Howard

Review of MGM Resorts International (Gol...

Ah the old Beau... Hard to believe it's starting t...

Ah the old Beau... Hard to believe it's starting to get old now.
The layout of this place is annoying. There is one parking garage. There is a traffic jam getting out of the garage almost daily during peak hours btw 3-10pm. When you exit there's a traffic light on to hwy 90. This light cycles too slow for the amount of traffic leaving a log jam of people trying to leave the only parking area. it might be almost better to park at the Hard Rock casino next door and just walk to the Beau.
The next issue, after often waiting for a long time for an elevator (no stairwell nearby) to get you down to the main lobby, is you have to walk through a useless mall area to get to the casino. This area contains a lot of shops were no one buys anything because it's too expensive. It is a pretty long walk too, takes about 5 minutes to get through it. Toward the end of the mall is a coffee shop that is usually so busy it's a 20-minute wait in the morning and the hotel concierge desk which is also usually a long wait.
After the hotel concierge desk, you finally reach the front entrance where the valet parking and drop-off is located. Valet parking is recommended here to avoid the long walk from the parking garage. The 24-hour cafe and buffet is nearby. The cafe has a small selection of food after about 11 p.m. which reduces its effectiveness. What's the point of being open 24 hours if you cut down on the menu items? The buffet is quite good though... Has a big selection and a nice salad bar. Has ice cream and yogurt dispenser. Omelet bar. Plenty of seating.
Now you finally enter the casino. It is a pretty large gaming area in a rectangle. I like this because it makes everything simple to locate and easy to memorize. No weird corridors. There are some good restaurants on the outskirts of the gaming area. Stalla has excellent steaks and seafood and BR Prime is known for its steaks. Jia is a fine dining Asian restaurant. There's also Snacks which is a small deli that makes sandwiches, pizza, and hot dogs. It's decent but like everything else here, be prepared to wait. There is a bar with karaoke and bands that gets pretty wild after about 10 p.m or so.
Sportsbook is a work in progress. They closed down a restaurant and turned it into a place to watch sports. It's almost like a theater setting. Still compared to the Vegas sports books, it is very weak but you have to remember that sports gambling was just allowed in Mississippi last year.
The poker room also used to be a restaurant. You can tell because it has all these random barbecue slogans on the red brick walls. Not crazy about the staff and friendliness here. The action is pretty good though. Good mix of local pros and tourists. The tilt factor seems high in here. Maybe because the staff is not the greatest anymore combined with tougher players. I have seen many arguments and shouting matches. A lot more so than Vegas. They do give you $3 an hour toward your food, though. However when you play late, and can only use this at the 24-hour cafe with a reduced menu it loses some of its luster. Unfortunately they have also removed a lot of the old poker promotions. However if you're a poker player, this is still the best option along the Mississippi coast because it's the only place that has consistent games.
The hotel rooms are fairly standard and very expensive, especially on weekends where the price can run a few hundred dollars a night. The ocean view is beautiful though. There is a weight room. I have never been to the pool because I only stayed here during the winter months. Never been to the spa. there is a conference area on the second floor above the casino.
All in all I would say this has become an average casino at best. Too much annoying stuff (parking, long waits, service slow or don't seem to care) that outweighs the good (buffet, fine dining, good layout). 3 star and could go down to 2 Star if it keeps deteriorating.