las vegas mandalay bay hotel my personal experiences at one of the biggest baddest hotel casinos in Las Vegas - by Jason

Mandalay Bay Hotel Las Vegas

Mandalay Bay is best known for it's huge fight and concert events, stunning outdoor beach pool scene, and great restaurants, the desert oasis does not disappoint on any scale. I have ate, slept, swam, partied, people watched, danced, and gambled here and I have had a great time every time. It has much to do with the huge size of Mandalay Bay. Most tourists will still want to leave the resort and wander the strip and that's easy to do either by walking or taking the free in-house monorail. If you have been here a lot like I have though and want to settle in and relax in one location big enough to occupy you day and night for 5 days, Mandalay Bay is a perfect choice.

Mix Lounge offers incredible strip views at the top of THEhotel at Mandalay in Las Vegas.

It's a super active joint, complete with great nightly concert venues like the House of Blues, huge Broadway shows like Mamma Mia!, one of the biggest pool scenes in all of Vegas complete with a lazy river you can float around and around in for hours, a huge beach sized wave pool complete with white sand for body surfing.

The Rum Jungle nightclub is top rated with lines forming most nights to get in. It has dancing swinging showgirls, walls of fire and good food. Don't miss the hot bar Red Square with its imposing massive headless Lenin statue out front. This place is worth seeing for sure, classy and rich. If you like marine life check out the $60 million attraction Shark Reef. It has hundreds of species of animals like stingrays, sharks, jellyfish, crocodiles, turtles, and more. It costs to get in but its fun for your kids for an hour or two.

Rock Star Karaoke at the House of Blues happens weekly. The live band plays and sings back up. Super fun and free. Picture above shows my daughter Sarah rocking out. She was the best that night.

THEhotel is an additional upscale hotel added a few years after the main hotel and casino opened. It has a grand international feel and is worth the price upgrade if you appreciate quality. Also see articles THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay and Mandalay Bay Hotel

Overview: If you want an exciting upbeat indoor outdoor hotel, show and casino experience Mandalay Bay is a great choice.
Location: on South end of Las Vegas Strip see Mandalay Bay on the map
Restaurants: a great buffet for the price, Trattoria del Lupo, Beach Bar & Grill where you can order in your swimsuit pool side, Coral Reef Lounge & Sushi Bar, Fleur de Lys, House of Blues for medium priced fare, Red Square, Rumjungle, The Noodle Shop, and THEhotel hosts one of my favorite French restaurants with a mind blowing view - Mix - don't miss it if you can afford it.
Nightclubs, Lounges: Ivan Kane's Forty Deuce is super fun and easy to get into during the week, House of Blues has something different every night and its affordable, Rumjungle is best for dancing and drinking, Foundation Room is for members only, Mix Lounge for top notch views of the strip and great place to relax.
Casino: 140,000 square feet, including Blackjack, Caribbean Stud Poker, Craps, Keno, Let It Ride, Baccarat, Pai Gow Poker, Poker, Roulette, more than 2,600 slot machines, and poker room, race & sports book has seating for 330 people with 104 TV's and 20+ big screens for viewing major events.
Entertainment: Broadway hits like Mamma Mia! rotate through, headliners grace the 12,000+ seat events center, and you can always catch some live music at the House of Blues
Extras: The Shark Reef, giant aquarium staged over hundreds of thousands of square feet and hosting 100's of marine animals
Pools: 12+ acres of real beach style lounging and swimming, 3 swimming pools including a 1.5 million gallon continuous motion wave pool smashing right up on sandy beach, and an adult only topless pool for hotel guests and paying customers only.
Health Club or Spa: Mandalay Bay has a huge fitness/training complex and THEhotel has a smaller one. There are also two full service spas. Spa Mandalay is the biggest one at 10 times the size of the fitness gym. It has 30 rooms for services like massages, facials, hair cuts, etc. There is also a 15,000-square-foot bathhouse style spa in THEhotel.
Shopping: They have some but I don't recommend spending more than an hour there, 44 shops and little restaurants in a small mall in the tunnel that connects Mandalay Bay and Luxor. Check out this list for serious shopping.
Wedding chapel: THEwedding chapel, numerous packages.
Childcare facilities: None
Pets allowed: No
Parking garage: 6 story free indoor parking garage plus limited outdoor parking at the convention center for oversized vehicles like rv's and buses.
Shuttle service to the airport: back and forth to the airport by a private company, better to take a cab unless you are real short on cash.
Shuttle service to the Strip: Mandalay Bay is ON the strip, no need, you can ride the monorail for free to Excalibur.
Hotel amenities: Typical, plus valet parking, salon, currency exchange, laundry, luggage handling, electronic check-out. THEhotel is an additional upscale hotel located adjacent to the original hotel and casino.
Miscellaneous: Check-in time is 3 pm and Check-out time is 11 am. The minimum age to reserve a room is 21 years and there is a maximum number of guests per room of four. Must provide a credit card for incidentals

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