Mandalay Bay

Frommer's Review

Mandalay Bay is one of our favorite hotels. Why? Well, we love that the lobby (impossibly high ceilings, calm, gleaming with marble, and housing a large aquarium), and the other public areas really do make this seem more like an actual resort hotel than just a Vegas version of one. You don't have to walk through the casino to get to any of these public areas or the guest-room elevators, the pool area is spiffy, and the entire complex is marginally less confusing and certainly less overwhelming than some of the neighboring behemoths.

We wouldn't say it really evokes colonial Southeast Asia -- oh, maybe around the edges, if you squint, thanks to the odd bit of foliage or Balinese carving. This may well keep out the gawkers, who are looking for bigger visual thrills, but we find a place whose theme doesn't bop you over the head refreshing.

The rooms are among the most desirable on the Strip (king rooms are more attractive than doubles), spacious and subdued in decor. Tropical influence seems to be limited to fabric swatches here and there and plantation shutter doors on closets and the bathroom (unfortunately, the bathroom's shutter doors seem to not entirely join together, leaving a gap of varying size). King-size beds have large, carved headboard posts and firm mattresses. The bathrooms are the crowning glory: downright large with impressive, slightly sunken tubs, glassed-in showers, double sinks, and separate water closets, plus fab amenities and lots of them. (Bathrobes are available on request.) "Gold" rooms have all that, plus even fancier fixtures (those foofy beds you will soon see are all the rage, and the equally au courant flatscreen TVs), for an additional fee.

Service overall is pretty good, and those pool-area employees are the tops in Vegas, though there were no security guards at the guest elevators. A monorail system connects the hotel with Luxor and Excalibur, which are located in the heart of the Strip action, and this should more than help you get over any feelings of isolation.

The restaurants in Mandalay Bay feature some of the most innovative interiors in Vegas, each one more whimsical and imaginative than the next. Even if you don't eat at the hotel, drop in and poke around the restaurants: Aureole, a highly rated branch of Charlie Palmer's renowned New York City restaurant; Border Grill; Red Square; and the Bayside Buffet. And then there's rumjungle, which features a dramatically skewered all-you-can-eat multicourse Brazilian feast, which you'll enjoy while listening to world-beat drums, surrounded by walls of fire and water and other striking visual features. More casual food can be found at House of Blues, whose Southern delicacies are often quite palate pleasing; HOB is probably the best place in town to see rock bands. Mandalay Bay has a showroom featuring Mamma Mia!, the Broadway musical of ABBA songs, and a separate arena, which was inaugurated by none other than Luciano Pavarotti. There's also a big, comfortable casino, airier and less claustrophobic than most, plus three bars, often featuring live music at night.

There are no fewer than four pools (entering this area is like going to a water park, thanks to upgraded security -- all guests, regardless of age, must show a room key), including the touted wave pool, which is, unfortunately, a classic example of Vegas bait-and-switch. It can't handle waves of any serious size, but bobbing in the miniwaves is delightful, as is floating happily in the lazy river (tubes are available for rental -- we say save some bucks and share a tube with friends, taking turns using it). Though it was already the finest pool area in town, recent overhauls are giving it even more style. All in all, this area alone makes this resort a top choice for families, except, perhaps, in the topless swimming area.

The health club is sufficiently stocked to give you a good workout (it should be, as they charge guests $27 per day to use it -- $20 for the gym only at THEhotel's facility). The spa area proper -- featuring hot and warm pools, plus a cold plunge pool -- is exotically designed, as close to those found in the Turkish spas in Eastern Europe as we've come across, though without the patina (read: weathered decay) of decades or centuries, which can be a good thing. Load up on that rich moisturizer when dressing -- it costs $17 a bottle in the store outside the door.

Facilities:Casino; 12,000-seat events center; 1,700-seat performing-arts theater; aquarium; wedding chapels; 22 restaurants; 4 outdoor pools w/lazy river & wave pool; health club & spa; Jacuzzi; sauna; watersports equipment/rentals; concierge; tour desk; business center; 24-hr. room service; in-room massage; laundry service; dry cleaning; executive-level rooms.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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