Staying at the MGM Grand Macau for just one night over Chinese New Year in January 2012 (just last week), was worth the experience.
My friend has had many experiences in Vegas hotels and was rather impressed by the Macau version of the MGM Grand; since he was responsible for the booking I would say he did a rather good job of choosing.
1) Sure there are many other cheaper alternatives, but if you're staying for such a short time (less than 3 days) it is well worth the experience. I would NOT rate this hotel as 5 Star for many reasons but would give it a solid 4. I'm not going to nitpick on the details as they aren't going to influence anyone's stay but suffice it to say, my experience with 5 star hotels, my background in the Service & Hospitality industry have trained my eyes (sadly) to see areas of improvement. But as I said, not going to influence your overall experience at this hotel.
2) There is a free shuttle bus to the hotel from the ferry terminal (we were travelling from China where we are based); and this goes for most of the hotels in Macau. It's a short trip (around 10 minutes) to the hotel; and there are also many shuttle busses to other locations and casinos.
3) The service at front desk is excellent; this is an area I'm especially critical of. The staff all speak excellent English (even if they insisted on calling me Mrs. with my friend's last name...not a huge thing but noticeable) and ask that magic question..."Is there anything else I can help you with?" Anyone with great customer service skills SHOULD be asking this question. They anticipate needs and go a little extra; we needed to exchange money and they offered several choices rather than assuming just one. Before inquiring about the Spa, while just lingering in the area, one of the front desk staff kept her eye on us. Not in a creepy or intrusive way, rather waiting to serve us. This is VERY hard to come by in China, Hong Kong and Macau. They informed us that the ferry back might be fully booked and that when checking out would look into sail times and help us to book the tickets (which turned out to be normal cost so it wasn't like a partnership) if we so wished. We wished :)
4) I have a very sensitive sniffer and any kind of second hand smoke puts me off immediately. Previous reviewers have commented on this and I will attest to a stale smoke smell in general areas. Unfortunately, in China this is very much a part of the culture and while there are signs that mention "no smoking" in most areas, there really is no one inforcing these rules or laws. With that many people, it's actually quite difficult. I don't endorse it, but I'm aware that I'm not about to change it either. Based on other reviews, I was expecting the worst from the casinos in terms of smoke. I believe that the hotel has done everything possible to make the environment as comfortable as possible; they do have no smoking gambling areas but not enclosed. The hotel room we had did not in any way smell of smoke but if you're expecting a lemongrass and ginger smell...sleep in the Spa. It's a hotel room, and probably smells better than most people's homes.
5) We had a room at the end of the corridor which meant that it was a corner unit and impressive as such. We looked out on to the Wynn on one side, and sea view on the other. It would have been more spectacular if not for the terrible weather that continued for the whole week. This was impressive on its own. We had two double beds and their comfort was what made this designed for short stays and far from 5 star! Firm is good sometimes, but this was not overly comfortable. If you're gambling, you're not in your room or your bed a whole lot so it won't much matter in that regard. But when you're exhausted and need a good sleep, you want comfortable pillows (which they have) and an inviting mattress (which they don't have).
6) The bathroom is impressive. I was spoiled by a stay at the Mandarin Oriental in Sanya two weeks prior to this excursion at a conference for work so to say this measured up nicely is a good thing. Not having bathtubs in China when you're renting a flat is something you get used to so when you go to a hotel and get spoiled by one...you appreciate it so much more. I would have loved to use it but the shower was spoiling enough. They have two shower heads; one adjustable, the other a rainshower. My friend LOVES, LOVES, LOVES rainshowers so was in 7th heaven with that. True that there is a glass wall separating shower and bed areas, they have a curtain to solve this problem. There is an automatic switch near the front door and a general trust between friends. :D
7) We spent little time in the MGM casino; my friend said it was good but not as big as Vegas casinos.
8) We had tickets to see Zaia (Cirque du Soleil production) at the Venetian and took a taxi across the bridge to the original part of Macau (where MGM and Wynn are is all newly developed). The Venetian is 5 star and impressive! Photography is a passionate hobby of mine and I continued to comment to my friends that I was bummed and kicking myself for not taking my DSLR. It wasn't charged before we left so I just left it behind...STUPID!!!
9) The Venetian casino was proper Vegas style according to my friend. You can't see where it really ends it's just that huge. They offer free drinks (ladies...champagne is good!) while you're gambling and all casino hands speak English. Not excellent for all of them, but the ones that we interacted with were fantastic! Fun people and very encouraging...of course. MGM did NOT offer free drinks.
10) Go to see Zaia!!! We had VERY close seats (closer than both of us liked actually but being dead centre and three rows from the stage is nothing to sneeze at....but definitely go a wee bit further back). It's a phenomenal production as to be expected from Cirque...you won't be disappointed.
11) Go to the Bellini Louge!!!!! Men, you'll love it for the Playboy Bunnies. Ladies, you'll love that your men can't touch them!! You'll both love it because the live band is spectacular. The lead female vocalist's talents should be showcased more because she can 'sing the phonebook' back and front. The drinks were relatively reasonably priced, but if you're looking to pay for them and get a good drink...go to Morton's Steakhouse. The casino was great, but Bellini Lounge is what would beckon me back.
12) I did a little cruising around the Venetian after calling my losing attempts to win big and discovered that on the third floor they have a food court. It does NOT operate on Casino hours but would suspect it to be quite worth it.
13) The Six Senses Spa at the MGM was fantastic. My friend had a full body massage and I tried the Indian Head Massage. To start with I'm not Asian size. I'm quite curvy and was VERY surprised and impressed that the supplied robe fit over all the naughty areas. The whole experience was VERY impressive, calm, soothing; everything you want in a Spa. Our treatments were both 50 mins and 950 HKD and worth every penny. You are well taken care of and fully pampered from start to end. Do take advantage of the opportunity to spoil yourself for an hour!
Overall, MGM was great. Can't fault it much and for the amount of time we were there, I was impressed every step and I've got very high standards and quite picky. If you don't, you'll be blown away. If you're like me, you'll be satsfied with everything. And if you're not, I believe the MGM Grand Macau would want to help you.
Room Tip: Take the corner suite. It's more money but worth the experience.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
