Despite its Hollywood origins, MGM Grand is a name synonymous with Las Vegas. It is one of the most well-known casino-slash-theme park-slash-monument-slash-hotels in the whole of Las Vegas and houses thousands of visitors, gamblers and thrill-seekers from around the world each day.

Opened in 1993, the aptly named MGM Grand Las Vegas is a Hollywood-themed resort. The products of its namesake - MGM Studios - can be found throughout the hotel and its surrounds, but most significant of these is the hotel's emerald colour. The hotel was highly influenced by the much-loved MGM film Wizard of Oz and by framing the hotel as the Oz's Emerald City, it has come to represent the same exciting magic and charm that the Emerald City held for Dorothy and her gang. And most certainly, Las Vegas' 'Emerald City' is a place that offers all of this.

The magic and bright lights of Las Vegas mean that the 5044-room hotel is more than just a place to sleep. Of course there are top-class accommodation facilities available for a guest to lay their head, but even the staple Vegas excitement of the casino is enough to distract anyone from sleep. What really makes a stay at MGM Grand Las Vegas different from the rest is the fact that it offers anything and everything. Much like a city, the MGM Grand Hotel offers opportunities for entertainment with shows, shopping and the bright lights, as well as a whole minefield of dining possibilities that run throughout the day and deep into the night.

But even before they jump into this mini-city of everything, guests are encountered by the guardian of both the hotel and its namesake. The 45-foot tall bronze lion statue is possibly the hotel's biggest and most prominent attraction - its magnificence is exaggerated even more at night when LED screens, water fountains and lush landscaping frame the lion, leaving many in awe.

To further honour the lion in MGM Studio's success, MGM Grand Las Vegas opened a lion habitat to "help safeguard its preservation for future generations". They have given the lions a custom built 8.5-acre ranch 12 miles away from the hotel to give them a perfect environment to grow and flourish. Despite the distance and the environmental sensitivity, MGM is still not one to stray from the path of glitz and glamour; they never fail to note that each and every one of the lions that reside in the lion habitat are direct descendants of the famous roaring MGM king of the jungle.

In a land of bright lights, excess and excitement, MGM Grand Las Vegas is king. Not only because it is one of the most iconic features of the tourist loving city, but also because it does not just fall into the trappings of the signature glitz and glamour that is Las Vegas. It is a casino-slash-theme park-slash-monument-slash-hotel that is more than just shiny surfaces; it stands above the others, roaring and watching over them from the top of his green tower.