In just a few days Midwesterners (like me) won’t have to travel to Las Vegas to get a taste of what life is like at a splashy, ultra-luxury resort.
Next week, the long awaited, hotly-anticipated $800 million MGM Grand Detroit will open its doors to the public. The resort is the sister property to the famous Las Vegas venue and the first MGM Grand hotel outside of Nevada. The hotel is like nothing we have here in these parts. We’re talking 400 state-of-the-art rooms and suites, celebrity-chef restaurants, a massive casino, and a 20,000-square-foot spa.
The new MGM Grand Detroit is being hailed as the city’s “first true luxury casino resort—Las Vegas in the Midwest.” I’ve been to Detroit a few times (once to see the Green Bay Packers take on the Detroit Lions) and really can’t say much for the downtown area. However, with the addition of this humongous new property, Motor City has just added a big piece of bling to the city skyline.
The MGM Grand Detroit is a place you can stay for the weekend and leave without having explored the entire property. Some of the amenities that make this hotel one that I plan to visit the next time I’m in town include:
•Luxury guestrooms with five levels of mood lighting, iPod docking stations and high-definition flat-screen TVs (with introductory rates starting at $299 a night). Some rooms and suites boast views of the Detroit River and Ambassador Bridge to Canada.
•Luxury bathrooms in each room. Even standard rooms house 100-square-foot bathrooms that feature TVs embedded in the mirrors.
•Celebrity restaurants. One from chef Michael Mina and one from Wolfgang Puck (my personal favorite). According to hotel officials, Puck is also creating a room-service menu — a first for him.
•A massive spa that features “four-handed massages” by two therapists and a swimming pool with rock walls designed to look like a mountain lake. The pool also boasts a granite island where guests can lounge in private.
•A 14,000-square-foot grand ballroom large enough to accommodate a fleet of Hummers (it is the Motor City after all). The hotel even has a special elevator to transport vehicles to a showcase display in the grand ballroom.
•A new 100,000-square-foot casino, which replaces MGM’s 8-year-old casino nearby.
•Five lounges and nightclubs that features high-tech special effects. One translates guests’ laughter into “waves” on a blue-textured ceiling. While another features translucent walls that simulate ice and fire, incorporating real water and flames.
Detroit may have a long way to go to compete with all of the attractions Chicago has to offer, but this new hotel certainly makes vacationing in the Motor City more appealing.
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