360 Vegas Review: MGM Grand Hotel & Casino Spring 2014

At the time, MGM Grand (now Bally's) was the largest hotel casino in the world. However in that incarnation, MGM is better known as the location of the deadliest fire in strip history. In 1999, it opened, once again at the time, the largest hotel casino in the world with the least appealing entrance to Asian gamblers ever created.  It was a giant lion that you walked under. These are just a couple examples that make the MGM Grand a complex property to eloquently summarize.  When it opened, the emerald green building and the experience within was meant to pay tribute to the studios all time great movie the wizard of oz. Complete with a yellow brick road that lead to an amusement park studio attraction meant to celebrate all of the studios history.  Less than 10 years into the properties existence, both are a different kind of history.  MGM Grand challenges the notion that bigger is always better.  The largest hotel in the city frequently has guests complaining they need a cab just to get to their room. The casino floor has been described by many as too big and by others as epic. It has a reputation for being home to some of the best and worst dining experiences. Despite all that, perhaps the fact that they refuse to stop trying is the most telling aspect of MGM Grand. Ideas that haven't worked have been replaced with better ones. Sections of the casino have been configured to feel smaller and more intimate and that failed amusement park was turned into condos that were so successful it can be credited with being one of the pioneers of that movement in Las Vegas. Ultimately MGM Grand needs to be experienced...with caution.