Why We Recommend this Las Vegas Hotel THE MOST to Friends and Family

Hey everybody, I'm Josh.

And I'm Rachael.

Today's video, we're gonna talk about the hotel that we recommend the most to our family and friends and why you want to stay here or you don't.

Let's go! So where are we at?

We are at Park MGM. And Park MGM is one of those mid-level to lower price range hotels. It's got all the amenities you need. Not a lot of fluff.

Not a lot of fluff.

But it's got what you need and it's in a great location.

I was hoping you would add that part.

Yes, so let's talk about it. So we did stay here on a 2-night comp offer through gambling. Which means we lost a bunch of money here. And so they said, come on back.

We prepaid.

We prepaid for this room.

That's what we're calling it.

Yes, we are in a king room. We are on the 3rd floor, which means we did digital check-in, so we got a bad level.

I would say that's the biggest, um, downfall to the check-in early.

Sure, yeah. But this room actually ended up with the best view we've ever had on a low floor because we are looking directly at T-Mobile Arena right now. So if you have any events at T-Mobile, This is the best location for it.

Agreed, 100%.

All right, let's talk about the room. Generally, the rooms are fairly hideous.

Uh, the red one is awful.

Yeah, the red one I think is terrible because it's a very deep bright red. We are in the green room and I like the green.

But I did read— so they leave this nice little portfolio for it— the red room is supposed to be, um, a resemblance of Vegas's sunrises and sunsets. While the green room is more inspired by natural foliage. So maybe that's why the red room is so—

I don't know if I believe that. But at least in the green room, I do really like the scene that you get from the bed.

I do too.

Like the bed and behind it is beautiful. There is a completely bare white wall on the side and then there is a weird looking couch.

Yeah, that I'm not sure what you would ever use it for.

It's a really long one, so that's cool. But we don't use the couch very often. There is a nice size TV which does come out from the wall so you can turn it. and watch it from anywhere. There is one single chair in the room and a fairly large table.

I would call it a dining room table.

I would too. Uh, one nice thing is because it is fairly new, within the last like 7, 8 years I believe is when it switched over from Monte Carlo, there's a lot of outlets.

There is.

Great outlet usage. There's on both sides of the bed, there's some underneath the TV, there's plenty in the bathroom. You don't have to worry about that.

I will say though, for being kind of on the lower to mid-tier range, the bathroom shelving is more—

College. College dorm.

Yeah. And it's one of those pieces that you're like, you could have done a little bit better, Park MGM.

But yeah, that's okay. This is not your highest end. This is not going to be competing with Wynn. This is not Venetian. But it is a very nice, very doable hotel that is in a great location, and the price is generally pretty dang good.

And I would say for the room size itself, it's a large room.

Yeah, good space.

Plenty of room to move around and whatnot. So it's a nice size room.

There is a barn door that kind of separates, uh, it is used for both the bathroom and the closet.

Yeah.

So that's neat but also odd.

Yeah.

Uh, the shower was awesome. The water pressure is probably one of the best I've ever had.

It is great water pressure.

And in the base room, there is not a separation of toilet to shower and sink area.

No, and they do have, um, amenities such as your body wash, shampoo, and conditioner that are all separate, but they're all attached to the wall, so they're multi-use products as well.

Yeah, as well as lotion and hand soap. Yeah. All right, so casino floor. Casino floor, I actually, I really like, and I feel like it is good for somebody who can get overwhelmed. During this trip, we are also staying at Venetian. Venetian is insane.

It's like—

We get lost in it. We've stayed there a couple times now, and it is still tough to navigate. There's so many things going on. Park MGM is very straightforward. It is one line. It kind of There's a walkway that goes back and forth throughout the casino.

Yeah, it kind of snakes through.

But it is straightforward. You're not gonna get lost here. It's a good amount of games, but not— it's not as many that you're gonna get lost in it.

But let's talk about the main reason why we like Park MGM. It's 100% smoke-free.

Yeah.

We love that about Park MGM. And that's no disrespect to anyone who smokes or prefers the smoking casinos. But we absolutely love that. And it is 100% smoke-free from the minute you cross over on that Aria, like, little walkway to the outside. Like, it is well posted and you know it's smoke-free.

I was gonna say, yeah, I saw it. I saw many, many different signs that show it is smoke-free, so it's very clear to people and I love that.

Yeah.

Last night we were playing over at Aria and then came back over here. At Aria, we just happened to be next to a cigar smoker, so it's even more strong And you come back to Park MGM and you're just like, oh God, this feels so nice.

I can breathe again.

Yes, it's just a really nice clean way to gamble if, if you're not into smoking.

I also think for Park MGM's casino, they have a variety of older games and newer ones. I mean, not like brand new right off of the maker's line, but they are newer games. Yeah, and today especially, the drink service was on par.

Right. Yeah, I felt like the drink service was better here at Park MGM than it is over at Aria. And I also, where you're saying that they have a wide variety, the tough thing about that is because it's a small casino, they may only have 1 or 2 of a certain game. So if you're looking for a specific game, you're not always gonna be able to play it.

And if it's busy, which it was last night, you may not be able to get on the machine you're looking for.

Yeah, I also, I do like the high limit room. It is small, but it is, it has like 1 to 2 of each game that you kind of want.

Yeah.

And like you said, the drink service was fantastic.

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As far as dining goes, I was just saying to Rachael that what I like about Park MGM is they don't overcomplicate it.

No.

They have like one of each specific thing and then a billion Italian things though.

Yeah.

So Eataly is probably the biggest thing that a lot of people recognize and see and have walked through. There's so many different food vendors. Some are sit-down, some of them are bar service, some are walk-up and pick up. It's like sandwiches. I don't believe that it's the cheapest option. You're going to be able to find a food court that's going to be cheaper. But it is, it is nice. It's pretty. It probably tastes great. We've only had the breakfast there.

Yeah, I will also say though, in walking around this, this stay, there's a lot of happy hour specials.

There is.

There were flight specials at the wine bar. There were, um, $5 or $5 and $7, um, drink specials. So there were many cost-saving Tips as well.

Yeah, and there is a new, uh, bar and pizza spot down at the bottom. Uh, there's just— there's a lot of different things for you to choose from. We do like the breakfast there if you can get there. They do have a very fresh-made breakfast sandwich, delicious, but also pastries. So if you want pasta, pizza, pastries, anything Italian, you can get it there.

Yeah.

If you want Asian food, Best Friend is one of our favorite higher-end Asian restaurants. It is not super fancy, it is not fufu, but it is It is dang good.

And it is dang loud.

It is dang loud. Yes, it is a Roy Choi restaurant and it's delicious. Now if you want a cheaper side of that, go to Lala Noodle right across the way. Uh, Bavette's is one of the better steakhouses and I think definitely one of the best in the MGM lineup. So if you're an MGM player, Bavette's is one that you definitely have to try if you're going to try to have some of the best ones. Primrose is a very good brunch Lunch option. We have— I'm not sure if they have dinner.

I'll try to put that up. I think it's just breakfast, lunch, and brunch.

Okay. Yeah. But that is a very good one. It is right in the lobby area. Chef Truck. Now we've had Chef Truck before. They have Cuban sandwiches. It's from the movie with Jon Favreau. So if you've seen that one before, it's very inspired by that. Now this time around, we did see it doesn't open until 4 or 5 o'clock, which is kind of a bummer because I think that like a cheap sandwich option is kind of better in that lunch time frame.

I'd have to agree. And in addition to that, right across from Chef's Truck is Starbucks, so that's always an option as well. And they have the BetMGM Sportsbook, which also serves food and had a happy hour special. And then they do have a 24-hour option here at Side Betty Grill.

That's true. And the Sports Bar, we did do that for a Super Bowl back in, I think, 2021. Yeah, loved it.

It's really fun.

Definitely underrated. It's kind of A spot that's off in a corner that a lot of people don't think about, but it's a really good sports bar. Nomad is out, The Reserve is in. Those are going to be the top 4 floors of Park MGM. They are slightly more boutique.

Yeah.

When it was Nomad, it was one of our favorite hotels. We love it. It's like you're in a New York apartment.

Yeah, it's really cool.

It's fantastic. And there are 2 restaurants that you can go to that are connected to that. Now it is called The Library And the Reserve Bar.

I think it's just the Reserve Bar.

Yeah, so they've changed the names from Nomad Library and Nomad Bar, but they're very classy. Yeah, nice, fantastic venues. Uh, we have not eaten at the Library, but we did eat at the Bar and really enjoyed it.

And Park MGM, for those of you who are concerned, does not have a buffet.

Nope.

There you go.

And one more that we almost forgot about was Crack Shack, which is just outside of the Uh, Eataly doors. We love it.

We do.

Very nice upscale chicken sandwiches. All right, the pool. Pool is a downer. We have stayed here. It's pretty basic. Yeah, we've stayed here many times and we've never gone to the pool at Park MGM. Now I know that that is one hang-up that people who used to stay at Monte Carlo really loved. They had a great pool and now it's basically just a bunch of rectangles.

Yeah.

It's not fancy and there is a lot of shade. So we have not partook Park MGM's pool, and right now it is closed.

We did though do the NoMad pool.

We did. And right now, because the Park MGM is closed, they do have the NoMad— well, the Reserve pool is now open. It's up on the 4th floor. It is very nice, but again, it is a small rectangle, but it's a beautiful venue. Yeah, so we really like that, but it's just not going to be one that— it's not a destination pool.

No, it's not a destination pool, and I would say for those of you traveling with children, it's not kid-friendly.

No.

It's pretty boring.

Yeah, I mean, they can get in the water. That's as kid-friendly as it gets. We have gone to the gym before here. It is not very big, but it does do what you need it to do.

It's good for the purpose you're using it for.

Yes, you can get your cardio done and get the heck out of there. You're not gonna hang out for hours doing a bunch of things that you've never done before at a gym. Nightlife, I think it's Slightly underrated, probably.

I do too. There's a couple really cool bars that we've been to that we really like here.

Yeah, so there are bars over in the Eataly area. There is Juniper Cocktail Bar, which we have not done before, but it is beautiful.

It is really pretty.

And also, if you go to some of these restaurants, you can do it. Like, so Best Friend has a really cool bar area. Bavette's has one of the most beautiful, if you've ever done like a speakeasy steakhouse. That's Bavette's and their, their bar area is great.

But our favorite is Mama Rabbit. If you like mezcal and tequila, Mama Rabbit has a really good bar. In addition, it usually has a DJ or some kind of music playing in there. And we have had a really good time in Mama Rabbit.

I think it's very underrated. And so if you want something kind of club-like but you want to sit down—

Mama Rabbit.

Like us. Yeah, go to Mama Rabbit rather than On the Wrecker, which is their nightclub. Uh, the Nomad Bar or the Reserve Bar, that's gonna be hard for me to come back around. They did have a piano player there when we had gone there.

Oh, that's right.

I'm not certain at this time if they still do. As far as shows, the Dolby Live Arena is here and it is a fantastic music venue.

Yes.

We have gone to 3 different shows. We've gone to Bruno Mars, Maroon 5, and Lady Gaga.

And they were all fantastic.

Yes, it is an amazing venue. I love that it's here and It does get crowded on the casino floor when they do because they have to go straight through there.

That's what I was gonna say, it's in the middle of the casino and you will notice that when there are shows here, um, at night if you're just here staying and gambling.

Yeah, New Kids on the Block is also here and I believe they have a few new shows that are coming, but those are the ones that we've seen.

Yeah, so overall vibe here at Park MGM, I would say for the most part it's pretty relaxed.

Yes.

Middle, middle to upper age limits. Um, because it's a little bit smaller, people do kind of tend to go other casinos, but we really enjoy it. And I want to say too, and I don't, don't know if we mentioned it earlier, their table games have great minimums. Yeah, even on a Friday afternoon, it was like $15.

On a busy Friday afternoon.

Yeah, on a busy Friday afternoon, it was $15 for blackjack. So that I think is good. There's usually always people at the craps table and roulette table. So it's kind of fun to see that. I would also say it's a good pass-through. Yeah, from Aria to like New York-New York. So you may get a lot of through traffic as well.

That's what I was gonna say. The nice thing is you can get straight to T-Mobile Arena. It is just across the street. New York-New York is just across the street, and it's part of the MLife program or MGM Rewards, as well as Aria, which is an indoor walkway across. There is also a tram that you can take from Park MGM to Bellagio. It really goes to the Vdara area, but they say Bellagio and it, it gets you there.

Yeah, it gets you there.

So if you're not into walking all the way to Bellagio, you do have a little bit of a tram and it is free.

Yep.

That does lead us to talking about location. I love the location.

I do too.

Like I said, if you're going to T-Mobile Arena, this is probably the perfect spot. It's slightly south center of Strip.

I was gonna say it's Center Strip without the cost of Center Strip.

Kind of. Yeah, you're, you're right on that cusp where you're getting a lot of the perks of being Center Strip without having to pay for it at a Bellagio, a Cosmo, or an Aria. It's not as shiny and fancy.

No.

But it is nice and it is newer.

It is. And I think one of the coolest parts about it is that we noticed is it used to be across the street from a Pretty sketch area, and now they've updated that with that Boulevard Shopping Center. It is beautiful over there, so it's kind of drawn that piece in as well. I, I really like the location of parking.

Yeah, and if you're a person who likes to go and get supplies rather than buy everything at a sundry store or use a minibar, there is an ABC right across the street, which there is a bridge to. There's a Target, there's the Boulevard Stores, which does have an ABC store attached. As well as there's a CVS just north of here. Yeah, there's plenty of places to go. It's one of the best spots to be able to pick up your water, your ibuprofen, or whatever else you forgot at home.

Oh, one of the things I do think that stands out here at Park MGM is the taxi rideshare pickup.

Love it.

So convenient. It is right off the lobby. You do not have to be inundated with a lot of people and traffic. But that being said, during a time of an event at T-Mobile Arena, you are not going to be able to get rideshare and Uber from Parking Jam.

It's just chaos. Yeah, it's not the easiest. But yeah, I do think that it's one of the most convenient and easy-to-use Uber, Lyft, taxi spots out of all of the Strip.

Agree.

I think one other thing is if you are an MGM Rewards member, the great thing about this is a lot of times you're gonna get this at the same level as a New York-New York and MGM Grand, maybe even a Luxor and Excalibur where you're gonna get the same comp offers, same number of free play, same number of resort credit, and a free room.

Needless to say, we really enjoy Park MGM and highly recommend it for those of you on a budget or even wanting to step it up a little bit higher with some of their other rooms.

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