using the busses and trollies at all costs, you will spend most of your time waiting on them.
-In past trips we have never rented a car, this time we did, we will get a car from now on. It is well worth it to get around to other hotels, to the old strip, target etc.
-Rates at this hotel vary wildly, our rate was $129 per night.

I came to Vegas with high expectations. The staff was excellent (not the business center). Everyone said HI and was helpful. Cleanliness was good. I work in housekeeping and saw somethings that most would not. Most of the pool has decent hours. The best part (lazy river) had short hours. The rooms and hallways looked liked they needed a renovation. Bathroom has an old feeling to it. Nightstand had a burn mark and needed to be replaced. The phone was located not on the desk which made things interesting when the internet did not work. Casino and public areas where excellent and had lots to offer. Hotel rooms are no different or worse then say a standard Embassy Suites or Holiday Inn.

My sisters 30th birthday was in Feb and we decided to take a couple of weeks trip around San Francisco and Las Vegas. The catchment area around the airport and towards the strip is very disappointing and slightly dims the excitement of being in Vegas, however once you walk into the lobby of this hotel the excitement returns immediately. The lobby is incredible and the front desk is absolutely enormous. One thing irritated me was the receptionist trying to flog us tickets to the shows in the hotel, but I just explained that I already had tickets for an alternative show in the Bellagio and wasnt interested, you have to be firm. The room was not difficult to find, walking through the casino to get to the elevators was an experience. We were the 16th floor and just outside the elevators which I think was a blessing as the floors are so long I would have been extremely upset to in a room at the end of the corridor. We requested a non-smoking floor which was accommodated, however all of the rooms have adjoining doors and our neighbours ignored the non-smoking policy which led to the smel of smoke coming through the adjoining door into ours, but hey its Vegas you have to be tolerant. The hotel itself has so many facilities that I cannot list them all, but I can honestly say it was a fabulous place to stay and play but the clubs are not nice - I dont know if I'm too conservative but there are some things that should just be left to the imagination. The monorail is expensive but is handy for getting up and down the strip, otherwise you have quite a walk as the MGM is right at the bottom near New York, Excalibur and the Tropicana. We caught Cirque Du Soleil 'O' at the Bellagio which was amazing and worth the price of the tickets. The helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon is mega and also really worth the price. All in all, Vegas is a once in a lifetime experience and is to be seen to be believed.

This was my first time in Vegas and I was very excited to be there because I had heard so many great things about it. That all ended when I decided to stay at the MGM grand. First off, our rooms were not ready until 6pm that night, when check in is clearly 3pm. When one of our friends got the key to their room, they opened it and the room was still dirty! .. After that was finally dealt with and we had wasted half our day, the trip finally started to get going. There were some positive things about the hotel. The casino was clean and the dealers were very entertaining. Other than that, the quality of service at this hotel was non-existent. They yelled at one of our friends and had her in tears. Her boyfriend had to speak to the manager who then gave them a room upgrade. The final day we were there, our room did not get cleaned. We called at least 4 times that day to get it cleaned, each time promising a maid would show up but never did. After going down to the lobby and demanding that our room be cleaned, it was finally done so at midnight that night. There was NO compensation given to any of us. A simple, " Well, if you were staying another night we would have given it to you for free" was all that was said. I do not recommend anyone staying at this hotel if they don't get there customer service up to par.