Review: MGM Grand Executive Suite

Hyatt, Las Vegas, MGM Resorts
Review: MGM Grand Executive Suite
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Image courtesy: Hyatt Hotels
 

One of the key perks of top-tier Hyatt Gold Passport status that keeps me coming back is Hyatt’s partnership with MGM Resorts. By way of Diamond status with Hyatt, a status match gives me Mlife Platinum, which offers a bevy of great benefits when staying at an MGM property in Las Vegas. These include access to special rates on rooms, a 30% tier bonus on Mlife points and comps earned, priority lines for check-in, buffets, and (critically!) taxis, as well as priority reservations for pool cabanas, spa and salon appointments, and premium restaurants.

Unfortunately, starting with the shift from Hyatt Gold Passport to World of Hyatt next year, new top-tier Globalist status will only match to Mlife Gold, but for the time being, my Mlife Platinum card is one of my favorite benefits of Hyatt loyalty. Until now, however, one stated perk had never come my way: a proper room upgrade!

When booking via an Mlife phone representative, they can theoretically lock in upgrades at time of booking, as opposed to waiting to see if there’s anything available at check-in that the front desk attendant is interested in sharing. I’d tried this once before when staying at the MGM Grand, but was bumped back down at check-in from an Executive Suite to a standard King Room, based on a large influx of higher-priority guests.

When making this reservation, I was again told I would be upgraded to an Executive Suite, which was a particularly excellent deal, seeing as I was only paying about $50 per night on a special offer. That said, my hopes were limited until I checked in. Sure enough, the upgrade cleared this time, and so I’d have the opportunity to review a new room type at one of my most-frequented Las Vegas resorts.

MGM Grand long had a Hollywood flavor befitting of its name. While much of this has been scrubbed away over time, and the lion habitat that was once a central feature of the resort has been replaced by the giant Hakkasan nightclub and restaurant, a few vestiges of the old aesthetic can be found. That’s certainly true in the Executive Suite, where one of the key design features is a large light modeled after Old Hollywood.

Passing by the large, comfortable couch, the desk also serves double duty as the entertainment center. This is a nice way of streamlining the room, but the positioning of the TV makes i.e. basically impossible to use the desk and allow someone else to watch television at the same time.

The king-size bed was beset on each side by large, glossy nightstands.

The bathroom included a double vanity, with two mirrors with lit perimeters, and featured both a standalone shower and shower/tub combination.

While the room was not on a high floor, the view was still interesting enough, providing a look not just at the Strip but also at the Mansion at MGM Grand – the large, glass-roofed building to the left in the below photo – open exclusively to VIPs.

Overall, the Executive Suite was a nice step up from a standard King Room, offering about twice as much space. As a free upgrade, I certainly won’t complain, especially given the terms of the offer I’d used to book the room, which not only included extraordinarily low nightly rates, but also a food and beverage credit that essentially knocked another night’s cost off the stay. I have no doubt I’ll be back to the MGM Grand again, and look forward to trying out some of the nicer, larger suites in the future.

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Casey Ayers is a consultant and entrepreneur with a passion for travel. After amassing enough miles and points to travel anywhere in the world for almost free in less than six months, he developed PointsAway as a way to help others make travel dreams big and small come true.
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