THE Mandalay Bay

Hotel/Resort

THE Mandalay Bay Does Not Live Up to the Hype

by Sharon Miller

October 2004

After seeing the pools of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino rated number one by The Travel Channel, we decided that it would be the perfect place to spend our annual girls’ weekend in Las Vegas. Quite often, however, when something is built up so much, it is difficult for it to live up to the hype. Sadly, that was the case with Mandalay Bay. The pool and casino were not the places to be and be seen, but simply overcrowded, under staffed money pits. THE Hotel, which is the new, smaller hotel separated from the casino, was the only part of Mandalay Bay that came close to THE expectations.

The fact that THE Hotel was separated from the casino was the best thing about it. Having the ability to be dropped off directly in front of the hotel and avoid wandering through the casino to get to your room was definitely a plus. The rooms at THE Hotel were magnificent as well, even if they did lack in illumination. They were spacious, with a living room, a bedroom, and one and a half baths. The master bathroom was splendid, with a huge bath tub and separate shower and a private toilet area. Each room, including the bathroom was equipped with a flat screen television. You definitely did not lack amenities here. Yet, as I said earlier, they were dark. Two of the lights in our bathroom did not work, so trying to put on make-up was almost impossible, and if you tried to get the magnifying mirror to light up, one of the few lights actually working would short out. Also, it was cold. Not just the room, but the entire hotel and casino. Despite the fact that the outside temperatures ranged from 90 to 100 degrees during the day, I always carried my sweatshirt with me, and often found myself wishing I had just put on my jeans.

Due to the hype, the pools of the Mandalay Bay were the most disappointing aspect. The six pools spread out over such a huge area that is was impossible to find your way around, especially when you added the crowds that were already populating the areas by ten a.m. As we started to make our way through the people, lounge chairs and discarded beer cans, I quickly realized that the effort to find a place to sit was futile. Instead, we opted to rent a raft for $20 per day and found a small patch of concrete where we could put our stuff. Considering the number of pools and the amount of people, the fact that there was only one bar and one restroom to accommodate everyone was ridiculously inadequate. Service from a waitress was virtually non-existent and the trip to the bar was always longer than necessary. You had better plan ahead when going to the bathroom, because you will have to wait in line there as well.

The casino was not much better. After changing into jeans, in order to fight off the frostbite, my sister and I decided to try our hand at blackjack; a game that we feel warrants a few cheers here and there, especially if you get a blackjack. The dealers did not agree with us, and after getting shushed repeatedly, we got fed up and headed over to the Luxor, a much warmer casino, where the dealers enjoyed the occasional “Woohoo.”

If You Go

Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino

3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, Nevada 89119

1.877.632.7800

www.mandalaybay.com