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| - I live at the MGM Signature and thought some of you might be interested in the perspective of a full-time resident.
This is a great place to live. Here are the things you need to know:
RENT: Always rent directly from the apartment owner. You can find owners on Craigslist amongst other places. Do not attempt to rent through a third party like Blue Chip or you will get gouged on price. A fair price for a fully furnished one bedroom (as opposed to a studio Jr. Suite) unit on an upper floor is $1,800/month with a one year lease. Rent typically includes water, trash, electricity, and cable but this is negotiable with the owner.
CONVENIENCE: I considered all of the residences on the strip and the Signature is by far the most convenient. There's a monorail stop a few steps from the Signature's MGM concourse. This monorail, combined with free trams, and a set of well-connected bridges will get you anywhere along the strip in no time.
LEARN TO LOVE WALKING: Don't live here if you don't like to walk. The Signature is not an appropriate long-term solution for the elderly or those in wheelchairs.
CABLE / INTERNET / PHONE: Cable is supposed to be included but the service is worthless. You only get a few channels and no DVR. Internet is supposed to be included but it's worthless. Reliable WiFi is only available in the lobby. Phone is supposed to be included but it's...worthless, because The Signature front desk constantly spams your phone's voicemail with ads. There are per-call charges too. All of these gripes can be answered easily in two words: COX CABLE. Get them out to your apartment ASAP. For $115/mo, you'll get high-speed Internet, cable, DVR, and phone service. Problem solved.
FOOD: I'm a forty year old male who never learned how to cook. Every meal is eaten in a restaurant. Needless to say, the Signature is like paradise for guys like me. It will take me years to explore all the great eateries within walking distance.
PARKING: There is no self-parking. Valet only. I thought I was going to hate this but it's awesome. The valets are super quick and once they get to know you, they prioritize your vehicle vs. those of the tourists. Technically it's free but I give them a $5 tip when they bring me my car.
NOISE: I've been here for six months and haven't heard a peep from my neighbors. Due to the unit layouts, you must be in a one-bedroom to obtain this level of peace and quiet. If you rent a "Jr. Suite" (i.e. studio) near the elevator, you're going to get major noise. Also, if you work from home during business hours, you'll want to avoid Tower 1 which overlooks the Wet Republic pool. Upper floors on Tower 2 + Tower 3 are your best bet to avoid residual sub-woofer sound from the loud DJ's at the pool during the day.
GYM: Great gym. It's small but has adequate cardio equipment, weight machines, and free weights. It gets busy between 7:30am-9:00am. Avoid those hours and you'll have no problem.
PRIVACY ISSUES: Be prepared for a Signature employee to enter your unit at any time without adequate warning. I requested housekeeping recently. They entered my unit at 10:30pm while I was in bed. Another time they were doing fire alarm checks and walked in after knocking and not waiting for an answer.
MAIL PROBLEMS: The Signature's mail system is screwed up in spectacular fashion. Full time tenants do get a private PO box conveniently located in a secure mail room. BUT... It's a mail room with no outbound mail slot. Your only option is to walk to the business center at the MGM hotel. Crazy. But it gets weirder.
Let's say you live on the twenty fifth floor in unit 715. In any other building in the world, the mailing convention would be: 135 E. Harmon #25-715. That address works for UPS/FedEx, but for DMV/utilities, you'll need to remove the third digit of the unit number. You also have a PO Box, whose number is totally unrelated to the unit number. You'll need to memorize up to four different mailing addresses and figure out which one to use in each circumstance.
WASHER / DRYER: The "green" washer and dryers built into each unit are effectively useless. There's a secure laundry facility downstairs with plenty of "real" washer/dryers that work just fine. No biggie.
BOGUS RENEWAL CHARGE: The reservation system expires your parking permit and your apartment/laundry/mail key every three months, forcing you to deal with the front desk and parking security four times each year to "renew" all of these items. This seemed completely unnecessary to me at first, and it boggled my mind as to why they would force loyal tenants to go through this mindless routine every three months. Then I found out why they do it. They charge a "reservation fee" each time. It's not a ton of money, but it's a tacky and classless thing to do in my opinion.
All in all, despite a few misgivings about the way the management handles certain day-to-day aspects of tenant life, I'm glad I moved here. It's a great place to live.
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