Beach Crazy
Hostess With the Mostess
You will read some negative comments in this TR, but I assure you they were all minor incidents and we actually did have an awesome trip. I just think some of it is worth passing on. We also arrived on the Saturday of Memorial weekend, knowing well in advance that it would be very crowded and we could possibly have a few issues.
This trip was my annual Vegas trip with my two sisters. Also joining us this year were my Vegas virgin daughter, one of her GFs and my sisters BF, also a Vegas virgin.
Vegas Virgins first thoughts of Vegas:
VV #1 (daughter) “Man, all the people here are really rude.â€
VV #2 (BF) “I’ve never seen so many beautiful people in one place.â€
THEhotel at Mandalay Bay
We always like to stay mid-strip but decided to try something new this time and stay at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay.
Right off the bat I had trouble checking in. I had booked three rooms, all with two beds and two of the rooms smoking. Rooms were not ready after the 3 pm check in time even when showing my MGM credit card (one of the perks of having the card is early check in and late checkout). Actually they could only find two of the three bookings. The girl behind the desk was extremely slow. After spending around 45 minutes trying to get things straightened out I told her I had a spa appointment I wasn’t going to miss. She then informed me she would put a $150 credit on my room to use toward my spa treatment and the rooms would be ready by the time I was done.
After my spa visit we had keys to our three rooms, all non-smoking and only one of the three had the two beds we had requested. At this point we were tired of waiting so we took them. Of course I took the one with the two beds as I was going to have some of my favorite guests staying a night or two so we could party. VegasDrea, AngelChick and Baby Cougar showed up in no time.
Miss you guys!
As for the suites themselves, I absolutely loved them, especially having the extra half bath! My suite was on the 32nd floor and every night I could not only hear the music from MIX but I could also feel the vibration. It didn’t bother me, but if you’re a light sleeper you may want to request a lower floor. If you like lounging in a tub, like I do, the tubs here are great. They are not jacuzzi tubs just over sized tubs. The hotel itself is very nice. Fast elevators, good room service and housekeeping staff.
Side note: When I checked out, the $150 credit I was promised was not showing up so I had to spend some extra time getting that straitened out and I was not able to get a late checkout either.
Entrance to Hotel Lobby
Walk to Mandalay from THEhotel
Beautiful Fresh Flowers in halls everyday
Room 32912
Night View from Room
Mandalay Pool and Cabanas
The pools — what can I say…absolutely loved them… the walk outside from the hotel to the beach area made me feel like I was at Disneyland complete with turnstiles.
Knowing it was going to be very crowded that weekend I had booked cabanas for the first two days. This trip was also my daughters college graduation gift so I wanted to spoil her a bit...oh ok, and myself too :wink.
The first day we had a private garden bungalow. Absolutely loved the cabana and the privacy, but the service was sub-par. Once again, I know it was an extremely busy weekend, but when you are paying top dollar for a cabana, the service should be at it’s very best. In the past, I’ve had cabanas at Paris and Mirage and the service at both put Mandalay to shame. Needless to say it wasn’t so bad that I didn’t end up getting the very same cabana a couple days later. Even the BF came and joined us at the cabana for about a half an hour. That’s all he could spare away from the poker room. In fact, I don’t think he saw anything but the inside of MB’s poker room.
The second day we had an East Lagoon cabana. Same crappy service as the day before. Floats and tubes for the lazy river were supposed to be included with the cabana, but when we asked our host if we could get them, we were told they were all out. Needless to say we were not to happy when we had to go and purchase tubes for the lazy river. On the upside, it was a blast!
Walk to the Pool
Private Garden Bungalow
View of THEhotel from Bungalow
View around East Lagoon Cabana
Beach Area
LAX nightclub at Luxor
This was my first and last trip to this club. Maybe if I had a better host it may have turned out differently.
I had contacted a host at LAX several weeks in advance for bottle service on Saturday night. Bottle prices and minimum number of bottles were sky high that night as it was not only a holiday weekend but it was also the official after party of the USB fight. It was at my daughters request that we go, as she wanted to see the guys after the fight. So I lined up a host at LAX and requested a balcony table. She told me it was a four bottle minimum for balcony tables that night but we decided to go with it. She gave me her personal cell # and told me to call her when I arrived so we could schedule to meet early to get a prime table. When I called she asked us to be there by 9:30, which we did only to find several hundred other people already waiting in line. She told us to wait and another host would take us to our table. We must have waited half an hour, all the time watching as they took one group in after another. I thought Drea was gonna explode!
Finally, they took us in and to a table on the main floor off in a corner. I asked to be moved to a table next to the dance floor and was told they were full. I then explained to the host that I was told I would be getting a balcony table and could he get me one. Yes, he could, but it would be a five bottle minimum.
There were only seven of us and my daughter doesn’t really drink, so I decided to just stay where we were as we only had to get three bottles at that table. The place was packed and the dance floor was very tiny so we mostly just stayed at the table and drank our rather expensive three bottles of booze which at some point in the night I managed to knock off the table and spill all over myself (hope you’re happy Al!) and all the cell phones and cameras on the table. I thought my daughter would die of embarrassment! 
But, all was not lost. We did get to see a fight that night and let me say that chick was not gonna let her man get the best of her! And when we left, a rather friendly cowboy bought us breakfast. 
LAX - Baby Cougar, AngelChick, VegasDrea and Beach Crazy
Gambling
I am now the proud (or not-so-proud) owner of a $1 megabucks machine at Mandalay Bay. To say the gambling was bad is probably an understatement. I also played some blackjack at a few other casinos and had no luck there either. I did get to the cashier cage at the Palms, but that was just what I had left over from my buyin. At some point I ended up playing blackjack at Falcon Rob’s table…hey Rob, how much did you take from me anyway...things were a little fuzzy at that point.
Other Highlights
Here are some of the other places we stopped and either gambled, ate, drank, shopped or all four:
Downtown for the light show, Hogs & Heifers (which my daughter absolutely hated), Golden Nugget, Voodoo Lounge, Palms, dinner on the patio at Mon Ami Gabi, Paris, Planet Hollywood, Miracle Mile shops, MGM, Luxor, Excalibur, RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay, O’Shea’s, Caesar's, Mirage, Harrahs, M&M World, the inside of a couple limos, Fashion Show Mall, Rainforest Cafe and NYNY. Might have missed a few, but you get my point.
Downtown
Souvenir Photo of Mom and Daughter
Photos From the Light Show
View From Table at Mon Ami Gabi
Voodoo Lounge View
Some Closing Thoughts
Memorial weekend must be a very popular time for weddings in Vegas. Everywhere we went we saw brides and grooms. It was nice to see everyone congratulating them. Helped to ease my daughters mind about rude people in Vegas. She ended up liking it so much that I changed her flight to stay an extra night. The other VV in the group did the same thing.
Holiday weekends must also be a popular time for celebs - past and present - to hit Vegas. My daughter is definitely a people watcher. We had no more than walked into the lobby of THEhotel to check in when she came running up to show me a picture she had just taken with Kato Kaelin (of OJ fame). That seemed to continue the entire weekend. I think the funniest photo we have is of her GF with Shaq. She looks like a midget standing next to him. :evillaugh
All in all a very good trip. My daughter is ready for her second trip but I told her she’s on her own from here on out. I’m ready to go back without her so I can party at Carnival Court. After taking her to Hogs & Heifers and seeing her reaction I didn’t think it would be wise to take her to a bar where the bouncers and bartenders recognize me and set me up with freebies so I just kept walking!
Besides, it just wouldn’t be the same without Sin at my side!
Thanks for reading. :wave2:
This trip was my annual Vegas trip with my two sisters. Also joining us this year were my Vegas virgin daughter, one of her GFs and my sisters BF, also a Vegas virgin.
Vegas Virgins first thoughts of Vegas:
VV #1 (daughter) “Man, all the people here are really rude.â€
VV #2 (BF) “I’ve never seen so many beautiful people in one place.â€
THEhotel at Mandalay Bay
We always like to stay mid-strip but decided to try something new this time and stay at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay.
Right off the bat I had trouble checking in. I had booked three rooms, all with two beds and two of the rooms smoking. Rooms were not ready after the 3 pm check in time even when showing my MGM credit card (one of the perks of having the card is early check in and late checkout). Actually they could only find two of the three bookings. The girl behind the desk was extremely slow. After spending around 45 minutes trying to get things straightened out I told her I had a spa appointment I wasn’t going to miss. She then informed me she would put a $150 credit on my room to use toward my spa treatment and the rooms would be ready by the time I was done.
After my spa visit we had keys to our three rooms, all non-smoking and only one of the three had the two beds we had requested. At this point we were tired of waiting so we took them. Of course I took the one with the two beds as I was going to have some of my favorite guests staying a night or two so we could party. VegasDrea, AngelChick and Baby Cougar showed up in no time.
Miss you guys!As for the suites themselves, I absolutely loved them, especially having the extra half bath! My suite was on the 32nd floor and every night I could not only hear the music from MIX but I could also feel the vibration. It didn’t bother me, but if you’re a light sleeper you may want to request a lower floor. If you like lounging in a tub, like I do, the tubs here are great. They are not jacuzzi tubs just over sized tubs. The hotel itself is very nice. Fast elevators, good room service and housekeeping staff.
Side note: When I checked out, the $150 credit I was promised was not showing up so I had to spend some extra time getting that straitened out and I was not able to get a late checkout either.
Entrance to Hotel Lobby
Walk to Mandalay from THEhotel
Beautiful Fresh Flowers in halls everyday
Room 32912
Night View from Room
Mandalay Pool and Cabanas
The pools — what can I say…absolutely loved them… the walk outside from the hotel to the beach area made me feel like I was at Disneyland complete with turnstiles.
Knowing it was going to be very crowded that weekend I had booked cabanas for the first two days. This trip was also my daughters college graduation gift so I wanted to spoil her a bit...oh ok, and myself too :wink.The first day we had a private garden bungalow. Absolutely loved the cabana and the privacy, but the service was sub-par. Once again, I know it was an extremely busy weekend, but when you are paying top dollar for a cabana, the service should be at it’s very best. In the past, I’ve had cabanas at Paris and Mirage and the service at both put Mandalay to shame. Needless to say it wasn’t so bad that I didn’t end up getting the very same cabana a couple days later. Even the BF came and joined us at the cabana for about a half an hour. That’s all he could spare away from the poker room. In fact, I don’t think he saw anything but the inside of MB’s poker room.
The second day we had an East Lagoon cabana. Same crappy service as the day before. Floats and tubes for the lazy river were supposed to be included with the cabana, but when we asked our host if we could get them, we were told they were all out. Needless to say we were not to happy when we had to go and purchase tubes for the lazy river. On the upside, it was a blast!
Walk to the Pool
Private Garden Bungalow
View of THEhotel from Bungalow
View around East Lagoon Cabana
Beach Area
LAX nightclub at Luxor
This was my first and last trip to this club. Maybe if I had a better host it may have turned out differently.
I had contacted a host at LAX several weeks in advance for bottle service on Saturday night. Bottle prices and minimum number of bottles were sky high that night as it was not only a holiday weekend but it was also the official after party of the USB fight. It was at my daughters request that we go, as she wanted to see the guys after the fight. So I lined up a host at LAX and requested a balcony table. She told me it was a four bottle minimum for balcony tables that night but we decided to go with it. She gave me her personal cell # and told me to call her when I arrived so we could schedule to meet early to get a prime table. When I called she asked us to be there by 9:30, which we did only to find several hundred other people already waiting in line. She told us to wait and another host would take us to our table. We must have waited half an hour, all the time watching as they took one group in after another. I thought Drea was gonna explode!
Finally, they took us in and to a table on the main floor off in a corner. I asked to be moved to a table next to the dance floor and was told they were full. I then explained to the host that I was told I would be getting a balcony table and could he get me one. Yes, he could, but it would be a five bottle minimum.
There were only seven of us and my daughter doesn’t really drink, so I decided to just stay where we were as we only had to get three bottles at that table. The place was packed and the dance floor was very tiny so we mostly just stayed at the table and drank our rather expensive three bottles of booze which at some point in the night I managed to knock off the table and spill all over myself (hope you’re happy Al!) and all the cell phones and cameras on the table. I thought my daughter would die of embarrassment! But, all was not lost. We did get to see a fight that night and let me say that chick was not gonna let her man get the best of her!
And when we left, a rather friendly cowboy bought us breakfast. LAX - Baby Cougar, AngelChick, VegasDrea and Beach Crazy
Gambling
I am now the proud (or not-so-proud) owner of a $1 megabucks machine at Mandalay Bay. To say the gambling was bad is probably an understatement. I also played some blackjack at a few other casinos and had no luck there either. I did get to the cashier cage at the Palms, but that was just what I had left over from my buyin. At some point I ended up playing blackjack at Falcon Rob’s table…hey Rob, how much did you take from me anyway...things were a little fuzzy at that point.
Other Highlights
Here are some of the other places we stopped and either gambled, ate, drank, shopped or all four:
Downtown for the light show, Hogs & Heifers (which my daughter absolutely hated), Golden Nugget, Voodoo Lounge, Palms, dinner on the patio at Mon Ami Gabi, Paris, Planet Hollywood, Miracle Mile shops, MGM, Luxor, Excalibur, RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay, O’Shea’s, Caesar's, Mirage, Harrahs, M&M World, the inside of a couple limos, Fashion Show Mall, Rainforest Cafe and NYNY. Might have missed a few, but you get my point.
Downtown
Souvenir Photo of Mom and Daughter
Photos From the Light Show
View From Table at Mon Ami Gabi
Voodoo Lounge View
Some Closing Thoughts
Memorial weekend must be a very popular time for weddings in Vegas. Everywhere we went we saw brides and grooms. It was nice to see everyone congratulating them. Helped to ease my daughters mind about rude people in Vegas. She ended up liking it so much that I changed her flight to stay an extra night. The other VV in the group did the same thing.
Holiday weekends must also be a popular time for celebs - past and present - to hit Vegas. My daughter is definitely a people watcher. We had no more than walked into the lobby of THEhotel to check in when she came running up to show me a picture she had just taken with Kato Kaelin (of OJ fame). That seemed to continue the entire weekend. I think the funniest photo we have is of her GF with Shaq. She looks like a midget standing next to him. :evillaugh
All in all a very good trip. My daughter is ready for her second trip but I told her she’s on her own from here on out. I’m ready to go back without her so I can party at Carnival Court. After taking her to Hogs & Heifers and seeing her reaction I didn’t think it would be wise to take her to a bar where the bouncers and bartenders recognize me and set me up with freebies so I just kept walking!
Besides, it just wouldn’t be the same without Sin at my side!Thanks for reading. :wave2:
And sure, you rubbed it in w/ the pics from H&H and the pool, but that's OK, I was bonding with Bailey 
Yeah, Ok, it doesn't compare! Oh, and compeltely agree, no more LAX! 
