The MGM Grand Las Vegas  opened on December 18, 1993. The hotel casino is located on the Las Vegas Strip on the corner of Las Vegas Blvd and Tropicana Ave. The MGM Grand is the second largest hotel in the world by number of rooms and the largest hotel resort complex in the United States, ahead of The Venetian. When it opened in 1993, the MGM Grand was the largest hotel in the world.

Owned and operated by MGM Resorts International, the 30-floor main building is 293 ft. high. The property includes five outdoor pools, rivers, and waterfalls that cover 6.6 acres, a 380,000 sq ft. convention center, the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and the Grand Spa. It also houses numerous shops and night clubs, restaurants, the Grand Garden Arena and the largest casino in Clark County, which occupies 171,500 sq ft.

The original hotel that existed on the current site before the MGM was built was the Marina Hotel. The Marina with was incorporated in to the new design and makes up the west wing of the hotel.  The MGM Grand name was originally used for the MGM Grand on the Flamingo Road and the Strip which was renamed when it was bought up by Bally’s Inc.

Originally, the main entrance on the Strip was inside the mouth of a giant cartoon-like version of MGM’s mascot, Leo the Lion, but this entrance feature was changed to a more traditional entrance; many Chinese gamblers avoided the casino or entered through the back entrance, due to the feng shui belief that entering the mouth of the lion was “bad luck.” In 1998, a large bronze statue of Leo was added above the entrance to keep with the MGM Lion theme.

Photo by: Wikipedia

Tags: MGM, On this date