Mandalay Bay Resort and Spa

We stayed in Mandalay Bay at the end of August 2018. The room was nice, clean, and spacious, the view pretty nice (even though our room was facing away from the strip), the wave pool and lazy river really fun. So far so good ... Sadly, our problems started right from the check-in time. Even though, we clearly mentioned that we had a car, we were not offered the parking pass and had to come back for it. Even when we picked up the pass, nobody explained to us where to park or how to get to the parking garage - it is quite confusing, since the garage is labeled with signs for Delano hotel, and only later we found out that the garage is shared between Delano hotel and Mandalay Bay. Oh, and while we were checking in, our daughter, whom we left to watch the car parked in front of the hotel entrance, got yelled at that we are not allowed to park the car there, and really anywhere around the entrance area. Thankfully, we were about done with the check-in, but if the line were longer, I am not sure what we could have done. Maybe park in the garage first and then walk with all our luggage through the casino the half a mile between the garage and the hotel entrance? As we started unpacking our luggage, my wife shrieked because she spotted a strange crawling bug in the middle of one of the beds (that we have not even touched, so the bug was quite visible). I am pretty sure that it was a bed bug - see picture. I checked under the bed and in all the normal places where one would expect more of them, but we did not see anything, just this one. I immediately contacted the front desk and they offered to move us to a different room. No upgrade, no apology. I caught the bug into a glass and left it in the same place where we found it, in the center of the bed. The next day, we got an e-mail from a manager, telling us that they "did not find any pest activity in the room." Again no apology, not even a small gesture (like bringing a basket of fruits to our room or something like that). While I have to agree that there was no visible pest activity in the room other than that one bug, it had to come from somewhere. My guess is that it was brought in by the AC system - the bed was in the direction of the air coming from the AC went. No matter what, at least an apology from the hotel would have been nice. The rest of our stay was just fine, until we needed to check out. There was a charge on our bill for drinks from the mini bar, even though we did not have any. Some of the drinks moved (and even fell out), when I opened the fridge door. And apparently, I did not put them back in the right way. The charge got resolved at the front desk, but we had to wait in line for 30 maybe even 45 minutes to check out, instead of just being able to do the express check out. Overall our experience was not that bad, I just expect better customer service from a 4-star hotel.

The hotel was beautiful, the staff were friendly and accommodating. Pool area always clean, enough chair for guest. My only complaint is not being able to use the fridge. I knew everything would be ridiculously overpriced (it's vegas) some discrepancy with my bill when I checked out, but it was easily resolved. I would recommend this hotel to everyone.

If you're going to party, don't go here. If you want to enjoy a holiday with energetic little noisy kids, don't go here. If you're hoping for cheap drinks and trinkets, don't go here. But if you're a grown up, and want a really nice grown up holiday, this is a lovely property. I found people to be more subdued and a little aloof here. Not a lot of friendly faces among the guests, more like elegant people going about their elegant business. Staff were great, hotel is absolutely wonderful and the beaches and pools look to be the BEST. This is the far south end of the strip and attracts a certain kind of clientele. Everything just seemed to be more expensive and higher end. The closer you got to the centre of the strip, prices went down and the volume went up. There is a free tram (monorail) that takes you a little ways up, but you're still pretty far from most of the action. Expect either a LOT of walking or several uber bills if you stay here. On the bright side, close to the airport and not like you're short of things to do. This hotel is connected to the Luxor, which also has lots of shows and attractions, shopping, food, etc. Between the two, you'd really never have to leave them! We did rent a cabana one day, which was pretty great. The price was supposed to be around $400 for our cabana on a Saturday, and hubby was able to talk them down to $125 by going down that very morning and finding out they weren't booked up. The best part was a safe, so we could leave our phone and money, etc., while we all swam together. To save a little money - it's good to note, you are actually allowed to take in up to two cans per person (no glass allowed). Buckets of beer were $35 for 5 large cans, most other drinks were closer to $15 each I'd say. The front desk was super accommodating at check-in. We asked for a good view and to be located near friends and they were able to do both. Anything above about the 26th floor is best. We were on 29, facing north up the strip, and the view was unbelievable! Maid service didn't really impress me for a place of this caliber. We only let them in every other day or so, and the place was definitely clean, but they certainly did the BARE minimum. They charge extra if you want a fridge in your room, and you can't store stuff in the minibar fridge, (a teeny little sign says you can be charged $50 for storing your own stuff! I bet lots of people get burned on that) so take along a cheapie cooler bag that you can leave behind. It was perfect for keeping drinks cool in our bathtub (ice machine was free and on our floor). Also, our smartie friend brought her own tubes along for the lazy river. SUPER SMART. You cannot use the ones at the pool unless you rent (I never saw the rental booth open in all the days we were there) or rent some cabanas that include them (ours did not) or purchase in the gift shop... a $9.99 Walmart tub for $35 that you'll never fit in your luggage so will end up left in your room. Any kind of floatie, even a smaller, flutter-board type thing would be great. Also, coffee pods. They charge for those in the rooms, so easy to throw your own in your luggage if you want. Lastly, I'd bring a nice big, light cup with lid and take it everywhere with you. "Refill" drink prices are very common and the best deal. Also, some places (tour buses, etc) won't let you on without a lid on your drink. Just something cheap that's easy to toss in your bag when you're not using it. We ate at Libertine Social (very pricey, small portions, but delicious!), House of Blues (super cool inside, live music on a Saturday night, more reasonably priced, very good, and I couldn't eat it all), and the beach cafe (decent prices, basic menu, good food). I saw the Shark Aquarium (loved it, but I am a shark fanatic) and we spent two days at the pools (you can pay admission to use this beach on Monday - Thursday, I believe it was $20 per person). Shopping was pricey - the BEST place we found for cheaper keepsakes was right inside the ped-way doors of New York, New York (across from Oxygen Bar inside). Oh - and wifi was strong and available everywhere, even at the pool! I hear some places still only offer it in the lobby, so that's a huge perk!