Mandalay Bay Hotel Las Vegas

The Mandalay Bay Hotel Resort and Casino is a luxury hotel on the southern tip of the Las Vegas Strip. It is owned by the MGM Mirage.



Five floors of the main hotel building are occupied by the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, a AAA Five-Diamond rated hotel. From the main building, you can actually walk indoors towards the Four Seasons if you want to take a break from the casinos. The top three floors are penthouses, with a lounge for guests staying in the penthouses. There is a free Mandalay Bay Tram that connects to sister properties, the Excalibur and the Luxor.

The Mandalay Bay Hotel has 3,309 rooms and a casino floor of more than 135,000 square feet. Next to it is the  Mandalay Bay Convention Center, a million square feet of space that has been host to boxing events, UFC matches and even the Latin Grammy Awards the last couple of years.

Construction on the Mandalay Bay Hotel Las Vegas started in 1996 where the old Hacienda Casino used to be. The location was considered ideal back then, since it was at the far south end of the Las Vegas Strip and was the first resort seen by tourists driving up from California. In addition, since it was so far from the other resorts at the time, many people who stayed at the Hacienda would not go elsewhere. Proximity to MacCarran Airport was also an advantage.These same advantages still apply today.

The construction cost was more than $950 million. The original intended name was 'Project Paradise' but was quickly replaced by Mandalay Bay before it opened in 1999. The gold coloring of the hotel that you see as you drive past it on I-5 is because of the gold leaf used on all the windows. A convention center was added in 2003, which was ranked as the fifth largest in the country, at more than 100,000 square feet of open space. In 2004 a new tower was opened, called THEhotel at Mandalay Bay.

The Mandalay Bay Resort is connected to the Luxor Hotel by both a monorail and a shopping mall called Mandalay Place. There are plans in the near future to build a condo-hotel project called THEplace, right in front of that vacant land in front of the Luxor.

Attractions
Mamma Mia! used to be the long term stage production at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. This was closed in January 2009, and was replaced by a brand new, permanent production of Disney's The Lion King which opened on May 2009.

The Mandalay Bay Hotel Las Vegas also features the 11 acres Mandalay Beach with three heated pools, a wave pool with connecting pool for small children, a European-style pool and a lazy river that features a small waterfall. The wave pool features 1.6 million gallons of water and waves in 90-second intervals with heights ranging anywhere from two to four feet. Because of this, it has a strict 48" height requirement.

The European-style pool is called Moorea and features its own private bar. It allows guests to go topless bathing, hence Moorea is separated from the rest of the pool by smoked glass windows. You have to be over 21 to be admitted. There are also restaurants at the Mandalay Beach. The pool area is considered among the best in Las Vegas, and has been rated by locals as the 'Best Pool of Las Vegas' 7 years in a row. One pool even remains open through the winter months.

In keeping with the resort's tropical theme, the Mandalay Bay Hotel Las Vegas also features a saltwater aquarium called the Shark Reef. This aquarium has the third largest tank in North America and contains other exhibits including two tunnel shaped, walk-through aquarium where you can see the sharks up close as you walk thru.

Another popular attraction is the House of Blues, a venue for live music and a restaurant. On the top floor of the hotel is the House of Blues Foundation Room, featuring a dining room, private dining rooms, and a balcony overlooking the Las Vegas Strip.

Last but not least, you will have access to more than 20+ restaurants within the Mandalay Bay Resort, with famous chefs like Michael Mina, Alain Ducasse, Rick Moonen, Charlie Palmer, Hubert Keller, and Wolfgang Puck, behind most of the excellent cuisine.