After having an amazerball time at the Mirage but a mere 3 months ago, I decided to check out its mlife buddy MGM Grand, thinking, this is one of the more known hotels on the Strip, what the eff could go wrong...\n\nThink again sunshine.\n\nI booked a newly renovated queen smoking room at a pretty decent rate on a Thursday/Friday night.  Upon arrival at the hotel lobby at 1ish, I decided to try to early check-in since it worked out so well at the Mirage.  First of all, the lines were horrendous.  There were no counters that separated those of the mlife players and the rest of the peeps... (at least there were no indicators).  I would think you would have such a distinction as to at least put some benefit in being a mlife player.  I believe it would be good for the membership program to get some relatively distinct benefits to having it.\n\nSecond, when we finally got to the counters, we checked in with a lady named Kristine.  Now thinking I might get somewhere with a girl with the same name as me (well as same as it gets), I asked her if she had any upgrades available.  Right away, she said no.  Then she immediately, she said, \"Oh, I lied.  There's one available.\"  She quoted me $150 a night (which is what I paid to upgrade at the Mirage), and then backtracked saying it would be around that sum, but she needed to check with the manager.  She calls somebody on the phone, and all of a sudden, upon hang up, it's now $396 a night to upgrade.  What the eff.  That is nowhere near the $150 she originally quoted me.  But me not being made of money, decided that the newly renovated rooms had to do.  At this point I wasn't upset because that's how the world goes right?  Wrong.\n\nShe proceeds to check us in and first thing she starts going on was the room.  Apparently there's only one hall of renovated rooms for smokers.  And wouldn't you know it, they are out of those rooms.  I say, but I booked a smoking room. She says we have a policy that saves our *sses stating that your requested room type may not be available but we'll make a sincere effort to accommodate your request.  Now, sincere effort is pretty shady.  Because trust, even though I didn't get what I wanted, there really wasn't any effort to accommodate me.  She offered me a non-renovated queen smoking room, which I'm thinking why would I stay in a non-renovated room, when I booked MGM for the renovated ones, and everytime I would try to explain my growing upsetness, she would cut me off and throw policy at me.  There wasn't any sincere effort to be accomodating or even attempt at service recovery, which given that this is MGM is quite surprising. Oh wait, she offered me a late check out on Saturday, which wasn't that great seeing as how it's our last day in Vegas.  And she stated that the view from the room was good, \"at least.\"\n\nThen, she swiped some key cards and then tells us that there are no rooms available at the moment for us to go and vegetate after the long drive, and that  it will be somewhere around 3-4 for us to get a room number and for the room to be available.  Now on the confirmation page it says 3pm check in time.  So I'm a little bothered by this, but she says 4 for sure.  So off we go gambling.  Come 3:30  time, I give the hotline a call and they tell me, the room is still unavailable due maintenance.  A little annoyed, I decided I'll call at 4 since it would \"definitely\" be available right?  Wrong.  Come 4, there still was no room available... this prompted a check with the floor manager and it turns out, its still being cleaned.  Finally at 4:22ish, I get a room number.  By the time I'm all settled and in the room its probably around 4:45.  I open the blinds.  Are you effing kidding me?  The view she said was good?  I can't even see any part of the Strip.  I'm literally next to ground level, and all I see are taxis and utility poles, and the bulk of the main hotel driveway.  Thinking no way am I taking this, this was the final straw.  I call hotel vip services (which is the mlife hotline) and tell a girl named Samantha all my problems.  She said that apparently my room is an accessible one, and that I requested for an accessible room.  I tell her none of my party are physically disabled, so why did we get an accessible room?  She looked into it a little more, and APPARENTLY this was the only room available.  Now I understand overbooking, as I work in the airline industry.  But when we overbook?  We comp the passengers to the point of overkill.  MGM?  Forget about it.  You can bet I'm going to march right to the check in counter tomorrow morning and getting a manager on my problems stat.