VegasChatter

Tags: Deals / Room Rates / Mandalay Bay / THEhotel / Packages / → All Tags

Mandalay Bay's New Deal Will Leave Your Wallet and Your Stomach Heavier

We personally haven’t been able to touch a buffet since our epic seven in 24 hours stint a couple of months back, but we understand that those of you who aren’t similarly scarred are fond of the old all you can eat. So you might be interested in the latest deal from Mandalay Bay.

Stay two nights and as well as your room, the All Day Buffet package gives you two all day buffet passes to fill your little tummies with. Even better, the rates advertised are from $65 for Mandalay Bay, and $85 for THEhotel.

Obviously those rates are too much to hope for. Looking at availability this morning, there are a fair few $86 rates at Mandalay in August and a couple of $70s in September, but to get a $66 deal, you’ll have to wait till November 21.

As for THEhotel, there are a few $100 rates scattered through August (nice!) and some $96s in September. You can score a $90 room for October 31 or your $86 on 21 November.

more ›

Tags: Snapshot / Do Not Do / Mandalay Bay / Concerts / Hussong's Cantina / → All Tags

You'll Need a Hussong's Margarita to Cope With the Queues at Mandalay Bay

The line 30 minutes in

A word of advice if you’re thinking of taking up Hussong's Cantina on their Grub for Stub offer: leave plenty of time to do it.

We popped to Hussong’s for a quick margarita before the Rihanna concert at Mandalay Bay on Saturday. Nicely loaded, we headed over to the gig at 7.45 (the concert was due to start at 7.30), only to find the Will Call queue about twice the size of the Caesars check in line at 6pm on a Friday.

The upshot? We queued for a good 45 minutes, missed Ke$ha, who was opening, and finally took to our seats to find the place less than half empty – the other half of the audience being in the queue to pick up their tickets still. What a fun Saturday night!

more ›

Tags: Food / Restaurants / Concerts / Mandalay Bay / Hussong's Cantina / → All Tags

'Grub for Stub' at Hussong's Cantina Before the Concerts

We've already told you where the best pre-show dinners are as well as what are this summer's hottest concerts but now there's an option for you to gnosh before you mosh at Hussong's Cantina. Or as they're calling it--Grub for Stub.

The restaurant is inviting concert goers with tickets to shows at Mandalay Bay or Mandalay Beach to show up early, park in valet at The Shoppes at Mandalay Bay and head into Hussong's with their ticket stubs. Upon showing the waiter their concert tickets, diners will get a complimentary appetizer with the purchase of an entree.

more ›

Tags: Cashing Out / Mandalay Bay / Concerts / → All Tags

These Ladies Will Not Be Working The Pole Tonight

We find the Lilith Fair concert tonight at Mandalay Bay Beach to be both refreshing and perplexing. On the one hand, we're all like: Finally! Some positive female role models, not to mention some extremely talented women, are coming into town sans clear heels, fist-pumping and napkins-turned-barely there dresses.

On the other hand we're like: Lilith Fair? In Vegas? But what will they do here? And why do we suddenly feel like wearing black, donning Doc Martins and lighting a candle?

Still, if you've always wanted to see Elizaveta, Sarah McLachlan, Miranda Lambert, Susan Justice, Queen Latifah, The Bangles, A Fine Frenzy and Emmylou Harris all perform in one night, now's your chance. Tickets range from $50-$150 but hurry and buy now! The show starts in three and a half hours.

more ›

Tags: Interviews / Shows / Cast Member Confessions / The Lion King / Mandalay Bay / Kissy Simmons / Vegas in LA / → All Tags

Cast Member Confessions: Why You Shouldn't Be Late to 'The Lion King'

It's no secret that we love the shows of Vegas but after seeing so many, we've become curious about the cast members who star in them! So every once in a while, VegasChatter will be doing Cast Member Confessions--interviews with talented Vegas cast members about life on and off the stage, scandalous or not. Know of a cast member we should talk to? Tell us who!

Previously, we've told you what not to do when visiting Vegas but there's one thing we strongly recommend you should do when in town--and that's to go see a show. Too often Vegas shows get overlooked because visitors are so distracted by everything else from the casinos to the malls, restaurants, pool scenes, nightclubs and the big A--alcohol.

But seeing a show not only enriches your Vegas experience (and keeps you from losing money at the tables for a few hours), you'll also see some mighty talented people hard at work--like Kissy Simmons.

Kissy plays the lead role of Nala in "The Lion King" which is currently in residence at Mandalay Bay. This is a role she originated here in Vegas in March 2009 after playing Nala for six years on Broadway. Six years!

more ›

Tags: Closings / Fleur de Lys / Hubert Keller / Top Chef / Mandalay Bay / → All Tags

Fleur de Lys Closing Por De Tapas

This comes as a bit of a shock to us but Fleur de Lys at Mandalay Bay will be closing in August. Top Chef Master Hubert Keller and his crew will remain as the restaurant re-opens before the end of the year as a casual, world tapas restaurant. Your guess is as good as ours right now what world will mean since we remember when tapas were Spanish.

The announcement is disappointing as Fleur de Lys was one of our favorite special occasion restaurants. Not only is the food excellent but the restaurant interior is unique and relaxing with floor to ceiling curtains and walls covered in stone and fancy floral sculptures.

more ›

Tags: Shows / Dining / Restaurants / LOVE / The Mirage / Jersey Boys / Palazzo / Viva Elvis / Aria / Le Reve / Wynn / The Lion King / Mandalay Bay / → All Tags

Where to Chow Down Before You Show Down: Five Pre-Show Dinner Spots

You’ll have to excuse us if we still have food on the brain after spending a weekend gorging at Vegas Uncork’d. We did try to move past our culinary crushes on Rick Moonen, Bobbles Flay, and Cat Cora by focusing on another love: Vegas show deals.

But that just got us thinking about where to make dinner reservations before hitting LOVE. So our self-prescribed therapy is to check out the pre-theater dining options around town. We've rounded up what we think are the Five Best Pre-Show Dinners on the Strip for what we consider the top shows on the Strip. (KLAS polls notwithstanding.)

Most of these meals can be had before the early showings (typically at 7:30pm) but a few can also be had before the later showings too. And now, to start the show...

more ›

Tags: Resort Fees / Mandalay Bay / Venetian / Palazzo / → All Tags

Come May 15, Mandalay Bay to Charge Resort Fee While Others Hike Them Up

Go Here for VegasChatter's Resort Fee List

The Resort Fees trend in Vegas is here to stay. Not only are more and more hotels instituting them, but existing hotels with resort fees have been upping theirs ever so slightly. We've updated our running list Hotels with Resort Fees but we'll pull out a few "highlights" for you right now. Here's what's changed since January:

· Mandalay Bay and THEhotel at Mandalay Bay have started to implement a $15 resort fee that includes in-room internet, fitness center access and some other frivolous things.
· Venetian and Palazzo have upped their resort fee from $15 to $17.
· Hard Rock has gone from $7 to $15 and it still includes basically nothing.
· Monte Carlo has gone from $9.50 to $12.95 by adding in-room internet. Wethinks they are just charging more because they are next-door to CityCenter
· Ditto for New York, New York which has gone from $8.99 to $12.95.
· Stratosphere has gone from $7.50 to $11.99, possibly because of extreme bungee jumping?

more ›

Tags: Hotel Deals / Hotel Packages / Deals / Mandalay Bay / → All Tags

Mandalay Bay Is The Latest Hotel To Actually Have A Good Offer

MGM Mirage are going all out with the spring discounts at the mo. First MGM Grand’s Spring Fling deal, then Excalibur’s $27 deal.

Today it’s the turn of Mandalay Bay, which is shifting rooms from $75 as its More For Less package. The first rock bottom rate we can find is April 4 ($76) but there are plenty of good deals over the next few months – Thursday nights for $86, and weekends hovering around the $150 mark.

more ›

Tags: John Mayer / Mandalay Bay / Celebs in Vegas / Music / Shows / Sexy Men / → All Tags

Oprah May Not Want John Mayer, But Vegas Definitely Does

Hey John, if you're looking for an interview outlet in lieu of Oprah, you could probably twist our arms into doing it.

Never thought we’d say this, but since he clammed up on Twitter, we’re actually missing John Mayer’s relentless updates. Luckily, he’s making up for it by coming to perform in person at Mandalay Bay on March 27.

more ›

Tags: Cashing Out / Old Vegas / Slot Machines / Mandalay Bay / → All Tags

Relics from Old Vegas: Mandalay Bay's $1 Slot Coin

With the ushering in of CityCenter last month, it became clear that Vegas was changed forever. These fancy new hotels and their giant, high-tech casino have firmly placed Vegas in the 21st century. Even the skyline of Vegas no longer looks the same.

So little is left of Old Vegas, and even of Turn of the Millennium Vegas, that we feel it's our duty to every so often walk down memory lane and gaze longingly on the relics of Old Vegas (yes, anything before 2005 can be considered Old Vegas.)

Before there were interactive slot machines, there was good, old-fashioned pull the lever slot machines. Your winnings did not come on a printed piece of paper but instead coins fell out the bottom of the slot machine in a rumble of noise. The sound it made, whether your jackpot was big or small, was heavenly and no computerized printer can ever duplicate it.

The only problem was your hands did get quite dirty from using the coins in your coin bucket. But so what? Casinos gave out hand-wipes to get you cleaned up again.

more ›

Tags: Openings / Restaurants / Hussong's Cantina / Mexican Food / Mandalay Bay / → All Tags

Unusually Strong Margaritas Will Get the Party Started at Hussong's in January

Back off CityCenter! Double back off Eva Longoria Parker! You’re not the only new people in town. And soon, you’re not going to have the newest south-of-the-border restaurant, either. Because Mandalay Bay is getting a new Mexican eatery in January.

That’s right. Hussong’s Cantina from Ensenada, Baja California – the “well-known rite of passage for southern Californians”, as it styles itself - is opening up another branch in The Shoppes at Mandalay Place first thing next year.

And they’re not mincing their words, either. “Our plan is to serve great food and throw the best party every night,” says Scott Frost from developers Titan Nightlife group. The best party? In Vegas? Every night? Good luck with that.

more ›