Industry News
During the last few years, the unofficial capital city of the American rust belt has made a massive effort to revitalize the downtown area. First reconstruction of the Tigers’ and Lions’ stadiums comes. New events like the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) are emerging as draws for tourists, while pubs like while Hockeytown and The Old Shillelagh keep revelers out late.
Recently, the MGM Grand completed construction of its luxury casino and hotel projects -- and what a project it is.
The MGM Grand is billed as a sister casino to the MGM in Las Vegas. Detroit's new luxury casino was completed recently. The casino's creators have designed the property with Las Vegas in mind – central to the entire venue is the 250,000 square foot gaming floor, around which are sprinkled several eating and drinking establishments, from the posh Best-of-Detroit rated Saltwater restaurant to the sultry Ignite lounge, right near the gaming floor.
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The hotel features ninety table games and slots, covering a circular gaming floor, centered around a raised bar and lounge area. Blackjack and craps tables are laid out in pockets around the floor in a convivial atmosphere. The minimum bet on most tables was about fifteen dollars, a spokesman for the casino says.
The "high stakes" room is set off the main floor, where big-spenders can play the standard games at higher dollar increments. Local celebrities like Richard Hamilton are apparently often seen there, the spokesman says.
A poker room with eight tables lies above the casino floor next to Ignite lounge.
A number of dining options ring the gaming floor, catering to a variety of budgets and experiences.
The least expensive and most accessible is the Breeze dining center, which is a dining-hall style combination of several stations serving up American, Asian and Italian dishes. Visitors can review, order and pay for selections then meet in the middle of the section to dine together. This section is small, perhaps because it is the least expensive dining location. A meal there cost approximately ten dollars.
A larger, upscale restaurant there is the the Palette Dining Studio, which is basically a Las Vegas style" all-you-can-eat" buffet. Selections include seafood and lighter fare. The Palette is laid out in a sprawling floor-plan. Visitors can enjoy themselves and take time through their buffet meal rather than immediately returning to the gaming floor. The Palette is also more expensive, with meals in the twenty five dollar range.
The Wolfgang Puck Grille is the celebrity chef's take on the typical bar-and-grill. Dark, wooden décor and furniture lit by warm ambient lighting makes the restaurant a cozy escape from the bustling casino floor. You can also see the chef and his workers buzzing along at their jobs and apparently Mr. Puck himself stops in for a bite every now and then. The average entree costs between twenty and thirty dollars.
Another good restaurant there is called Bourbon Steak. You can order the classic prime rib or steak off the menu, but neat treats like duck fat fries and truffle macaroni and cheese woo the diner with a little bit of off the beaten path adventure. Between the two sections of the restaurant, large glass walls storing the establishment's extensive wine selection form a maze of corridors. There is also exclusive private dining room for VIPs. Entrees at Bourbon Steak start around twenty dollars a plate.
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The nightlife is a blast at the casino too.
One fun bar is the U-Me-Drink, right on the casino floor, where you can gamble with digital games embedded within the bar surface. Several lounge areas spread outward from the core of the casino into the casino floor.
At the periphery of the casino floor is Agua, a Latin inspired bar featuring a, multi tiled, adaptable ceiling that undulates with the crowd. Shotgun microphones run around the perimeter of the bar and as revelers shout in their direction, the ceiling flows to record the noise. Waitresses in skimpy blue uniforms strut around the bar serving beer, cocktails or one of 20 different tequilas or 35 different rum drinks.
At the other end of the facility, there's a piano-bar. Live acts are scheduled starting at 8 p.m. every evening, a casino spokesman says.
The hotel is of superior quality. There are four hundred guest rooms, including nine luxury suites and fifty six corner suites at the top of the building.
Each room is decorated with Wenge furniture, 42" flat screen televisions and high-tec telephones, where visitors can check in for their flights with the computer interface. Bathrooms taking up almost 25 percent of each guest rooms feature walk in showers with double shower heads and 15" plasma televisions integrated there, the spokesman notes.
There's also a superlative spa featuring six bungalows, a salon, exercise facility and vanity areas, a giant pool on its bottom floor. Not something you would expect in downtown Detroit.
Rooms at the hotel run around $200 an evening. It's well-worth the expense for this fabulous hotel and casino.
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