Say what, MGM National Harbor? I say "No thanks, I'll pass."
- Sandy Dallabrida Hagy
- Oct 4, 2016
- 7 min read
I think everyone knows by now that finding travel deals is one of my favorite hobbies. I would go so far as to say that it’s a game to me like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. Of course, my favorite place to visit and play the game is Las Vegas but over the years I’ve gotten pretty good at finding deals in other places and to also use those casino loyalty programs (Caesars Total Rewards and MGM’s MLife to be precise) to my benefit all over the place.
Needless to say, I was ecstatic at the news that MGM was going to be opening a brand new state of the art casino down in National Harbor. I had a few reasons for this: 1) The property just looks beautiful and I love checking out new casinos, especially ones within the aforementioned casino families; 2) I love visiting the DC area and absolutely love National Harbor. It is a must-stop any time I am in the DC area; 3) Since this was an MGM property, I was excited to have a relatively close-to-home MGM option to maintain player activity; 4) I was really hoping that the MyVegas rewards would add MGM National Harbor rewards once the property was open; 5) I'm always looking for new places to check out for quick getaways with my husband.
So I have been anxiously awaiting the announcement of the grand opening of MGM National Harbor for months. I’ve been following the Facebook page and signed up for the newsletter. All we’ve known for a while now is that they were scheduled to open in the 4th quarter and the responses to opening date inquiries was always to just keep coming back and checking. And I did. Sometimes I even posted a message on their Facebook page kind of nudging for information. So friggin excited.
Then today it happened. I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and there it was. The Date! MGM National Harbor will be opening on December 8th. I was so excited. But I was also taking my son to Sesame Place so I figured I’d look at the details later. When I finally had a minute later, I actually went back to the original announcement post to look for the information. It was then that I noticed all of these comments from other people talking and complaining about the cost of the hotel rooms. People saying things about how they had been so excited about the opening but now they wouldn’t be coming because of the cost of the hotel.
So I finally sat and looked for myself. With our schedules, it is often easier for my husband and me to do short 2-3 days trips during the week than on the weekends. The casino opens on December 8th so I looked for the week after the opening for a room on a Wednesday and Thursday night. Put in the dates and it came back telling me the average room rate was $499 a night. Say WHAT?!? I double checked, thinking maybe that was the total price for the two nights. Nope. It was per night. I clicked on the details to find out that the Wednesday night was $399 and the Thursday night was $599 for a grand room total of $998. Then add on the $179.64 in taxes and the additional $49.99 in ridiculous resort fees and the taxes on the resort fees for a grand total of $1227.63. HUH??? For two nights? They must be out of their friggin minds.
I logged into my MLife account thinking that I’d get a preferred MLife member rate. Nope. That didn’t change anything. Then I thought, well….maybe it’s right after the grand opening and it’s close to the holidays...maybe if I look some time after the new year, the rates will drop. I was absolutely right. Changing my dates to a random Wednesday and Thursday night in February (not Valentines week) dropped the price to a greatly reduced $479 average per night, coming to a grand total with all taxes and fees of $1180.43. What a deal!!! (Sarcasm intended). Mind you, this total was also for a regular resort hotel room, approximately 400 square feet, not some suite or with any particularly impressive features.
Let me put this in perspective for you. Let’s go with the December dates because they were my first choice. I did a quick search on Hotels.com to see what other hotels on National Harbor would cost for those dates. The Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center which is right there and has been for years is only $249 per night (with taxes and fees it would total $659.62). So pretty much half the price of MGM National Harbor.
Then I looked at what it would cost to stay at the Bellagio for those same exact dates. Yes, I know that the DC area and Las Vegas are very different area and it is kind of like comparing apples and oranges, but this is my rant, so just bare with me. I chose the Bellagio because it is the highest end MGM property in Las Vegas so I figured it was the best one to compare National Harbor to since clearly National Harbor is going to be a high end property. A standard room at Bellagio for those two nights costs, inclusive of all taxes and fees, $412.50 (for a room that is 500 square feet by the way), basically ⅓ the cost of what I’d be paying at National Harbor. So then I looked at what room at the Bellagio I could get for the $1200+ I’d be spending at National Harbor for those two nights. The closest I found was for $1144.64 I could actually book a Penthouse Premier Fountain View Suite at the Bellagio for the two nights. That room is 1500+ square feet. And it’s in Las Vegas. And it has a fountain view. Which if you’ve ever been to Vegas, or seen anything about Las Vegas, you know is a pretty big deal to see and have a view of. So yea. A penthouse suite in Vegas versus a hotel room in Maryland for approximately $1200. No comparison if you ask me.
One final thing I just needed to see. I popped onto Expedia to see what it would actually cost me to FLY from Philadelphia to Las Vegas and stay for those two nights. Yep, you guessed it. For my husband and me to both fly to Vegas on nonstop flights on American (our preferred way to fly) and to stay at the Bellagio in a standard king room with a fountain view would cost $958. Almost $300 less than what 2 nights at National Harbor would cost me. Is MGM National Harbor kidding me??? Now truth be told, my husband and I stayed at the Bellagio last summer for our 5 year anniversary and didn’t actually care for it so I wouldn’t stay there again. We also like to try different places so I ran one more search and looked at the cost of flight and hotel for 2 more hotels that are on our “want to try” list. I could fly and stay at Planet Hollywood for $731 or MGM Grand for $727. So again, seriously MGM National Harbor?
What is the point of all of this? I guess my point is that I am really disappointed at the ridiculously inflated prices of the MGM National Harbor. I did see the MGM National Harbor Facebook account did respond to one person who asked about the high prices and said “Deluxe rooms will begin at $399 and suites will start at $599. As with any hotel, rates are always dependent on demand and availability and will fluctuate accordingly.”
My guess is that those rates being dependent on demand and availability will end up with the prices being dropped significantly 6 months into the resort being open. I certainly hope so. With another resort just steps away that is half the price (not to mention a ton of other hotels in the DC/Maryland/Alexandria area with better prices), the cost of the hotel is just too much for not enough. In fact, I think it’s ridiculous. I am disappointed that this is the price point at which the hotel opened.
Truth be told, I am not a big proponent of needing a fancy (i.e. overpriced) hotel room. When I go on vacation or even just for a two-day getaway, the point is to get out and see things and I spend almost no time in the hotel room other than to sleep and shower. All I really need is for it to be clean and have a bed and a shower. So the bottom line is that I am never going to spend an average of $499 per night for ANY hotel room. It’s just not worth it to me to pay that much for a place where I crash at the end of a long day of fun. But truthfully, even if you’re inclined to pay more for a hotel than I am, I wouldn’t pay this amount for MGM National Harbor when you look at what else you could do with that money.
Does this mean that I will never set foot in MGM National Harbor? Absolutely not. I will go check it out at some point when I get around to it. It’s just not a big priority to me anymore. Plus I will stay somewhere else, unless by the time I get around to visiting, the prices are more reasonable. Or of course if I happen to get a reduced rate or some reward through the MyVegas rewards. But for right now, it’s not really part of my plans. If my husband and I decide we want to get a two-day getaway, we’ll go somewhere else. Hell, maybe we’ll fly to Vegas. We can do so for less than it would cost us to take the 3 hour drive down to National Harbor. Granted, I’d never actually fly to Vegas for just 2 days. If I’m going to Vegas that’s at least a 4 day trip. Haha. I bet I could go to Vegas for 4 days and it would still cost less than those 2 nights at MGM National Harbor. Crazy.
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