Located about 8 miles northeast of New London and 11 miles southeast of Norwich, this property is a hugely successful project of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, bringing Vegas-style gaming to the genteel Connecticut woods. The casino erupted on the site years before the first hotel, which opened in 1993. Now there are three hotels: the original one, Great Cedar Hotel; the newer and fanciest option, the Grand Pequot Tower, which contains more than half of the room count; and the lowly Two Trees Inn, a reasonably priced annex a quarter-mile away and linked to the casinos and two other hotels by Greyhound-sized shuttle buses. Because of its popularity, the owners are always expanding the property, with a spa expansion, a new steak house and added parking the latest improvements.
The original four-story atrium with a 20-ft waterfall injects just enough extravagance into the Great Cedar Hotel to prove that abundance is the name of the game here. There are no
fewer than two dozen dining spots throughout the complex: American grill, fancy Italian, Japanese, seafood, Chinese, cafe, buffet, delicatessen, pizzeria, lounge and sports bar, to name a few. Several never close. The buffet has space for up to 2,000 gamblers.
The Grand Pequot Tower is sandwiched between two casinos, additional restaurants, bars and a spa with a large indoor pool, mud baths, salt scrubs and more. The casinos boasts more than 7,000 slot machines, 360 card tables, keno and a race book, and 46 shops ensure that there is choice enough for spending the winnings. The Fox Theater converts into a 1,400-seat Vegas-style show room, and the 360-degree cinema turns into a dance club at night, with music videos pulsating around the dancers. Adults can be seen cutting in front of kids to be first in line for the turbo rides and virtual-reality games.
The heated indoor pool and gym offer some refuge, but almost everything is geared to rollers, high and low. Golfers can arrange times on the Foxwoods course, but it is 18 miles away. The property is growing in popularity as a meeting destination, and groups of up to 3,500 can be entertained then set loose in the maze of gaming rooms. A formidable garage and extensive lots offer thousands of parking spaces, and the valet service is not only free but necessary (overflow parking is miles away).
The standardized Great Cedar guest rooms offer small sitting areas with paired side chairs and breakfast tables set against window-walls, trim cabinets, TVs and standard combination baths. High-rollers can opt for suites. Grand Pequot rooms are larger, glitzier and costlier. The top two floors contain exclusive one- to three-bedroom suites with access to a private high-limit club. The Two Trees rooms are comparable to the Great Cedar rooms, but priced much lower because of their 
distance from the casino (five minutes on foot). The distance also makes for calmer, quieter surroundings.
Although the hotel bills itself as a resort for all reasons, this bold, brash venture is designed for gambling only. Those looking for a more traditional resort should place their bets on The Spa at Norwich Inn. The Hilton in Mystic also works as a more family-oriented base for visiting the casino.
Editor's Notes
Currently the Foxwoods Resort Casino, this property will debut as the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in May 2008. It will feature 825 guest rooms, 115,000 sq ft of meeting space, a 4,000-seat Performing Arts Theater, a 21,000-sq-ft spa, celebrity chef restaurants, high-end retail and a state-of-the-art casino. Gillian Murphy has been named senior vice president and general manager. October 2007