Picking among MGM properties

I stayed at the MGM this past weekend. I enjoyed it. I liked the room well enough (despite being the small West Wing room). I also enjoyed the casino. On Friday afternoon, I found a nice table: $25 3:2, S17, Surrender, DA2, DAS. Unfortunately, that was the table where I lost nearly everything I ended up losing net-net.

I also ended up having to play some 6:5 (I KNOW, I KNOW!! You can crucify me--I deserve it!!) only because I was there with my sister and brother-in-law. My BIL never plays at home and is a very casual player. He didn't care enough to spend the time to find a 3:2 table with a limit he wanted to play. I didn't play much and I never played 6:5 on my own. $15 craps tables were widely available. Plus, a nice sportsbook. And TONS of bars and restaurants. I didn't really play as much as I probably would've on my own. I was happy to spend the time w/ my sis and BIL because we did a ton of fun stuff. I only got about 9700 points, which included my meal at Craftsteak and the room itself. So I don't have very high expectations for getting much in the way of offers.

I'd gladly stay there again for my next trip to Vegas but I'd sort of like to try another place--I mean, it's Vegas, why not check out other places. Looking at the pricing, etc...I'm happy to stay focused on MGM properties. So I really strongly have my eye on Aria. (I'd LOVE to give Cosmo a try but without an offer, it's a little out of reach for me). So my question: Given my relatively limited play on the first trip, do you think it really matters if I stay somewhere else next time? Would it be better to stay again at MGM (next time will probably have more play) and continue to build up my relationship there? Or is the only "important" thing staying within MGM?

I'm not looking for or expecting fully comped rooms or really anything on the back end. I know my play isn't high enough. All I really want is nice-ish offers that allow me to afford to go to Vegas about twice a year. Thoughts?

 

MGM puts out two kinds of offers:

Quarterly Corporate Offers - these offers come out roughly in the middle of a season (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter), and cover all properties, sometimes with slightly different benefits for each property. They are generated by the corporate marketing department.

Property-specific offers - these offers come out on the individual hotel's schedule (but about every three months). These are generated by the individual casinos. They can be posted by email and/or in your online MLife account.

Often, but not always, property-specific offers will be a little better than corporate offers.

Since you only go twice a year (like me), you have the opportunity now to sit back and see what offers you get based on your most recent trip. The Winter corporate offer will probably come out around the beginning of February, and run through May or June. MGM Grand does a lot of promotional activity; their quarterly offers are called "The Buzz", and you may get that offer before the corporate Winter offer comes out. You may also get offers for slot tournaments or concerts - if those offers include rooms, it will give you some idea where you stand comp-wise.

At this stage, it's not that important to concentrate your play at MGM Grand - all properties can see your play across any MGM property. What I'd suggest is that on your next trip, give a day's play to Aria to get on their radar. Another suggestion is to put in at least some minimal play on one day at a Caesars property as well, if you can - CET's play requirements for comp rooms are lower than MGM's. It will give you more options.

 

I stay at Monte Carlo for business reasons - it's cheap and within the price range I can can reimbursed for - and fairly decent although it's in need of renovation. Being right there it's convenient for play. The last trip I was there for three nights all comped and ran up over 100,000 tier credits with probably 70% of that at MC and 30% at Aria. Almost all from play, not sure I charged a single meal to my room.

My offers from Aria have are much better than MC. While Monte Carlo offers me suites they offer me a smaller resort credit and less Freeplay. I'll take a few extra $100 in Freeplay for a smaller but nicer comped room any day. Plus the Aria walls aren't as thin as Monte Carlo,

Give Aria a shot. I'm checking in 11/29 for a couple nights then six nights in a Spa Suite at Monte Carlo. Probably going to dedicate 70/30 Aria/Monte Carlo for my play.

 

Chuck pretty much laid it out for you. I'll add though that to this question my answer is always: play where you want to stay. The only catch to that is meeting that particular property's minimum requirements. For instance, places like Aria won't even rate you on table games unless you bet a minimum of $25 whereas MB will put you in at $15 bets. However, get in good somewhere and the other places will throw you a bone.

I've only stayed at MB and Delano, and in order of "contribution" I've played at MB, Aria, Bellagio, Luxor, and MGM Grand. I occasionally get free rooms and resort credit from MB, reduced rates and credit from Aria, free rooms from Bellagio, Luxor and MC (never even been inside there), and cut rates everywhere else with occasional resort credit.

That's why I like being in both systems. If I plan the trip right, I'm at minimum paying nothing for rooms and at most one night. Next trip I'm probably venturing a little outside CET and MLife with the stays and paying elsewhere, but still taking advantage of whatever MB or Bellagio throw at me.

Good luck!!

 

Thanks for the insights, guys. I can handle meeting the $25 minimum play at Aria to get rated. Harry, you put me back on track, though. First and foremost, my trips to Vegas for me are my "fun" so I should just check places out and let the chips fall where they will. I mean, hell, on this first trip, I had no history, so just used Hotels.com and still got Fri/Sat/Sun for $370 with $50 dining credit. If MGM can just give me a little better than that at the Grand to get me back or a decent number on other MGM props, I'd be happy. Throwing a little play at Caesar's to get on their radar isn't a bad idea, either.