Nothing beats sitting by pool and drinking after a long night of drinking at the club. The MGM pools did not disappoint my group this past weekend. Even though we didn't get down to the pool until close to 1 pm, we were still able to snag two chairs together in one spot and three together a few feet away.
Drink service was a bit slow and the cocktail waitresses were not overly friendly. However, $25 for a bucket of beer made up for it with my group. Despite how many people were out at the pool area, none of the pools or lazy river were ever that crowded which was nice.
If you don't want to search for chairs, go early in the morning (Sunday morning around 10:45 am wasn't very crowded at all) or later in the afternoon because chairs started freeing up more and more the closer it got to 5 pm. My group spent both days at the Academy pool which is close to the entrance and near the Cabana Grill.
My only frustrating experience with the MGM pool was trying to rent a cabana. When I called the week before (per instructions), I was told I could only be put on a list. When I checked again Saturday (I was trying to get a cabana for Sunday), I was told that again they couldn't rent me one then but that I would get a phone call to let me know if I would get it. It was very frustrating especially since I didn't get a cabana in the end. I wish they would make the policy and reservation process more clear.
The number of pools (including a lazy river) and the layout of the pool area impressed me. MGM definitely has one of the better pool areas in Vegas.