To me MGM is way too damn huge and I can never find my way around that place.  Monte Carlo and Tropicana are nothing to brag about.  Aria is my favorite and not that far of a walk.  If you don't wanna walk to Mandalay Bay, take the tram from Aria to Monte Carlo, walk outside to NY NY across the street to Excalibur then take the tram from there to MB.  

You might look into the Four Seasons as well.

Good Luck!

is across the street from the MGM.. Excalibur is close as well.. The Four Seasons Hotel is next to Mandalay Bay. I believe it would be quite a walk from Aria to the MGM.. Hope this helps and have fun!!!

Is a nice place.  I stayed there years ago, it's clean & has a good location.

Hotel Suggestions..

I would suggest NYNY it is still reasonably close to Mandalay Bay also The Tropicana as well.Yes,Aria is way too far to walk but by cab would not cost too much.Also,have you tried the Four Seasons it is right next door to Mandalay?
Good luck!

And I just booked the Monte Carlo for my next trip.

Monte Carlo is a nice room for a nice price. But make sure you check on the availability of TheHotel which is also a part of the Mandalay complex. Very nice!

-- Modified on 8/20/2011 8:30:15 PM

the four seasons is inside Mandalay Bay or you can try The Hotel

There is a Tram from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay... I would stay far away from Excalibur --- especially if you are going to indulge in the finer things that make Las Vegas.... Las Vegas.

If you stay at New York, New York.... walk across Trop. on the overhead Bridge and catch the tram from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay.

If you stay at Tropicana... you can do the same thing and walk across the overhead to Excalibur.

Four Seasons would be the first choice though.... but if you are cool with a little bit of walking and don't want to take cabs back and forth... New York, New York or Trop. should do the trick if you don't want to stay at the big ole MGM. (I think it took me two years to figure out how to get around MGM...)

Of course... Aria is a super cool place. You can take the tram from Aria to Monte Carlo... walk to New York, New York and repeat above.

And then again... there are multiple hotels on the East Side of the Strip connected to a Tram that ends at MGM. (Link to the Tram System below.) The problem with the last stop at the MGM is that it's located at the back of the property and can be a long walk .... even if you know where you are going.

By the way... don't be afraid of the cab system on the Las Vegas Strip... Very, Very efficient and probably the best in the U.S..

Chances are if it's a big convention you can even find somebody in your line going to the Convention to split a cab with. Not too hard to spot conventioneers... especially if you are coming in for the American Dental Association Annual Session...

For some reason... it's like a trophy wearing the passes around the neck screaming look at me ... look at me!!!

LOL!!

I think the Monte Carlo is good and if you can be lucky enough to get upgraded to Hotel 32, its VERY nice up there since they remodeled all of that 2 years ago after the fire there.  And the crab cakes @ the Pub Restaurant are great, and Diablo's is a fun place with good Margaritas and for some great people watching if you get a seat by the windows.  It sits right on the corner of LV Blvd and its open faced toward the LV Strip.  And its walking distance to MGM.  And if I am not mistaken, it may be a shuttle or something from Monte Carlo to Mandalay Bay...since they are both owned by MGM company.

Have fun while you are here!