MGM Grand Hotel
MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the world with 6,852 rooms. It is also the third largest hotel complex in the world by number of rooms and the second largest hotel complex in the United States after the Venice and the Palace. When the MGM Grand opened in 1993, it was the largest hotel complex in the world. The 30-story main building, owned by Vici Properties and The Blackstone Group and managed by MGM Resorts International, is 293 feet (89 meters) tall. The property features five outdoor pools, a river and 6.6 acres (2.7 ha) of waterfalls, a 380,000-square-foot (35,000 m2) convention center, the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and the Grand Spa. It is also home to many shops, nightclubs, restaurants, and Clark County’s largest casino (171,500 square feet (15,930 m2). Located at the Tropicana-Las Vegas Boulevard intersection, pedestrians are not allowed to cross the street. Instead, the MGM Grand is connected to neighboring casinos by pedestrian bridges: to the south across Tropicana Avenue, Tropicana and west across the Strip, New York-New York When the last MGM Grand opened on December 18, 1993, it was owned by by MGM Grand Inc. At the time, it had an extensive Wizard of Oz theme, including the building’s emerald green color and the decorative use of Wizard of Oz memorabilia. After entering through the casino’s main entrance, you find yourself in the Oz Casino, located across from the Emerald City. Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion were seen in front of the town. The Emerald City attraction featured a detailed yellow brick walkway with a cornfield, apple orchard and haunted forest, as well as sound animatronic characters of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Bad Guy. Witch of the West. It would end at the city gate and lead into the “Mysteries of the Wizard” performance. Don’t forget to check out this place in Las Vegas too. When the MGM Grand began a major renovation in 1996, the Oz Casino was the first. Emerald City was completely demolished and the Emerald City Gift was moved to the casino’s new shopping area. The store was open until the beginning of 2003. When the MGM Grand opened, the intention was to create a destination hotel in the Las Vegas area by adding the MGM Grand Adventures theme park behind the casino. The plan was to make the Las Vegas Strip more family-friendly by offering activities for those too young to stay in the casino. The theme park did poorly and did not open for the 2001 season. The site was renovated into a luxury residence and hotel complex called The Signature at MGM Grand, which opened in 2006. The resort’s original entrance consisted of a giant fiberglass lion head and was brick in appearance, with visitors entering through the lion’s mouth. The lion was a cartoon version of MGM’s Leo the Lion logo. MGM Grand did unusually poorly with Asian players in its early years; management research found that many Chinese patrons were unable to walk through the lion’s jaws and avoided the hotel, so the entrance was renovated to remove the feature. The Monorail was built to connect the MGM Grand and Bally’s in 1995. Bally’s Monorail Party consisted of girls and boys from Bally’s famous Jubilee! show supporting groups on the monorail. Characters from The Wizard of Oz greet groups on the MGM side. The track was later upgraded to become the southernmost section of the Las Vegas monorail. The MGM Grand station was renovated, the trains were replaced with Bombardier M-VIs, and the track was extended beyond the southern station to allow for train tracks and the starting point for a possible future single-track southern extension row. In May 1996, MGM Grand Inc. announced the resort’s 30-month, four-phase renovation that would cost more than $250 million. The project would include replacing the property’s lion entrance with a six-story golden lion structure. The first phase was planned to begin in June 1996 and would focus on the restaurant, food court and arcades of the resort, with the addition of several new restaurants. The second phase includes a $15 million reconstruction of the lion’s entrance. Other changes would include a 300,000-square-foot (28,000 m2) convention center at a cost of $60 million. A $60 million shopping and entertainment center to be built next to the theme park that will include themed restaurants and nightclubs; a new entrance to be built on Koval Lane at a cost of $5 million and scheduled to open in mid-1997; a $30 million renovation of a 52-suite penthouse; and $11 million to upgrade parts of the casino. The final phase would include a $17 million entertainment theme at the resort’s vehicular entrance on Tropicana Avenue. Other changes include a $15 million renovation of the resort’s Emerald City entertainment district and the addition of 2,000 additional parking spaces at a cost of $13 million, for a total of 11,000 new spaces. MGM Grand Inc. president Terrence Lanni said he wants customers to “feel like guests coming to the premiere of one of the biggest movies in the world. When we’re ready, every part of this property will be about entertainment.” The former restaurant, shopping and arcade area has been transformed into Studio Walk, which resembles a Hollywood sound stage with various restaurants and shops. Demolition of the Lion’s Gate began on 13 May 1997 and was estimated to last two weeks, while the $250 million renovation project was scheduled to be completed by the end of 1998. The construction of the new facade cost about $ 40 million. In November 1997, 18 advertising and entertainment LED screens were installed on the property, 15 of which were outside the resort. The lion statue was installed in December 1997 with the addition of a £5,000 foot. Assembly of the £100,000 statue was expected to be completed later that month. Weighing 50 tons and standing 45 feet (14 meters) tall on a 25-foot-high pedestal, the statue is the largest bronze statue in the United States. The new facade also featured 11 statues of winged Atlas-type men with bowls 16 feet in diameter. The statues were made of fiberglass finished in bronze and followed the lion shape with LED screens and fountains. Construction of the statue and associated fountains was scheduled to be completed in February 1998. The resort’s 35,000 m2 conference center was opened in April 1998. A conference center, swimming pool and spa were previously built on a 15-hectare site takes over part of the theme park and the parking lot. If you are in need of a home repair and renovation, click here.