As with every big hotel in Vegas its no surprise that this hotel gets mixed reviews, but I absolutely loved it.

Initially slightly put off by the end of strip location and proximity to the airport, but you soon realise that if you are girl wearing heels then you'll be cabbing it anyway and you can't hear the planes either.

Again - as with most of the hotels in Vegas there are plenty of restaurants (my favourite being Raffles) for a variety of budgets and tastes. There is tons of entertainment and bars as well - but in the 2 days that we were there we could barely scratch the tip of what the MB has to offer.

The pool is a main draw - although personally I found the main pools too crowded and noisy. However there was a lovely pool just set off from the main pools which was much quieter and relaxing. You could even put your chairs in the pool and read a book which was a bonus when the temperatures soared to 107.

The bedrooms are large and airy and have all the facilities required. A lovely bath, huge shower and plenty of big fluffy towels (a must). Staff are on hand 24 hours a day and nothing seems to be too much trouble. Loved the floor to ceiling windows and also liked being able to watch the planes come in to land and take off.

We stayed at The Hotel for 3 nights in October 2008, and despite some issues with the room, we had a great time at the resort. This is my second time staying at The Hotel (first was in May 2007). This most recent stay, we definitely noticed a lot more wear and tear in the room - upon arrival we had a very dusty room that clearly hadn't been cleaned or used in a while. The desk chair was broken as well as the door under the sink. We felt that the hotel service was so/so when we arrived (bell service took over an hour & we were forced to wait in our room to receive the bags). We would recommend that travelers skip the bell service so they are not stuck waiting in their room - they will not leave the bags if you're not there. All of these issues were resolved though & we enjoyed our stay.

On the whole, we loved the apartment feel of the room & the separate living room & extra bathroom. The bathroom is luxury all the way & there are three TVs in the room (bathroom, bedroom & living room). We liked the living room, especially to meet up w/ friends before going out.

We absolutely loved Mandalay Bay itself. Everyone was so friendly & the service, despite the small issues above, was excellent. In terms of gambling, the casino is very nice & the hotel attracts more of a sophisticated crowd in their late 20s/early 30s and up. You will not find the "fratastic" element here. The sports book is very cool as well. And, of course, we are hooked on Starbucks & loved that there was one in the hotel.

As for shopping, go to Caesars - there's just not much at Mandalay. Also skip the House of Blues for breakfast - not that great. We liked the 24 hour restaurant for basic lunches & late night snacks - great variety & good service.

The pool has recently been redone & it definitely felt like I was walking into an amusement park/Wally World - checking in through the turnstiles, food court, etc. We rented a cabana & thought it was worth it, especially for the shade & the TV. We were in the West Lagoon area though, which was definitely not the place to be - exceptionally tame. I would recommend getting a cabana either in East Lagoon or by the Beach - much more people watching & fun.

The conceirge service was excellent - you should use them to book all of your reservations. They saved us a lot of hassle & made our trip much better.

All in, we give The Hotel a B+.

our hotel room was broken into while we were sleeping and our purses and wallets were stollen!!! When we contacted security they acted as though they could care less. They also even tried to say it was our fault! They claim they have no camera's in the hallways, how can that be at a hotel like this? They have cameras everywhere! I even gave them the time frame when we got in the room till when we woke up that they could check. Later that morning we found the purses behind a vending machine, with all the cash removed. The wallets were not found. There was also someones elses wallet behind the vending machine, but not our party. Apparently another room was also robbed!!!! The hotel has yet to even say sorry let alone give us any compensation of any kind. Regardless of the cash and watch that were stolen you pay for some sort of security in a hotel and there was absolutly none in this hotel. We could have been beaten, knifed, shot, who knows. I will never stay there again and everyone should be aware that they have a theft problem and are doing NOTHING about it.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THEHotel was a comfortable hotel but we felt a bit out on a limb. Although the free monorail goes down to Excalibur it just felt a bit to far off the Strip. The room we had was brilliant, large and clean but the lighting within was poor and we felt like we wanted to get out into daylight to see some daylight. It's also great that the hotel is no smoking and the parking is free. I couldn't fault the place at all but I personally wouldn't go back for the above reasons. If you are going drop them an email before you go and request a room on a high floor facing the strip if possible....you'll get a great view.