Thankfully I only stayed at Mandalay Bay for a total of one evening. The staff is in general rude and not interested in the welfare of its guests. The line and wait time for both parking and check-in totalled over 30 minutes. The hotel was crawling with children of all ages not unlike an amusement park. All pools with the expection of two were closed, and as a result crowded and dirty (I even had the experience of pulling a 4 year old near-drowning victim from the pool). It is at the end of the strip away from any action, and all of this can be yours for more money than its worth. Stay somewhere else...next time I'm in Vegas I'll be sure to do the same.

This hotel is everything I thought Vegas should be: bright, luxurious, tasteful, comfortable bed, big room, great nightclubs & bars, great restaurants, loud in the casino and quiet in the hotel. This was my husbands 3rd business trip and my 1st, I joined him for a few days prior to a convention, and we were both very pleased. From the moment we walked into the hotel to the moment we left we were treated like royalty.

I'd stay again in a heartbeat.

My room at the Mandalay was on the 34th floor, also known as the House of Blues floor for its unique decoration and party attitude. The room had leopard print bed spreads and funky painting on the wall. There was security up on the floor every night. Every morning the hallway was littered with empty liquor bottles. There was also a hole in the room wall from someone bashing the door handle into it, (the door stop was ripped out). The floor was kind of fun, great view, but not for everyone.

On the negative side I found the service at Mandalay poor overall. We encountered too many rude dealers & waitresses. Everything was expensive. Its nearly impossible to get a free drink in the sportsbook. The pool was ok but overrated and the lazy river was a total joke.

On the positive side, the Mandalay has a lot of things to do right in the hotel. It has good restaurants, bars, & nightclubs. The hotel clientele is mixed but there are definately a lot of younger people.

I didn't think it was worth the money and I do not intend on staying there again.

Needless to say, Mandalay Bay is a gorgeous, gorgeous hotel. It even SMELLS wonderful! (For those who don't know, the casino, shops, lobby, etc. all have this tropical coconut type of smell - it's best compared to suntan lotion and it is heavenly.)

The beach and lazy river are also pretty incredible, but too crowded for my tastes. We were there from 3-6pm on a Tuesday afternoon and had a hard time finding a chaislounge. It's difficult for me to relax with people constantly walking back and forth in front of me, listening to kids yell, etc. But no biggie. The wait for drinks was also very long. And speaking of drinks...$7.50 for a margarita, which is fine, but the drinks are WEAK. We each had 3 and the only "buzz" we felt was brainfreeze from drinking them too quickly...

Our room was very clean and quiet and had a great view of the pool. Good sized bathroom with nice toiletries and plenty of room for two people to get ready. I was also impressed with the closets - they are the kind you might find in a home vs. looking like the typical "hotel closet," if that makes sense.

Only real room complaint would be that the A/C seemed very weak. My "special someone" and I took a nap one afternoon and woke up sweating even though the A/C was turned to "high." I thought maybe it was ME who was getting him all hot and bothered, but no, it was the fact that it really was about 90 degrees in our room. The thought of possibly switching rooms or having a repairman come up, seemed like too much hassle, especially since we planned on being gone the rest of the day - so we let it go.

The only MB restaurant we tried was The Border Grill, located by the pool - good service, but pretty bland food, especially for the price. We live in California and have lots of great Mexican places though, so maybe we've been spoiled.

The MB convention center is awesome! The bartenders/cocktail servers working the convention were especially fun and friendly. There was a "surprise concert" that night - Huey Lewis and the News!! Very random, but it was great fun.

Enjoy your travels, everyone, but don't forget to be safe. It's a jungle out there...