Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino Spring 2014

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Mandalay Bay, or as some have referred to it as, the Mirage south, is a property that very much earns that comparison.  From the gold tri-point tower, aquatic animal encounter, iconic pop cirque show and quality high-end dining, Mandalay Bay needed to be the Mirage 2.0 to overcome the tremendous disadvantaged of being the southernmost property on the Las Vegas Strip.  Fortunately, it was successful.

Mandalay Bay is exquisite without being pretentious, high-end without being snobby.  It is simultaneously the culmination and, inadvertently, the downfall of circus circus enterprises, but we’ll save details about that for Vintage Vegas.  Like the Mirage before it, MGM took it over and also like the Mirage, they’ve taken good care of it.

Vegas Mate Rating – 4/5 chips

Mark, Keren & Alastair – 4/5 chips

Hecho en Vegas @MGM Grand Spring 2014

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For those that enjoy food, Vegas is a place whose vast offerings, in all styles of cuisine, can take you on an amazing quest, taking years to complete, to find the best experiences of your life.  Some would argue the journey is the best part and they may be right. But the experience of eating something you love, and tasting it like you never have before or even knew was possible is an experience everyone should have before they die. 

Hecho en Vegas, Spanish for “Made in Vegas”, was that kind of experience.  Just like the Spanish settlers that originally stumbled upon a lush patch of landscape in the desert and named it The Meadows, the Spanish translation of Las Vegas, we found it by shear happenstance.

From the moment you sit down, you feel like a guest whose residence are so proud of what they’ve created, they can’t wait to share it with you.  Friendly, helpful and extremely knowledgeable about flavors, textures and what they have to offer to suit your individual palette, this is what Mexican food is supposed to taste and service is supposed to be like.

Vegas Mate Rating – 4/5 chips

Mark & Keren Rating - 5/5 chips

Alastair Rates - 4/5 chips

MGM Grand Hotel & Casino Spring 2014

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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. 

Vegas Mate Rating – 4/5 chips

Mark & Alstair - 4/5 chips

Keren – 3/5 chips