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Viva Las Vegas: Skylofts, Mansion, Craftsteak, Olives

a hallway with glass walls and a stone wall
Part of the beauty of Vegas is that there’s essentially an infinite number of things to try.  There’s always something new popping up in the city, be it a new hotel, restaurant, or nightclub.  So even though I consider myself a Vegas veteran, my recent visits had actually followed the relatively same routine in terms of hotels and restaurants that I frequented.  So partially out of the desire to try something new, and also partially out of impulse, we decided to book a last-minute one night stay in Vegas.  And while I had always wanted to try the MGM Skylofts but could never bring myself to splurge on a two-night stay, I figured that this would be as good an opportunity as ever to go for it for a single night.

The MGM Skylofts is just sick, I’m not sure if there’s a better way to describe it.  The Skylofts are the penthouses that sit atop the MGM Grand hotel, and many people regard it as the premier hotel in Vegas.  As soon as we stepped off the plane, there was a hotel representative there to escort us to the car.  Chauffeur service is included with all stays, and rather than just a standard limo ride, they drive you around in a Rolls Royce Ghost.  Not a bad way to start the trip, even if it literally is just a 5 minute ride to the hotel.

Once you arrive, they escort you to a separate Skyloft entrance, where registration is taken care of.  You also meet your butler, although that’s really the only time we saw her for the duration of the stay.  Hypothetically, your butler would act as your concierge should you need anything.

The room is actually a duplex and has a ton of space, and is decorated really well.  The concierge at the hotel was great and helped us secure a couple of last-minute reservations.  Normally with hotel rooms in Vegas the walls may be thin and you’ll hear stuff going on outside, but we didn’t hear a peep of anything here.  Overall it was a great stay and would recommend this to anyone looking for a place to celebrate a special occasion.

a long hallway with a door open
Skyloft entrace
a black car parked in a parking lot
Rolls Royce Ghost
a person standing on a staircasea couple of people standing in a living room
a man standing in a hallway
huge walk-in closet
a man sitting on a bench
awesome steam shower
a bedroom with a bed and a fireplace
a view from the window of a bathroom
view from the upper floor
a group of cookies on a stick
macaron turn-down service
Part of the reason I booked the Skylofts, was that I also knew that it granted you access to the Mansion dining room.  The Mansion is another separate hotel within MGM Grand that’s reserved for “whales” or high-rollers.  And from what I hear, we’re talking really high-rollers.  There are about 10 villas in the Mansion, each of which has several bedrooms, and features a private pool and heated floors throughout.
Anyways, while we were there, I figured it’d be cool to try out the breakfast.  Lisa thoroughly enjoyed the croissants (I had to resist since this was already my post-gluten free days), and she ordered the eggs benedict with crab and caviar.  I had a steak and eggs which was also delicious.  Overall, the ambiance was really nice and the food was fantastic, so I’d recommend trying this if anything for the novelty factor.
a woman standing in front of a fountain
mansion at MGM grand
a plate of croissants on a table
a plate of eggs benedict and some meat
eggs benedict with crab and caviar
For dinner, we decided to try Craftsteak in the MGM Grand and found it to be great.  This was Lisa and mine’s second trip to Vegas together, and just as she had done in our previous trip, proved to be my lucky charm.  So after doing quite well at the craps table, we decided to go all-out.  Steak, oysters, scallops and way too much food later, we dragged ourselves back to our hotel room.  But not before stopping by Haagen Daaz for one final bite.  Overall, we really enjoyed Craftsteak and would recommend it.
close-up of a plate of food
sticky buns
a bowl of soup with green leaves
crab bisque
a pan of scallops with sauce
scallops
a close-up of a steak
porterhouse
a plate of oysters and lemons
oysters
a pot of soup with a spoon
mashed potatoes
Before heading out to the airport, we had been shopping at the Bellagio area and decided to stop for lunch.  We settled on Todd English’s Olives and enjoyed it.  I would recommend the grilled calamari appetizer and the scallops.
a plate of food on a table
grilled calimari

a basket of bread and some food

a salad on a plate
a plate of food on a table
butternut squash pasta
a close-up of a plate of food
scallops with polenta

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