MGM Grand at Foxwoods - Ledyard, CT Review

Located on the Foxwoods property in Ledyard, Connecticut, the MGM Grand at Foxwoods is a great place to stay and play and if you've ever stayed in Las Vegas and want to find a hotel back east that has the ambiance and feel of one of the Vegas hotels, you might just find that the MGM Grand at Foxwoods is what you are looking for.

From the moment we walked into the lobby, this casino, hotel and resort reminds me of the nicer hotels and casinos in Las Vegas.

Basics

MGM Grand at Foxwoods is located on the Foxwoods property adjacent to the original Foxwoods Casino & Resort in Ledyard, Connecticut. The two have a connection that allows for walking between the two resorts. They also share the same rewards program. The property is located in the southeastern corner of Connecticut about 8 miles off of Interstate 95. It is about 2 hours from Boston, 3 hours from New York City and probably about an hour or so from Hartford.

From the design and layout of the hotel and casino to the types of amenities it has, MGM Grand is like a little piece of Las Vegas in eastern Connecticut. There's the architecture, an overall 'upscale' feeling to the property, a nightclub, several finer restaurants, a casino and plenty of other things to keep you busy. The restaurants include three fine dining spots, Alta Strada, Craftsteak, and Shrine. There's also Junior's which is a casual restaurant and for something even faster, the Gelato Cafe offers sandwiches, salads and Gelato or the Food Market is something of a food court that has several different kinds of food to choose from. Everywhere that we ate was good, though since you are in a casino, everything is pricey, even the less expensive options. On certain nights, Shrine, the restaurant also is a nightclub.

MGM Grand's casino is not all that large, but it is spread out enough so that you never feel all that cramped when playing. There's a large selection of slot machines along with plenty of tables for those who prefer the table games to the slots. I like the high ceilings of the casino since that allows the smoke to rise up and not suffocate you.

Outside of the casino itself, the hotel also has a pool area and the spa floor. We spent a lot of time at the pool, which is a fairly good size. It can hold quite a few people without feeling too crowded, both in and around the pool. There's seating all around the pool. We had lounge chairs right in the shallow part of the pool and had great sun all day. What's nice about the pool area is that there's waitress service around the pool with a limited menu from Junior's and a full drink menu available so the entire time we were there, we enjoyed the sun and occasionally went swimming and were able to drink and eat without having to go anywhere else.

We never made it to the spa level of the hotel, which is home to the spa and a workout facility. The workout facility is part of the spa, but $25 will get you a pass to the workout area and that's good for your stay.

The Hotel

If you're staying at the hotel, the easiest way to get there is to pull into the hotel valet parking. You walk right into the hotel lobby and the check-in desk is to your right. Our check-in took about 5 minutes at most.

We stayed on the 23rd floor in a standard deluxe room with a single, king sized bed. Our room was located on the curved portion of the building and the entire outer wall of the room was floor to ceiling windows with an incredible view looking across to the Foxwoods resort and the surrounding forest lands. The room was a good size and the layout was nice. The bathroom was really nice, though it didn't have a tub, which was one thing I was actually looking forward to. The bed was really comfortable. It was soft, there were plenty of pillows and we both slept really comfortably for the two nights that we were there. There's room service available that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and catering platters. Pretty much anything you could want.

Besides a tub, the only problem we had with the room was after our first night. Housekeeping somehow forgot to clean our room, so that evening we checked in with the concierge and they had someone go and clean the room while we were in the casino.

MGM Grand isn't cheap, though if you are a regular player, you'll likely get discounted and complimentary rooms.

DreamCard

For people interested in playing in the casinos at either MGM Grand or Foxwoods and getting rewards, there's a players card called the DreamCard that gives you the opportunity to earn points based on the amount of play that you have. The points you earn can be used throughout MGM Grand and Foxwoods just like money and you also are eligible for special offers and contests, which can include free play, free show tickets and complimentary rooms.

Foxwoods

If you do wander across the pedestrian connection (completely indoors), you'll make your way to the Grand Pequot portion of Foxwoods. From there, you can get to the rest of Foxwoods just by walking around.

My Take

Besides the lack of a tub and that we had to have our room cleaned when we went out for the evening, I didn't have any problem with MGM Grand at Foxwoods. I actually loved it. I found it to be a great place to go and escape to for a few days. I also really liked that it reminded me so much of a resort in Las Vegas, since that's one of my favorite places to vacation. It was like finding a little piece of Las Vegas here in the Northeast.