Mandalay Bay Las Vegas

If you’re looking for a top poolside experience, all other things being equal, Mandalay Bay is your destination.

Located on the South end of the Las Vegas Strip, the Mandalay Bay Hotel was built in 1998 and boasts 3,300 rooms over 44 stories. My stay was in June 2012 for business. I paid about $128/night with tax. Here’re a few things that stood out:

Pool and Beach: Really nice

The hotel sports multiple pools (a wave pool with a sandy beach, a “toptional” pool area for adults only, exclusive pool for Four Season’s members, and many others). I got a few hours at the beach/wave pool.

The “beach” is really just a flat lounge area covered with sand. Wear shoes or sandals as the sand gets HOT. I didn’t see any water mist systems — which are nice when it’s over 100 degrees. The wave pool is gentle and well monitored by lifeguards who whistle each time a wave comes through. Lots of kids here. Drink service is fast. I’d go back just for the pool environment.

Fitness Center: Expensive

I never got to see the fitness center since Mandalay charges guests $25/day for access. I opted instead for the included access to the Cardio Center. At approximately 1200 square feet, the windowless cardio center includes a dozen treadmills, towel service, and flat screen televisions all around. Each treadmill has it’s own AV system and tuner. When I arrived at 7:58pm, the staff was locking up the door. The next day I arrived at 7pm and the staff politely tolerated my use right up to 8pm.

Room Quality: Good… mostly

I stayed on the 34th floor in a ‘standard’ room. It was clean, and spacious.

The bathroom was large with two sinks in a marble counter, a television, tub, separate shower, and a separate room for the toilet.

The lights in the bathroom took a few minutes to light the counter.

The sink drain gurgled and ‘bumped’ every hour or so when some other room’s drainage system crossed mine.

The king bed was lumpy and dipped a bit where the sales reps sit and talk on the phone. Linens were clean and smoke free.

The desk setup was odd and not conducive to working on a laptop. I appreciate having an adjustable chair at the desk, but the fixed chair provided seemed stiff and wasn’t comfortable for long hours of work. The 60′s style shape was less than practical and I ended up rotating the heavy desk to make legroom and access to plugs.

The wireless and wired internet access were included, fast, and reliable.

Business Center:

While at the hotel, a significant deal came in for my company requiring me to print, sign, and scan a 40 page document. The hotel hosts two “Business centers” where one can rent a PC for $25/hour and pay $0.50 per page to print. The concierge heard me getting frustrated about the setup and offered to print my document gratis. Very nice of her! Later I found another FedEx business center at the Hotel and paid about $30 to scan in the pages.

Gaming:

Blackjack 6:5 payout tables were everywhere. These are not a good deal for the player. Most tables started with a $15/bet minimum. I chose roulette to be sociable. Dealers were a bit stiff and made some mistakes. Ours warmed up when I made the effort to start a conversation.

Check Out:

I could not find a quick check out option on the phone or TV, so I used the mobile “text to check out” method. It failed — both to acknowledge the checkout and by providing a non-existent web page.

Overall:

Other than the beach/pool scene, this hotel doesn’t stand out as anything more than the other top 10 strip hotels. I’d return for business or for some pool time, but would go to other strip hotels (Luxor, Bellagio) for more variety and excitement — which is why we go to Vegas anyway.