Mgm vs Mandalay bay vs other

First time going to vegas with a few buddies (late 20's - early 30's) and we are taking advantage of the best hotels, best rewards promotion at mgm resorts. We booked the aria for the Friday and Saturday and are not sure where to stay Sunday to Tuesday. We want to move to another hotel and was thinking of mgm until people started recommending the Mandalay Bay. Any suggestions? We would rather stay at a mgm resort to take advantage of he food credit.

I hear Mandalay bay has one of the worst locations

 

Mandalay is not convienient to other hotel locations.

 

Mandalay Bay is the first hotel on the strip, so yea it's far down. But it's awesome! Definitely one of my favorite hotels. They have a huge beach if you like going to the pool, it's really cool. Also there is a lot of great dining, Border Grill is my favorite! and Stripsteak is delicious!. They have a huge casino too, I like gambling there. There is also easy access to Luxor and Excalibur by tram for cheap dining. Also Luxor has some great shows (Carrot Top!). Mandalay Bay's rooms are a little outdated, but perfectly fine, and clean. So while it's a little far, I find there is so much to do there, it's not that big of a deal.

MGM is good too, it's HUGE, which is awesome, but also can be an issue as it's hard to get a cab, and everything is far, and check-in lines are long. Their rooms are remodeled though, they are very nice. The rooms are a little smaller than Mandalay's I would say. The location isn't great there either. It's the first hotel on the other side.. It's still a bit of a hike to anything beyond NYNY or Monte Carlo.

Honestly you can't go wrong with either, I would probably go with whoever was offering a better deal. You are at Aria which is the best location for a few days, can't hurt to be in a different spot like Mandalay for the rest of your trip.

 

As always, it depends on what you are looking for. Both Mandalay Bay and MGM are good for different reasons. I like Mandalay Bay a little more. But what, exactly, are you looking for besides an MGM property?

 

We are all single so looking to party a little but. Although, not looking for rowdy immature crowd. Our frat party days are behind us. Also a good pool for the August weather but it already looks like both pools are awesome.

 

Mandalay Bay has a top-optional pool, Moorea Beach, if that is of interest to you

 

hmm, both are good for that. IMO, the MB pool is more fun and trends slightly older than the MGM pool. Both have new clubs if you are into that scene

 

I am in your age bracket, and I have stayed at both hotels multiple times. I would choose MGM, as it has more of a party vibe than MB (in my opinion).

You really can't go wrong, but MGM in August with a group of friends your age is tough to beat. Great pool, remodeled rooms, good location, Hakkasan onsite, and great dining for all price ranges.

 

Stay at aria. You're not there anywhere near long enough to warrant a hotel switch just because.

 

Where switching to get an other food credit per room (stay two nights get a credit per room). Your right that it might not be worth switching for a 5 day trip but if we choose just one hotel it probably won't be aria. Too expensive. I guess we are open to any hotels just the deal that mgm has right now seems the best.

 

Could you get two credits by checking out of the Aria and check in again at the same hotel under the name of one of your friends?

 

I love Mandalay Bay. Best pool, great dining, very nice sports book and I love to go up on the patio at Mixx (64th floor) and have a few drinks and a cigar.

 

I agree that switching hotels will be a pain and not worth it.

 

For that long of stay, switching hotels is probably not worth it. Mandalay Bay has greatly improved recently. They added Light nightclub which is a tier1 club, and DayLight for the pool scene. Because of this, the vibe in the casino has increased as well. But you are going during the week, so it may not be as useful.

 

just got back from Mandalay Bay Sun-Wed. Awesome pool complex but keep in mind that most the people at the pool are families with little kids during the summer months. Everyone was having a good time and nice and friendly but if being around kids isn't your thing, keep it in mind. Not sure how MGM is for that, only stayed there in the winter.
Someone mentioned Moorea, the toptional pool. We haven't been yet but from the reviews I read, most people go there to get away from the kids and enjoy some peace and quiet LOL.

The only downside to Mandalay Bay is it's on the southern end of the strip. Granted there's a tram that runs up to the corner at Excalibur, NYNY and MGM, the hours are pretty limited. Was 9am-10:30pm this week. Security said they were expanding it to 6am next week due to a trade show. Needless to say after seeing a show and dinner at Bacchanal we just hopped on the deuce to get back "home", another night we took a cab from TI (Treasure Island) back to Mandalay Bay.

 

I've stayed at both and here's what I can tell you from my perspective:

Hotel: Mandalay Bay is better. Have bigger rooms and floor to ceiling windows. Ask for a strip view and you'll get one of the best views of the city, especially at night.

Location: MGM is better. Mandalay is too far down the strip making it difficult to walk to other hotels. MGM has the NYNY catwalk across the strip which is very convenient.

Pool: Depends on what your looking for. Mandalay Bay has a better pool property yes BUT way too many families and kids. I felt there is more of a party at MGM Grand and I personally think their lazy river is better. If your looking for the younger crowd, MGM wins IMO

Casino: MGM is better. Mandalay is more chill and seems less busy. MGM seems to always have a buzz with more action at their tables. MGM wins.

I don't think you can go wrong with either. It depends on what's important to you. I would give the slight edge to MGM Grand because it has a better location and seems to have more of a buzz than Mandalay Bay.

 

This is 100% accurate. Well said.

 

I like both.

MGM Grand pros:
- Location, you can get on the monorail and go quite a few places
- Lots of top fine dining options
- Good gambling, huge casino floor

Mandalay Bay pros:
- Nicer rooms than MGM
- Location isn't as bad as people say it is, there is a tram to Excalibur and from there its an easy walk to MGM Grand
- If you like to eat cheap its easy to get to Excalibur's new food court which has tons of different fast food options, pretty awesome especially since you said you are all young looking to party, nothing better than hitting these spots after a night of being hammered.
- If your a pool person, arguably the best spot in Vegas

MGM Grand cons:
- smaller rooms than MB

Mandalay Bay cons:
- Location - and I say that lighty due to above reasoning
- Not as big of a floor space for gaming, but plenty because there are fewer people typically

 

Agree completely with what bswim said about the MB pool. We were also here from Sun-Wed and were completely disappointed with the pool experience. Way too many families/kids running around. We're not the "toptional" type, but were seriously considering paying the $ to get into Moorea to get away from the kids. The other significant con of MB is the location as others mentioned. It's way too far down the strip and the late night walks back to the hotel got to be a bit of a chore (especially since the tram shuts down at 10:30 on weekdays and 12:30 on weekends). Action on the MGM casino floor felt a bit more exciting, but we actually found the Mirage to be the best of the 4 MGM resorts we gambled in (MB, Luxor, MGM, Mirage). All in all, our experiences at MB were underwhelming and we won't consider them for our next trip to Vegas.

 

For a first time visit MB but don't stay there.