Viva Las Vegas!

8. MGM Grand Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV

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The 15-year old Marina Hotel and the Tropicana Country Club were sacrificed in 1990 to build the largest hotel in the world - the MGM Grand. A quarter century later the emerald green MGM Grand is still the world's second biggest hotel with 6,852 rooms and the largest casino in Las Vegas. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was founded in 1924 and became the most powerful movie studio in Hollywood. When the corporation moved into the gaming business it pursued an entertainment theme and the casino was given a Wizard of Oz vibe, hence the emerald green glass. Guests entered the casino through the mouth of the MGM mascot, Leo the Lion. The Emerald City underperformed and was soon scrapped. Leo's mouth scared off Chinese gamblers who considered a lion's mouth bad luck and he was mothballed as well. He was reborn in 1998 in the form of a 50-ton bronze statue at the entrance that is the largest bronze work of art in the United States. Still the resort bumbled along. In an attempt to become the first family-friendly destination hotel in Las Vegas an MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park was opened behind the casino but it was destined to become a luxury condominium after it flopped. The MGM Grand has since morphed into an entertainment-themed casino molded around Hollywood's Golden Age of the 1920s and 1930s with no kiddie appeal. Magician David Copperfield is the permanent star in The Hollywood Theatre and CSI: The Experience allows guests to play murder detectives. The MGM Grand Garden Arena seats 16,800 people and hosts major sporting events and awards shows. The property features five outdoor pools, meandering concrete rivers and waterfalls.