Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino

The service in this place is the worst. We chose the hotel thinking it would be more fun for the kids than the places we usually stay on the other end of the strip, but that was a huge mistake. I tried calling guest services and concierge with questions and it said there was a 20 min wait time. You can’t go to the front desk to ask b/c it’s over a 20 min wait time. I sat on the phone for room service for 15 min b/c the online ordering doesn’t allow you to get a half and half pizza and the kids don’t like the same things. When they finally answered the phone got disconnected or she just hung up b4 I could say anything and they didn’t call me back. We went to the pool on a sunny afternoon when it was almost 80 degrees. It felt really warm outside but the water in the wave pool, regular pools, and lazy river is so cold my son made it 5 minutes b4 demanding I take him to the hot tub b/c he was freezing and my daughters made it ten minutes. A lifeguard warned me we wouldn’t be able to get into the hot tub b/c all the freezing kids were in there and he was right. I can see it being hard to heat a wave pool that big, but even the smaller pools were really cold. The kids did the lazy river once b/c that was too cold. And if you want to float the river it’s $50 for a regular sized intertube. And $30 for the little ones. No rentals. Why would I pay $150 for 3 kids when it’s too cold to stay in there? Also, the location stinks for most things and our view was mediocre. Thankfully we went to great shows elsewhere so the kids had a good time. I’ve stayed at The Wynn, Venetian, and Bellagio and had great experiences. The rooms may be a little pricier but Mandalay overcharges for everything and nothing is included so doesn’t even feel like we saved anything. We will never stay here again.

First, let’s start with the positives. The room was huge and beautiful. The bathroom was as well, and complete with a big soaking tub. We had a great view of the entire pool complex. The hotel itself has many different price varieties of meal choices, and having the Michael Jackson one show on site is very convenient. We love the hidden speakeasy as well. The online check-in process is super easy, and our room was ready well ahead of time. Now, the negatives. The first full day of our stay housekeeping did not clean our room. I spoke with the floor supervisor, a bell desk clerk, and use the online concierge to request it being cleaned. Instead, they came in and dumped a giant pile of towels on the dirty counter while we were out and left. We could not get near the front desk that day to ask about this because the line was always extremely long . They seem very understaffed. We did get there the next morning after a slightly shorter line and a front desk clerk was extremely helpful and resolved the problem as well as comping our resort fees because of this. The hotel, and especially the pool complex, had more kids during our stay than my last trip to Disney World. I was glad I rented chairs for the pool a couple weeks ahead of time, otherwise you would never find one. As an adult, don’t expect to be in the hot tub either because it is literally a cesspool stuffed with unsupervised children. There are no adult only areas like some other MGM properties have. There were eight elevators for our tower, but there is no way they were all working. Several times there was a huge line snaking out into the lobby to get up to your room in one of them. When we were going to check out, we were running the risk of missing our flight because we spent at least 20 minutes in line waiting to go down. Every single time one stopped on the floor it was full. Finally, we had to stuff ourselves in one going up in order to go back down and get out of the hotel. They don’t allow you to exit in the stairs, it blocks you in. There should be a priority elevator for people who need to check out, as it seemed as most were waiting just to go to the pool. This is our sixth MGM property in Las Vegas and I will never stay here again. It is really too bad, there is a lot of potential.

This is a cautionary tale. Avoid their terrible mobile app for anything important. I tried to checkin via the text message / app and it completely messed up my reservation. They ended up downgrading my room and after I waited in their silly long front desk line for an hour they realized they screwed up but couldn't fix my reservation. Ridiculous. MGM has simply gotten too big and run by wall st that they've lost all sense of quality and are just now trying to extract money. I'm avoiding all MGM properties going forward, plenty of newer places and casinos that are actually functional and care about me as a customer.

Over an 8 hour wait for our room, 30-60 minute wait for any request no matter how trivial or important, $16+ for in room coffee

Upon arrival, our room was not ready until approximately 2½ hours after the check-in time I had selected. Unfortunately, my family had a scheduled event, and due to this delay, we were forced to attend without the opportunity to shower and change, which was extremely inconvenient. Additionally, I made several attempts to contact the front desk regarding this issue but was unable to reach anyone, as the phone lines went unanswered. When I went in person, the line at the front desk was consistently very long, making it difficult to get assistance in a timely manner. Another major concern was the pool. Despite the warm weather, the pool water was extremely cold. We specifically chose your hotel because of the pool amenities, and as a result, my children were only able to swim for about one hour during our five-day stay. Overall, this experience did not meet our expectations, and I am very disappointed.