MGM Resorts, A Big F U To You, You Greedy Mofos

MGM Resorts to charge for parking at Las Vegas Strip casinos

MGM Resorts International will break from a long-standing Las Vegas tradition and begin charging customers to park at the company's Strip resorts as part of a $90 million strategy to "expand and enhance" the company's parking infrastructure.

The parking fees will go into effect sometime between April and June the company said in a Friday statement, which also announced plans for a $54-million, 3,000-space parking structure MGM will construct near the northwest corner of the Excalibur.

The parking structure will help serve visitor growth and attendance at the company's nearby resorts and entertainment venues, including the 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena, The Park retail and restaurant complex, and the new 5,000-seat Theater at Monte Carlo.

Construction of the new parking facility is scheduled to begin later this spring with completion scheduled in the second quarter of 2017. An MGM spokesman said customers using the new garage will be able to access the T-Mobile Arena and other nearby locations via a short walk along Frank Sinatra Drive, which runs underneath Tropicana Boulevard.

As part of the vehicle program, MGM Resorts will charge parking fees at all its Strip resorts. The company operates nine Strip developments, including the CityCenter complex, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, and The Mirage. Circus Circus will continue to have free self-parking, but there will be a fee to valet park. The Signature Towers and the Crystals and Mandalay Bay Place shopping malls will be exempt from the parking fees.

Overnight guests utilizing a self-park facility will pay $10 or less. Las Vegas locals will be given a grace period for free parking after the program begins and can maintain their free-parking status by enrolling and earning privileges through M life, the company's customer loyalty program. Nonresident guests can also earn free-parking status through the M life program.

MGM Resorts called the parking fees "moderate" when compared with similar fees in other "high-demand" tourist and convention markets, such as New York, Los Angeles and Orlando.

(ReviewJournal.com)