Mandalay Bay

Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino is a 43-story luxury hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, owned and operated by MGM Resorts International. One of the property's towers operates as the Delano, also the Four Seasons Hotel is independently operated within the Mandalay Bay tower, occupying 5 floors (35â€"39).

Mandalay Bay has 3,309 hotel rooms, 24 elevators and a casino of 135,000 square feet (12,500 m²). Adjacent to the hotel are the 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m²) Mandalay Bay Convention Center and the 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center. The Mandalay Bay Tram connects the resort to its sister properties, Excalibur and Luxor, all three of which were constructed by Circus Circus Enterprises before its sale to MGM.

§History

Circus Circus Enterprises bought the Hacienda for $80 million in 1995. They closed it on December 1, 1996, and imploded it on New Year's Eve, 1996. The Mandalay Bay project was introduced on December 31, 1996, as Hawaiian-themed, "Project Paradise" and had a cost of $950 million. In February 1998, the project was renamed Mandalay Bay, despite the fact there is no actual bay in the inland city of Mandalay, the city in Burma.

During construction engineers discovered vertical movements and particularly differential movements ('dishing') between the tower core and the wings. The tower core was sinking at a rate of ¹â„₂ to ³â„₄ inch (13 to 19 mm) per week and the wings were sinking at a slower rate causing differential distortion between the column bays. If these movements were not stopped, severe structural damage would occur and the building would have been at risk of eventual collapse. Construction was halted while a solution was developed and implemented. The solution proved to be the installation of micro-piles (formerly marketed as 'Pin Piles') filled with grout 200 feet (61 m) deep below the structure each capped with a hydraulic jack to stabilize the structure at the desired vertical height to carry the weight. Since then, there have not been any reports of this problem recurring.

The resort opened on March 2, 1999, with actors Dan Aykroyd, James Belushi, and John Goodman headlining a parade of Harley-Davidson motorcycles through Mandalay Bay's front doors to celebrate the grand opening.

In June 1999, Circus Circus changed its name to Mandalay Resort Group.

The convention center was added in January 2003. When it opened, it was ranked as the fifth largest in the United States. It also offered the largest unobstructed ballroom in the country, at 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²).

On May 23, 2002, the Mandalay Resort Group announced a second 1,122-room hotel tower, with a cost of at least $200 million. Construction began on the tower in September 2002. The name of the tower, THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, was chosen in September 2003. The tower opened on December 17, 2003.

In February 2005, Mandalay Resort Group was sold to MGM Mirage, who currently own the resort. The acquisition was finalized on April 25, 2005.

§Hotel

The gold coloring of the hotel is a result of gold leaf used on the windows.

§Delano Las Vegas

The resort's second tower, with 42 stories and 1,120 suites, previously operated as THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, now operates as Delano Las Vegas. Each suite is at least 750 square feet (70 m²). The top floor is a restaurant and bar called Mix.

§Four Seasons Hotel

Five floors (floors 35â€"39) of the main hotel building are occupied by the five-star and AAA Five-Diamond Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas. The top 3 floors (numbered as floors 60-62) are penthouses, with a penthouse lounge on level 62 for guests staying in the penthouses.

§Attractions

§Shows

Mamma Mia! was a long-running stage production at Mandalay Bay which closed in early January 2009. The show was replaced with Disney's The Lion King, which opened on May 15, 2009. Its run ended in 2011 to make way for Michael Jackson: One, by Cirque du Soleil, which opened May 2013.

Another popular attraction is the House of Blues, a venue for live music and a restaurant, with a capacity of approximately 1,800. On the top floor of the hotel is the House of Blues Foundation Room, featuring a dining room, private dining rooms, and a balcony looking down the Las Vegas Strip.

§Mandalay Beach

Mandalay Beach is an 11 acres (4.5 ha) pool area with three heated pools, a wave pool with connecting pool for small children, and a lazy river that features a small waterfall. The wave pool features 1.6 million gallons of water and waves in 90-second intervals with heights ranging anywhere from two to four feet. Because of this, it has a strict 48" height requirement. The European-style pool, called Moorea, features its own private bar as well as the allowance of female guests to bathe topless. Because of this, Moorea is separated from the rest of the pool by smoked glass windows and has an over-21 requirement. There are also two restaurants at the Beach. The pool area won the Las Vegas Review Journal's Reader's "Best Pool of Las Vegas" award for seven years in a row. One pool remains open throughout the winter months.

§Shark Reef Aquarium

In keeping with the resort's tropical theme, it features a saltwater aquarium, the Shark Reef Aquarium, which contains the third largest tank in North America. Shark Reef Aquarium contains numerous other exhibits, including two tunnel-shaped, walk-through aquarium.

§Mandalay Bay Events Center

The Mandalay Bay Events Center, a 12,000-seat arena, hosts major events including concerts, boxing matches, and Ultimate Fighting Championship events. It has played host to the Latin Grammy Awards several times, and the Miss Universe pageant.

§Mandalay Bay Convention Center

This 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m²) facility is one of the largest privately owned convention centers in the world. It has several ballrooms ranging in size up to 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²), and can support up to 75 breakout sessions.

§Shopping

A shopping mall called Mandalay Place is located between Mandalay Bay and Luxor.

§Restaurants

There are 24 restaurants at the resort. Michael Mina, Alain Ducasse, Rick Moonen, Charlie Palmer, Hubert Keller, Wolfgang Puck, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger are all associated with restaurants on the property.

§Bars and lounges

• *LIGHT Nightclub
• *Daylight Beach Club
• Evening Call
• Eyecandy Lounge
• Mix Lounge
• O.N.E. Oasis Bar
• Orchid Lounge
• *PRESS at Four Seasons
• Sports Book Lounge
• THElounge
• Foundation Room

§Media references

§Film and television

• Play It to the Bone 1999
• Oceans 11 2001 - Foreground shot when the 'pinch' knocks out power
• Las Vegas 2003â€"2005 - was the interior of the fictional Montecito casino
• Fear Factor 2003
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 2006â€"2008 - From opening credits as a symbol of Las Vegas.
• Rocky Balboa 2006
• Ocean's Thirteen 2007
• Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List 2007
• The Hangover 2009 - various background shots.
• Wisin & Yandel - Te Siento (promotional video).
• Top Chef 2009 - Bryan Voltaggio used the resort for his inspiration for his dish.
• The Amazing Race 15 2009 - Team members had to rappel down the building.
• What Happens in Vegas 2008 - The group heads off to Las Vegas.
• Defiance (TV series) 2012 - supplementary material states that it was converted into a for-profit prison
• Modern Family 2014 - setting of the episode "Las Vegas"
• Dominion (TV series) 2014 - establishing shot of the city in the pilot episode shows it to be battle-damaged and outside the fortified protective wall

§Music

• "Me and My Monkey", from the album Escapology by Robbie Williams, 2002
• "No Beef" Afrojack & Steve Aoki (Featuring Miss Palmer) 2011

§References

§External links

• Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino