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| - My initial welcome to The Monte Carlo was rather abysmal, but overall it turned out to be a rather pleasant stay, and I think the sum of it amounted to a very reasonable rate for a nice room in what is still a great spot on the Vegas strip. The weekend we happened to be visiting played host to not only the Pacquiao versus Bradley fight (and controversial upset), but also a big series between the Celtics and Heat, the third leg of the Triple Crown races, and most significant to us locally, the Electric Daisy Carnival, which boasted nearly 350,000 attendees over a 3 day span.
Obviously, Vegas was packed, and so perhaps it wasn't the most optimal time for MGM properties (all of them, not just Monte Carlo) to decide to do a system upgrade to their computers. What wound up happening was that all of the check-in systems for all of their properties (Bellagio, Aria, Veer, Mandarin, Mirage, Luxor, Mandalay, MGM Grand, etc...) shut down completely for 2 to 3 days, causing check-in times of 1.5 to nearly 4 hours, depending on your property. The Monte Carlo folks at least made up for it as best they could, waiving all amenity fees for guests (who asked for it) and offering everyone a free night stay on a return visit (although I find it kind of shitty they wouldn't just refund one your nights already spent). Since it was a corporate level decision far above them I'm not holding them directly responsible, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention it here.
Most important to me when booking a room in Vegas is what am I going to get for my money, factoring in how much/little time I will actually be staying in my hotel room. Considering I would normally go to sleep around 5AM and wake up around noon, shower, and head straight out to lunch, I essentially just needed somewhere to put my suitcase with a (hopefully) comfortable bed and a good central location to all the places I wanted to visit in Vegas. We got all of that at The Monte Carlo, with two queen beds in a strip view deluxe room for about $200 a night, which wasn't too bad a rate considering how booked of a weekend it was. (For comparison I just checked a random weekend in July and got about $125 a night for the same room.)
The Monte Carlo rooms may be a bit outdated, for sure, but ask yourself how important the wallpaper and minibar actually is. They've got a nice 40 inch HDTV, but I never even turned it on. What are you paying for? Convenience, that's it, if your trips to Vegas are anything like mine. They've still got a great pool scene, a casino that seemed relatively busy (although I don't gamble, so no clue as to the quality), and some pretty good dining options with Brand and Andre's. The feature show also happens to be The JabbaWockeeZ, one of the best dance groups to hit the US in the last decade. Overall I think they definitely justify the rates they're asking, with my only real drawback being that it's not quite as central as say Aria or Bellagio, but it's also a fraction of the price.
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