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Cheers from Connecticut! Last week we were in Belize and this week, we've ended up at the brand spankin' new MGM Grand at Foxwoods. This US$700 million investment is slowly bringing Las Vegas to the northeast. And if the opening night gala is any indication of what's to come -- look out, Nevada! The festivities began with a dinner prepared by celeb chef Tom Colicchio, followed by Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones introducing the evening's performers: John Mayer, Josh Groban and Alicia Keys. P. Diddy finished things off with a bang at his late-night soiree. The list of celebrities attending was long and included Quincy Jones and my ex-cousin Jamie-Lynn. If you're up for some Vegas-style fun in the woods of New England, then grab your dancing shoes. But if taking things at a slower pace and soaking up the sun is more your speed, then join Aubrey Lampkin as she tours us around Koh Samui, Thailand.
JOHNNY JET, HILTON AND THE OLYMPIC TEAM
Before we get started, there's something I wanted to mention: Hilton Hotels, an official sponsor of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams, has asked a select group of experts (including yours truly) with backgrounds in travel, cultural awareness and character development, to provide unique perspectives on hospitality and the dos and don'ts of international travel. What an honor it is to be included in their Be Hospitable® traveler program. I hope Team USA, along with other business and leisure travelers, will learn some important tips on Chinese customs, culture and etiquette while bringing home the gold.
LAX AND DELTA
Last Thursday, I flew from Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK) on Delta. My complimentary upgrade didn't
go through but my experience was still pleasant. It all began when I made it from the curb through security in three minutes flat. And that's saying a lot because the line was out the door. This was possible because I checked in online and I have elite status so I was able to bypass the long lines. Who says the economy is suffering? The airport was completely packed at 10am on a Wednesday morning!
DID YOU KNOW? Passengers can still use the long underground hallway
that connects Terminal 5 to Terminals 6 and 7. I discovered this when my gate was moved from Terminal 5 to Terminal 6.
LAX TO NEW YORK
When I reached the gate, they were just beginning to board my zone (2). Getting on the plane early guarantees an overhead spot for your luggage so take advantage of it if you can. Flight time was a quick four hours and 38 minutes. I ate a huge breakfast so there was no need to buy one of Delta's sandwiches onboard but I did snag a $3 bottle of vitamin water. To pass the time, I worked until my two laptop batteries went dead and then flipped through the 18 channels of live satellite TV. I've got to tell you: Delta really makes transcontinental flights go by quickly. FYI: Delta's 737s don't have power ports, unlike their 757 planes.
CARBON OFFSET
I realize what airplane emissions are doing to the environment so instead of giving privately, each week I will list the amount of money I spend for a carbon offset. This may not be as good as not flying at all but let's face it: the plane is still taking off whether I'm on it or not. And my name is Johnny Jet not Johnny Jog. Los Angeles to New York is 2,475 miles and a carbon offset from CarbonFund.org is just $8.94 round trip.
AIR TRAIN
When I landed it was rush hour so rather than pay $65 for a taxi or car service and then having to sit in traffic, I spent just $7 for the train, which took the same amount of time as driving. This was quick because I was traveling by myself and didn't have much luggage. It's easy as I just followed the signs. I took the AirTrain to Jamaica Station, which took 10 minutes and cost $5 (you pay when you get off, using a Metro Card). The Metro Card machines are easy to use and there are plenty of them. Prices vary, depending on where you're going. I was headed to the Upper East Side so I took the E Train (subway) to 53rd and Lexington Avenue, then transferred to the 6 Train for just $2. Door-to-door took me exactly one hour!
MGM GRAND AT FOXWOODS
When you think of casinos, you automatically think of Las Vegas, don't you? But if you haven't heard, a few small Native tribes in a remote part of Connecticut have been trying to change your thinking (and spending) for the past couple of decades. In 1986, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe opened up the first Native casino in Connecticut. The Foxwoods Casino began as a bingo hall but it has slowly progressed over the years to become one of the premier gambling Meccas of the world. This past weekend, the MGM Grand at Foxwoods opened. It connects to their other Foxwoods hotel and casino by a pedestrian concourse. It's so much like a Las Vegas hotel that if someone knocked you out and you woke up in the middle of this place, you would swear you were in a casino on The Strip.
WHERE IS FOXWOODS?
Foxwoods is centrally located in the southeastern Connecticut town of Mashantucket. Most people drive from either New York City (2.5 hours) or from Boston (less than two hours). The closest airports are: Providence's T.F. Green Airport (45 minutes away) and Hartford's Bradley International Airport (50 minutes away). You can also take Amtrak to New London, which is a 20-minute drive from there.
MOHEGAN SUN
The MGM Grand is the third Native American Indian Casino in Connecticut. One of the other two is the Mohegan Sun, which opened in 1996, eight miles away across the Thames River. It's owned by the Mohegan tribe, which has been the Mashantucket Pequot's rival since pre-colonization. They too are working on expanding, even though they have the second largest casino in the world (The biggest is in Macau, China -- maybe I'll have to check out that place myself). Mohegan's Vegas-esque addition is called Project Horizon and will be completed in 2010. What's hard to believe is that both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun each rake in more than $1 billion a year in gaming revenues. That's approaching Vegas figures! I guess it helps to be ideally situated between two very wealthy areas: The New York City and Boston metropolitan areas.
DID YOU KNOW? Native American Indian reservations are not governed by the same laws as states. That means that the state has no power to tax, regulate or police casinos run by Native tribes.
MGM GRAND
Foxwoods MGM's expansion is not about gaming. In fact, the new 30-storey, teal-glass tower is only adding 53 table games and 1,400 slots in their 50,000-square-foot casino. That's just three per cent of the new two-million-square-foot space! Most of the expansion is about providing amenities to entice visitors to stay awhile. They are adding 825 much-needed guest rooms and suites, bringing in four gourmet and casual restaurants, chic clubs, high-end stores and 115,000 square feet of meeting space to try and lure midweek conventions and conferences and more casual weekend travelers. Their goal is to increase the average length of stay from 1.2 days to two days.
BLACK TIE EVENT
I arrived with my brother Frank and Chuck Taylor (our adventure writer) for Saturday night's black tie bash. It's always nice to be the first person to check into a hotel. Not only do you get a sneak peak but you get to be the first person who sleeps in the bed, steps in the shower, sits on the loo ... you get the picture. The only downfall is that every grand opening comes with growing pains and the MGM Grand was no exception. In fact, I don't think they were expecting so many people to show up. They were way understaffed. Calling down to the front desk and concierge on two separate occasions, I was put on hold for 20 minutes before giving up. And the valet took 45 minutes.
MGM ROOMS
Check-in went surprisingly fast (eight minutes) considering the number of people in line. We were in one of their 688 standard deluxe guest rooms. The basic 400-square-foot room was contemporary in design and had a water-based color scheme. What made this room different from your typical hotel room is that inside, I found an Apple iHome clock radio, a flat-panel television, a laptop-sized safe, free wireless Internet and a comfortable desk chair. The working desk also had a lot of leather like the desk protector, mouse pad and ice bucket. The bathroom was large but the water pressure was weak at times.
EVIL MINI-BAR
The mini-bar was pure evil. You're charged immediately so when you pull something out, it automatically gets registered. The turndown service didn't include bottles of water so I had to drop $5 on a bottle from the mini-bar. That hurt because it was just eight ounces. I recommend you bring your own and while you're at it, you might want to bring condoms, too. I didn't need them but I couldn't help but notice the $18 romance kit. They really know how to hit you at your weakest moments.
OUT THE WINDOW
When you look out in the distance from a hotel window in Las Vegas, you see a sprawling city in the desert with mountains. Here, look out the window and you see hundreds of woodland acres. That means these guys have room to expand since the Mashantucket Pequot Indian tribe owns it all. Hopefully, further expansion won't ruin too much of the natural surroundings because being in the woods is a major part of the charm.
DINING
The hotel is home to two upscale restaurants: Alta Strada by acclaimed chef Michael Schlow and Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak. Even with a private function, the line to get in the door of Craftsteak took 30 minutes and it took another 45 minutes, standing in the buffet line. What was most frustrating was that by the time I got to the buffet, they had practically run out of food. Check out this picture to see what I had for dinner after standing for 75 minutes. When I ran into the celebrity chef, I said, "Now, how about getting back into the kitchen and stirring up some grub for your boy Johnny Jet and company?" He just looked at me and said, "Are you from Mars?" I said, "No, California."
ENTERTAINMENT
The centerpiece of the hotel's entertainment is the MGM Grand Theater, which holds 4,000 guests. What makes it unique is that only 126 feet separate the front of the stage from the very last row to make it more intimate. The entertainment lineup for the summer is impressive to any over-40 audience: Gloria Estefan, Huey Lewis, Joe Cocker, Gladys Knight, Al Green, Michael Bolton, Jerry Seinfeld ... But the young whipper snappers would've really appreciated the opening night concert, which I was fortunate enough to be attending. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones kicked it off by introducing John Mayer, Josh Groban and Alicia Keys. They all were great but the singer who stole the show was 16-year-old, Charice Pempengco from the Philippines. YouTube made her famous and boy, can this girl sing! After the show, Quincy Jones was standing next to me while we were walking out and he told me that the tribe was honoring him. He's a great guy and I had no idea he is part Cherokee.
SHRINE
There were two after-parties. The first was in Shrine, a 20,000-square-foot Asian-inspired nightclub that's modeled after Tao at the Venetian in Las Vegas. My brother and I were at the bar and decided to go say hi to the two pretty girls who were on our bus and whom we didn't get the chance to meet earlier. Well, these girls thought they were rock stars and wouldn't give us the time of day. It was almost embarrassing how cold they were.
JAMIE-LYNN SIGLER
A moment later, while we were standing next to these girls, looking like rejects, guess who comes in the door? My ex-cousin Jamie-Lynn Sigler. Jamie is one of the nicest celebrities you'll ever meet and she married my cousin A.J. back in 2004. I was best man at the wedding and we haven't seen each other in a couple of years. So when she spotted me, she ran up to me and hugged me for a good minute. Then she insisted we come hang out with her and her friends at one of the club's 20 VIP bottle service tables. Well, guess who thought they were invited, too? That's right ... the ice women. When security asked me if they were with us, as we crossed through the roped off section, I said, "I've never seen them before in my life," just as an army of waitresses approached and I was handed a glass of the finest champagne. Ha!
After dancing to DJ AM for a couple of hours, it was time to move on to the next party. It was now just after midnight, which was when the hotel officially opened to the public and the place was completely packed. It went from every single person dressed sharply in tuxedos and gowns to a crowd sloppily dressed in jeans, shorts, sneakers and sweatshirts. Hey, that's my usual comfortable attire but man, does it look bad. All the casino tables and slot machines were now taken so instead of throwing down some money, I went to visit the sharpest dressed man of all ... P. Diddy.
P. DIDDY
P. Diddy was in the house and throwing a private party in the 50,000-square-foot ballroom. It's the largest hotel ballroom in the northeast. P. Diddy didn't disappoint. It was crazy and creative. There were beautiful women dressed as wild animals and most were assigned to their own cubicle against the wall, set up like the game show set of Hollywood Squares. Except it was three times the size. By the time it was time to go to bed, my head was spinning. If everyone who comes here can have half as much fun as we did, nobody's going home saying they didn't have a 'Grand' time. MGM Grand at Foxwoods, 240 MGM Grand Drive, Mashantucket, CT, Tel: 860-312-6464 or toll free: (866) 646-0050.
OTHER NOTABLES
The hotel has a 21,000-square-foot spa, a 5,500-square-foot, fan-shaped outdoor swimming pool, a public golf course and the stores include: MAC Appeal, Bally, Dunhill and the MGM Grand Logo Store.
SIDE TRIPS
If you're a visitor who has to travel a fair distance to get to the hotel and casino, don't just stay on-site. Visit New York City or Boston and if you visit over the summer, check out Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Newport, Watch Hill or Mystic. These are just a few of the many side trips that are worth making while you're in the area.
VIDEO
Sorry! No video this week but we do have all the Johnny Jet videos ever made on YouTube.
NEXT WEEK
We head back to California in style and then fly all the way to ... OK, I'll give you a hint. It's over 7,000 miles away and I mentioned it in this week's story.
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