Our fave is the MGM Grand. Yes it is huge, but that is what Vegas is all about. You have everything you want in one hotel.

The atmosphere is great with a very young feel to the place and the feel good factor is more evident here than at other hotels, with perhaps the NYNY being the only hotel able to compete.

Rooms are to die for, service is exceptional, and location can't be beaten. The monorail literally gives you freedom to explore all parts of the strip. The restaurants are first class, the casino is well laid out and by a country mile the least smokiest.

It also has some of the best deals available on the web. On our visit we paid just $144 a night for a huge jacuzzi suite. At this time also, standard rooms were just $69........an absolute bargain.

I'm not sure if I have a favourite. I really like the Venetian for the rooms, but I also liked Caesars and the Bellagio.

I loved Aladdin, but I'm not so struck on the remodelled rooms now that it's Planet Hollywood. The decor did nothing for me and there is far less storage. Even in a Resort room there was only a small closet and 2 very small drawers. There was a cupboard under the TV and that's where hubby stashed his clothes, but that's far from ideal.

That said I probably will go back if I get a good promo.

BTW, April will also be our 8th visit!

luci

Ah, Luci. You will beat me to the 8th visit - we're not planning to go till September. I think we both agree on one thing - Vegas is fantastic!

Jwhiting - I am tempted to try MGM. Until last year I was scared of it. Last year though we got off the monorail there and actually managed to find the strip! On a previous trip (maybe our first trip) we got lost in there, and it somehow just always intimidated me. Now that I've passed through a few times though I might change my mind. And there have been some great rates seen in the last few years. Maybe will try it this time - we like to split our trip anyway between 2 or 3 hotels.

Next September is my 10th trip

It's really hard to choose an overall favourite as different hotels have something I like -

Bellagio - Amazing place, pool area(s)! are fantastic Standard rooms are not anything special though.

Orleans - Great value, I love the pool area as it's big and never crowded -but being off the strip, regardless of the shuttle is a bit of a pain in all honesty.

Golden Nugget - I love the Nugget, it's changed ownership three times since I started staying there but I still love it! A much more relaxed atmosphere than the strip hotels.

MGM - Love it, great value, good restaurants and nice pool areas. MMmmmm in fact, I think I may have found my favourite!!
The Signature is even better, which is part of MGM, lovely suites and private pool areas for each tower.

So I think I have found my favourites - MGM Grand/Signature!!

TC

I must admit that I am getting really tempted to try the MGM, especially at their promo rates of $69 a night, but we prefer to be centre strip.

I imagine that if we ever did book the MGM that we would end up gravitating towards the centre as that's where we prefer to gamble, eat, etc.

luci

We stayed at the Luxor and, while the hotel was fine and reasonably priced, I would rather be nearer the centre of the Strip next time. I would therefore be tempted by The Wynn, which has the added bonus of having it's own golf course.

I found staying at the MGM to be a lot easier than just visiting. It might sound quite an obvious statement but the daily walks to and from the lift areas just made it so much easier. Also the maps provided with the room keys were very detailed. In fact on past visits I reckon we'd only set foot in about 40% of the entire hotel.

We got the Spa Suite for $144 a night, about the same price you would pay for a Premier Travel Inn in York city centre. We could have got a standard room for $69 but wanted something a bit special as it was my Wife's 30th birthday. However we did get to see both the standard room and the West Wing room. The standard room was very nice and well worth the money. As for the West Wing, very very modern but much smaller room than you would expect in the USA.

I don't see the attraction with mid strip myself, I am very much a south strip person. If I want to eat mid strip I just hop on the monorail. We actually timed the journey from the MGM lobby to the Cheesecake Factory at Caesars using the monorail and it took about 25mins, door to door which I thought was pretty good considering.

As I said before only the NYNY comes close to the MGM for fun factor. I do like to try different hotels each time I visit a city but it is going to be very hard for me to ignore the MGM next time we go to Vegas.

I am definitely going to consider MGM in future. Only hearing good things about it!

I do prefer slightly further north though, but I could always split between MGM and Venetian! Couldn't get a good rate at Venetian this June, but maybe next year if Palazzo is open then there will be more availability.