“The Bay at The Mandalay Is THE Way!”

“The Bay at The Mandalay Is THE Way!”

May is a very special time of year for Jill and me (grammatically correct, you will take note!).

“Is it because the weather tends to warm up and stay that way? No.”

“Is it because April’s showers bring about May’s flowers? Niet!”

“Is it because we find the unofficial start to Summer in May? Nay!”

“Give up?”

Jill: “Who are you speaking to?”

It is because Jill and I make our annual trek to Las Vegas to enjoy a week of fun in Sin City; dining & drinking, gaming & entertainment, late night revelry… as well as plenty of pool-time!

We decided to change things up this year and stay somewhere totally new to us. After all, variety can be the spice of life- Jill does have her limits, though. To that end, our original intention was to begin a retracement of the Rat Pack’s footsteps by staying in the classics. You know, The Flamingo, The Tropicana, Caesar’s Palace, etc. Unfortunately… or fortunately… a couple of those places are in the process of remodeling. (The way we understand it, it’ll be a newer version of their old selves, which would be outstanding.) And one was just a wee bit over-the-top cost-wise, so we’ll save that jaunt for another time.

Another consideration was location. Seeing as we normally stay in the north end of the strip, we decided to move down to the… wait for it… wait for it… SOUTH end! But where??? After quite a bit of research by us (aka, Jill), we arrived at the answer; the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Or, as it became known to us…. The Bay at the Mandalay! My Jill is good, I tell ya! REAL good!

The Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, part of the MGM family of hotels, is in itself quite easy to get to seeing as it is virtually the first one on the strip in leaving the airport. That being said, no concerns should be had regarding ‘noise’ as we literally did not hear ANY planes at ANY time. We also found the location and access quite friendly. There is much around if you choose to venture out, with a tram cutting down your walking distance between a few other MGM resorts, as well as providing a kick start to the strip. It can take you to the Luxor (which is also but a short indoor walk away), as well as the New York New York. From there, you can make your way through a plethora of outdoor drinking/eating establishments akin to a street fair as you make your ‘mandatory’ pilgrimage to the Armory at T-Mobile Arena. For all you hockey buffs, that is the official team store of the extraordinary Las Vegas Golden Knights!

As a side note, the playoffs were in full swing when we visited and the fan support was in full view! There were flags, banners and murals leading to the arena where an outdoor stage was set up to host all the various music acts the Knights had performing prior to their games. It was a free ‘concert in the park’ every game day. And it made for one heck of a party. No matter where you were from; ALL became Knights fans!

The hotel is beautiful, exceptionally clean and quite easy to navigate, with the casino serving as the epicenter of this adventure.

Our room was extremely spacious and well-appointed. Our view, simply OUTSTANDING! We overlooked the pool area as well as the valley beyond it! I, for one, enjoyed welcoming the new day’s sun in the morning… which amounted to one time as Jill did not share the same appetite for light given our marathon evenings. And the nights were all the more brilliant, with the pool lights below, the star lights above and the flames within. Something about the desert that makes that woman wild!

Back to the casino; multiple options for slots as well as tables are offered. We found the dealers all very welcoming and for the better part, engaging. Craps and Blackjack are our games and in both cases, the dealer can make or break the experience regardless of Lady Luck’s wink. Our craps adventure was anything butt (get it???). The dealers were welcoming and conversational, guiding and joking with the patrons. It was a wonderful atmosphere and lead to a party atmosphere. We had great fun and GREAT success! The bones showed plenty of meat for daddy!

Blackjack saw more of the same, but not necessarily to the same extent. In fact, we would be remiss in not mentioning, two dealers appeared to be ‘plain ole mean’ (as in, “you ain’t winnin’!”). They would be Emma Valentine and Captain James West (not their actual names, mind you, but see if you can guess where the characters are from). All in good fun.

Along with the mandatory gaming options, there were numerous lounges all within easy access including the piano bar variety (‘lounge lizard’ included), the concert stage at Rhythm & Riffs (each evening found an EXCEPTIONAL live band performing covers), the Eyecandy Sound Lounge (centrally located and buzzing with adult activity- what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!) and the must-visit Foundation Room and its best-view-in-Las-Vegas (our review titled, “I Can See For Miles and Miles and…” will soon follow).

Dining options within the resort are plentiful though our hands-down favorite was RM Seafood (our review titled, “THIS place!” will soon follow). There are other options including steak at Strip Steak and sushi at Kumi. There are certainly other offerings throughout to be found.

Speaking of the pool (Jill loves when I segue like that)… In all fairness, that was THE major determining factor in choosing the Mandalay Bay this trip. According to Jill, the pool had ‘it’… whatever ‘it’ is. As previously mentioned, Jill & I take our pool-time quite seriously. No one slacks by the pool better than her and me! As such, we wanted to find the correct balance between serenity and youthful exuberance. Fortunately, the Mandalay Bay Beach offers a variety of choices.

“Lazing On a Sunday Afternoon”

Ok, it wasn’t actually Sunday but Jill and I did plenty of laaaaaazing! In fact, we did so for about 4 days. Four VERY hot days!

Outside of cabanas offered at virtually every pool, one has quite a few scenes to choose from, beginning with MB Beach. The beach has its good points and perhaps one or two ‘not so good’ points.

The beach is a terrifically large and well-guarded wave pool. It provides plenty of space to enjoy the water. There are MANY sun bathing chairs available to choose from, as well, all located on sand. Unfortunately, they are on top of each other so it’s a little confining. Further, the best seats (located first row to the water), are premium- meaning, it’ll cost you!- and behind a red velvet rope, no less. We found this to be on the tackier side. Granted, everyone offers premium poolside seating but it’s typically day-beds, not chairs.

You have the West Lagoon, a pool located off to the right of the beach. It’s a very nice-sized pool with a good crowd. There are a respectable number of bathing chairs available. As with all of the pools, the area gets blasted by the sun, morning to early evening, which is great for the tan or burn. Jill decided to go ‘mano-a-mano’ with the LV sun, finally admitting defeat. Fortunately, I just LOVE burn, uh, I mean, tan lines! Admittedly, we spent most of our time here. That being said, we did notice that the music is rather loud on this ‘side of the world’ (though not as much as on the beach) and the poolside service on the slower side (probably a matter of location).

The East Lagoon would follow which is sort of behind the beach and diagonal to West Lagoon (Say what??? Don’t worry, you can’t miss it!). This was arguably our favorite spot. The pool had complete access to the sun from start to finish, the music was loud/low enough and service was consistent and there is more than enough seating to go around. The downside; it was only open on Friday which leads us to believe it’s a weekend ‘thang’.

The Lazy River… very standard and decompressing. Though we took a pass on it, it was clear that EVERYONE who took the ride, enjoyed it immensely. One important point; we saw tubes being purchased by some and yet others clearly marked as MB property. I do believe a person would ultimately have to pay for a tube any way you slice it.

Finally, we have Toptional, which is a premium access (really???) bathing top-optional pool. As one would imagine, women get in for gratis, and men pay for the privilege. Now, I was curious to experience this European-inspired theme (aka, take a gander at some tata’s) and Jill was fine with it (what a gal!), but ultimately, why bother when the best ‘set’ is lying next to me. Me like Jill’s Golden Tata’s!

There is poolside service available and the drinks are made quite well. BUT, there’s a ‘buy the larger size drink and get refills at lower cost’ racket with this. Maybe it’s us, but we’re not big on the whole ‘nickel & dime’ thing. The food, on the other hand, is straight forward and GREAT, and we found it to be quite generous in offering!

All in all, it’s a great layout with many choices, all of great quality! Perfect for lazing about! Now THAT was time well-wasted!

After a delightful last night in Vegas, Jill and I fell asleep quite happy and awoke (begrudgingly) with the same smile on our collective face. Our experience at the Bay at the Mandalay Resort & Casino was a hit! It was a good value for our TIME and money.

Next year? “All Hail Caesar!”