MGM Grand Pool Review
Before I jumped in the car and drove over to the MGM Grand, I packed my beach bag full of the essentials; tanning lotion, gossip magazines, an ipod, bottled water and of course some candy. Parking in the garage at 10:00 am was a breeze snce it was still morning. With room key in hand, I briskly walked for what seemed like miles from the garage, through the bottom level, up the escalators, past the hundreds of blaring slot machines, cut past the elevators, headed down the corridor with the restaurants and shops, past the food court, next to the spa, down the stairs and finally saw the light of day as I stepped outside into the hot desert sun. Yes, it was a long walk, but this is the MGM Grand, baby. Who am I to complain about a ten mile walk when I'm about to be treated to a full day of luxurious pool side lounging at one of my favorite resorts in Las Vegas?
More after the jump...
Pool at the MGM Grand
I had been looking forward to snagging a room key for the MGM Grand for months. My opportunity had finally arrived, when my friends gave me the key on Thursday and I found myself at the pool first thing Saturday morning. Much to my horror, I was greeted by the dreaded scanners! I had heard about these, I knew that the Mandalay Bay had just added scanners to their pool area, but I didn't know the MGM had then too. I had to do some quick thinking because I knew if they scanned my key, it wouldn't work since my friends had already checked out, so I asked a lady and her son walking in front of me if it would be okay if I walked in with them because I had just checked out and didn't think my key would be valid. They were happy to assist me and I breezed right in. The towel girl handed me two white towels and I started walking through the maze.
Lazy River Pool at the MGM Grand
The MGM Grand has 5 large pools, an 8,000 foot long lazy river, 3 Jacuzzis, and 5 bars scattered throughout the pool area. Inner tubes and rafts can be rented for $18 per day. There are over 30 cabanas that can also be rented with a starting price of $125 per day during the week and the price goes up on the weekends.
I started walking from pool to pool to pool looking for a lounge chair and my irritation level started to grow. There were so many chairs, but they were all taken. Most of them had towels over them, but it was obvious that nobody was there yet. Of course the MGM is a hot spot, so they need to provide ample seating, but it was ridiculous that I couldn't even walk down the aisles because they packed in so many chairs. Literally, they were almost on top of each other. I saw a lot of spilled drinks that had been left out in the sun so the puddles were sticky and not very pleasing to the eye. The cleanliness of the pools definitely left something to be desired.
Academy Pool at the MGM Grand
I found a chair near the lazy river, but after about 5 minutes I realized that the trees above were blocking me from the sun, so I finally settled on a spot near the main pool where the D.J. was spinning tunes. It was a good choice on my part because he lifted my spirits with tracks from Abba, Fergie, Kanye West, The Bee Gees and other party favorites. I laid back and watched the crowd, drinks in hand, dancing inside and outside of the pool. The mood was definitely upbeat.
The MGM has an extravagant pool area and the lawns are perfectly manicured, but it's hard to take it all in because there are just so many people cluttering the area. The pools themselves boast names such as Director's, Producer's, the Academy, the Backlot and the Talent pool.
MGM Grand Pool
The most frustrating part of the MGM is the amount of people walking up and down the aisles, tripping over chairs because they were so close together, spilling drinks, watching them lay there for hours and the lack of customer service. I bring my own drinks, but I saw other guests waiting for servers and then with disgust they finally got up and went to the bar to serve themselves. I understand why they have to implement the scanning system now. I hate it, but it's a necessary evil because the place is jam packed. Next time I'll probably skip this pool, crowds aren't really my thing and I'm a stickler for cleanliness and customer service - The MGM Grand definitely fell short in both of these areas.
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