MGM Grand Las Vegas

This article is about the current MGM Grand in Las Vegas. For the first casino hotel with that name, see Bally's Las Vegas.
MGM Grand Las Vegas
Location Paradise, Nevada
Address 3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Opening date 1975 (1975)
Theme Art Deco
Hollywood
Number of rooms 5,044
Total gaming space 171,500 sq ft (15,930 m2)
Permanent shows Brad Garrett's Comedy Club
David Copperfield
Jabbawockeez
Kà
Signature attractions MGM Grand Garden Arena
Hakkasan
CSI: The Experience
Notable restaurants Joël Robuchon
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Hakkasan
Emeril's
Michael Mina's Pub 1842
Craftsteak
Wolfgang Puck
Fiamma
Pearl
Shibuya
Casino type Land-based
Owner MGM Resorts International
Previous names Marina
MGM-Marina
Renovated in 1996, 2005, 2012
Coordinates 36°06′08″N 115°10′10″W / 36.1022°N 115.1695°W / 36.1022; -115.1695Coordinates: 36°06′08″N 115°10′10″W / 36.1022°N 115.1695°W / 36.1022; -115.1695
Website mgmgrand.com

The MGM Grand Las Vegas (formerly Marina and MGM-Marina) is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the United States with 5,044 rooms. It is also the third-largest hotel complex in the world by number of rooms and second-largest hotel resort complex in the United States behind the combined The Venetian and The Palazzo. When it opened in 1993, the MGM Grand was the largest hotel complex in the world.

Owned and operated by MGM Resorts International, the 30-floor main building is 293 ft (89 m) high. The property includes five outdoor pools, rivers, and waterfalls that cover 6.6 acres (2.7 ha),[1] a 380,000 sq ft (35,000 m2) convention center, the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and the Grand Spa. It also houses numerous shops, night clubs, restaurants and the largest casino in Clark County, which occupies 171,500 sq ft (15,930 m2).

Located on the Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection, pedestrians are not allowed to cross at street level. Instead, the MGM Grand is linked by overhead pedestrian bridges to its neighboring casinos: to the south across Tropicana Avenue, the Tropicana, and to the west across the Strip, New York-New York.

History

Marina Hotel and Casino (1975-1993)

The Marina Hotel and Casino, located at 3805 Las Vegas Boulevard, opened in 1975 as a 714-room hotel and casino. In 1989, Kirk Kerkorian bought the Marina Hotel and the Tropicana Country Club, behind the Marina and across Tropicana Avenue from Tropicana and San Rémo hotels to obtain the site that would become the home of the MGM Grand. As Kerkorian saw the Marina as a stable and solidly built resort, Kerkorian decided not to destroy the hotel, but to build around it.[2] During that time, the Marina was known as the MGM-Marina Hotel.[3][4][5]

The Marina closed on November 30, 1990, and ground was broken for the new casino hotel complex on October 7, 1991. The Marina hotel building still exists as the west wing of the main hotel building.[3][4]

MGM Grand (1993-present)

When the latest MGM Grand opened on December 18, 1993, it was owned by MGM Grand Inc. At that time it had an extensive Wizard of Oz theme, including the green "Emerald City" color of the building and the decorative use of Wizard of Oz memorabilia. After entering the casino's main entrance, one would find themselves in the Oz Casino facing Emerald City. Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion were seen in front of the city. The Emerald City attraction featured an elaborate yellow brick road walk-through, complete with the cornfield, apple orchard, and haunted forest, as well as audio-animatronic figures of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Wicked Witch of the West. It would end at the door of the city, leading inside for a performance of "The Wizard's Secrets". When MGM Grand began its extensive refurbishment in 1996, the Oz Casino was the first to go. The Emerald City was completely demolished, and the Emerald City Gift Shop was moved to a new shopping section of the casino. The store remained open until early 2003.

Originally, the main entrance on the Strip was inside the mouth of a giant cartoon-like version of MGM's logo, Leo the Lion, but this entrance feature was changed to a more traditional entrance. In 1998, a large bronze statue of Leo was added above the entrance to keep with the MGM Lion theme, while not scaring away guests. The statue weighs 50 tons, and at 45 feet (14 m) tall, on a 25-foot pedestal, is the largest bronze statue in the U.S.[6]

A statue of Leo, the MGM lion

When the MGM Grand opened, the intention was to create the first true destination hotel in the Las Vegas area by including the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park behind the casino. The plan was to make the Las Vegas Strip more family friendly by providing activities for those too young to linger inside the casino. The theme park performed poorly and did not reopen for the 2001 season. On December 5, 2002, MGM Resorts International (then named MGM Mirage) announced that the former theme park would be developed as a luxury condominium and hotel complex called The Signature at MGM Grand.

The Las Vegas Monorail was built to connect MGM Grand to Bally's in 1995. The coming-out party for the monorail, on behalf of Bally's, consisted of showgirls and guys from Bally's famed show, Jubilee!, helping groups to the monorail. Characters from the Wizard of Oz greeted the groups on the MGM side. The track was later updated to become the southernmost section of the Las Vegas Monorail. The MGM Grand station was refurbished, the trains were replaced with Bombardier M-VI's, and the track was extended beyond the southern station to provide for track switching for the trains, as well as a starting point for a potential future southern extension to the monorail line.

MGM Grand, with sign promoting it as The City of Entertainment, now removed

In 2000, in an attempt to appeal to a more "mature" clientele, the hotel underwent a major renovation, and almost all traces of the Oz theme were removed. The theme is now more of the Art Deco era of classic Hollywood, and the hotel started billing itself as The City of Entertainment. More recently, the resort has used the phrase "Maximum Vegas", referring to the vast amount of activities MGM Grand offers its guests.

On April 26, 2000, MGM opened a new satellite registration/hotel check-in center at McCarran International Airport. This was the first of its kind opened by a hotel company at any United States airport.[7] However, this airport check-in center appears to have closed in late 2013.

In 2005, MGM opened the West Wing, a renovation of the original Marina Hotel rooms.

In October 2011, MGM began a renovation in which all of its rooms and suites in the main tower were fully renovated, along with the casino floor and other public areas. This has provided the hotel with a more contemporary room design. The work was completed in September 2012.

Film history

Media

A parody of the MGM Grand was featured in the BMX video game Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2. Leo the Lion was replaced with dragons.

The MGM Grand was among many casinos at which the MIT Blackjack Team gambled in the book Bringing Down The House.

The MGM Grand is the home base of David Whele in Dominion.


Attractions

The Lion Habitat in the MGM Grand

Gaming

The MGM Grand has one of the largest gaming floors in all of Las Vegas, measuring 171,500 square feet (15,930 m2). There are more than 2,500 machines for gaming as well as 139 poker and table games.[10]

The slot machines at the MGM Grand range from 1¢ to $1,000 and include progressive slots, video poker, and multi-game machines. There is a special High Limit Slots area, featuring slot machines with payouts up to $500,000.

The race and sports book is a state of-the-art betting area that features thirty-six 60-inch plasma TVs, along with twenty-four 42-inch plasmas. Bets are offered on a range of sports including soccer, football, boxing, MMA and more. They are also the first room to offer what they call "SkyBoxes". These boxes can hold up to ten guests and come with beverage servers and complimentary food.[11]

Hotel

The hotel rooms are located in several buildings including:

The Signature at MGM Grand

The Signature at MGM Grand is a condo hotel project by MGM Mirage and Turnberry Associates, who teamed up to build the three currently open Signature at the MGM Grand towers. The 38-story, 475-foot (145 m) tall structures have 576 all-suite units each and were priced from $450,000 to more than $2.0 million. Signature is located on the property where the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park once stood. Each tower has its own private pool with cabanas as well as access to MGM Grand pools. Additional guest/owner amenities at The Signature include a Starbucks, meeting rooms, exercise room, bar and restaurant. Each tower is connected with walkways including moving walkways for the connection to the MGM Grand.

Entertainment venues

Restaurants

See also

References

  1. ↑ MGM Grand review. LasVegas.com.
  2. ↑ http://www.lasvegasmikey.com/marina.htm
  3. 1 2 "The Marina Hotel was Never Destroyed". vegastodayandtomorrow.com. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  4. 1 2 "Marina Hotel and Casino". lasvegasmikey.com. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  5. ↑ "History of MGM Las Vegas Hotel". earlyvegas.com. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  6. 1 2 3 "MGM Grand Fact Sheet". http://www.mgmgrand.com. MGM Resorts International. Archived from the original on 17 October 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  7. ↑ Airport Check-In mgmgrand.com.
  8. ↑ "MGM Grand lions, on display at casino habitat for the last time today". Las Vegas Sun. Jan 31, 2012.
  9. ↑ "CSI:The Experience". mgmgrand.com. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
  10. ↑ Casino Games. mgmgrand.com.
  11. ↑ SkyBox. mgmgrand.com.
  12. ↑ "Skylofts at MGM Grand". http://www.forbestravelguide.com. Forbes. Retrieved 13 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  13. ↑ "Luxury Hotels in North America:Leading Hotels of the World". http://www.lhw.com. Leading Hotels of the World. Retrieved 13 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  14. ↑ John Katsilometes (November 11, 2015). "Moving elephant gives Jabbawockeez a chance to open trunk at MGM Grand". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
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