Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

SOUTH STRIP 77
bobbing in the miniwaves is delightful, as is floating happily in the lazy river
(tubes available for rental—we say, save some bucks and share a tube with friends,
taking turns using it). All in all, this area alone makes this resort a top choice for
families. What doesn’t is the new topless swimming area that opened in 2003.
The health club is sufficiently stocked to give you a good workout (it should
be, as they charge guests $22 per day to use it). The spa area proper—featuring
hot and warm pools, plus a cold plunge—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.
3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S. (at Hacienda Ave.), Las Vegas, NV 89119. & 877/632-7000 or 702/632-7000. Fax
702/632-7228. www.mandalaybay.com. 3,309 units. From $99 standard double; from $149 suite; from $149
House of Blues Signature Rooms. Extra person $35, no discount for children. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Free self- and
valet parking. Amenities: Casino; 12,000-seat events center; 1,700-seat performing-arts theater; 13 restaurants;
4 outdoor pools; health club and spa; Jacuzzi; sauna; watersports equipment/rental; concierge; tour desk;
business center; 24-hr. room service; in-room massage; babysitting; laundry service; dry cleaning; nonsmoking
rooms; executive-level rooms. In room: A/C, TV w/pay movies, dataport, hair dryer, iron and board, safe.
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino Kids Vegas goes back and forth on its position
on whether size does matter, and the MGM Grand is a perfect example of
that. When it first opened, the massive glaring green behemoth was the largest
hotel in town, with a casino to match—and its owners were mighty proud of it,
boasting still further of their family-appropriateness, as typified by the theme
park that was originally in the back. But times and emphasis change, and with
everyone else in Vegas moving away from the pseudo-family-friendly direction
to the whole luxury-resort persona, the MGM Grand had no choice but to follow.
So if you book here thinking your kids are still welcome, you should think
again. The amusement park in the back is gone, and so is the Wizard of Oz
theme that originally gave the hotel its identity. Instead, there are striptease
shows and a lounge called Tabu. That sort of thing certainly sends a message.
Consider also the place’s size. The hotel management now downplays the
once touted hugeness, trying to pretend that the really big casino is actually several
medium-big casinos. Whatever. Despite plenty of signage, it is still a
lengthy, confusing schlep from anywhere to anywhere. The 80 42-inch TV
monitors (apprising registering guests of hotel happenings) in the otherwise
lovely and vast white-marble lobby only add to the chaotic confusion a guest
might feel—all the worse if you are toting kids. (At least the lobby is now immediately
accessible from the outside world.)
On the absolute plus side, we are just knocked out by the Grand Tower
rooms. No cookie-cutter, generic, upscale-but-forgettably-bland furniture
here—instead, it’s a modern-day homage to 1930s moderne, all clean, curvy
lines, good wood, and a fun palette of colors, plus black-and-white movie-star
glamour photos. The results are some of the most distinctive rooms on the
Strip—and even if there are a heck of a lot of them, they are the best choice in
town in their price range. The Emerald Tower rooms (about 700 of the hotel’s
total rooms) are a whole lot less grand. The remnants of the old Marina Hotel,
these rooms are plainer (and smaller by about 100 sq. ft.) and more run of the
mill (though the windows have shutters, which is semi-nifty). The expanded
pool area is another victory, with several choices for dunking including a lazy
river (though we wish portions of it weren’t closed off for nonsummer months).
Overall, report guests, the staff couldn’t be more friendly and helpful.