[mingorama]

New York NY is much nicer than the Excalibur, and the MGM is much nicer than NYNY. However, for the dollar, I'd just listen to the other posters and stay at NYNY and cross the bridge to MGM. Gallagher's Steakhouse has awesome aged steaks at a reasonable price, and make sure to save room for the butter toffee pudding (their signature dessert). They also offer some different kinds of raw oysters, if you like that sort of thing. Sportsbook is small, but is right next to ESPN Sportszone (good place to watch games). You can also find table games with lower minimums than at MGM. They lack a good buffet, but you're in close enough proximity to MGM's or Excalibur's, if you're in a buffet kind of mood.

AlaskaGal makes a good point -- the walk from NYNY to the MGM Poker room is probably the same as it is from a room in the Grand Tower, and from NYNY you can just as easily cross over to Excalibur.