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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.
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.
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.
Tags: Poker Rooms / Mandalay Bay / Crazy Pineapple / Poker / Gambling / → All Tags
Crazy Pineapple Saves The Mandalay Bay's Poker Room
So what if we’re poker room snobs here at VegasChatter? We prefer big and swanky rooms (a la Caesars Palace and Bellagio) or old-school ones with character (like Binion’s, of course).
A room about which we’re not exactly jazzed: the one at Mandalay Bay.
Here, poker is an afterthought, tucked into a back corner of the sports book. It’s open air, so on busy game days (when sports bettors are cheering their bets next door), it’s so loud that you literally feel as if you’re in the middle of a tailgate party. Not exactly the best environment in which to concentrate on some major hands.
Perhaps the room’s saving grace: Crazy Pineapple.
Tags: Holidays / Hotels / Deals / MGM Grand / Mandalay Bay / → All Tags
Love Me Two Times (Before the Holidays)
The Mandalay Bay
Hotel room rates in Vegas are hard to beat right now. If you can’t find a place to stay for under a Ben Franklin, we hate to say it, but you aren’t looking very hard. In the spirit of the season (or is it savings?), many Vegas hotels are putting themselves on a pre-holiday sale, dropping prices even lower in an attempt to lure end-of-the-year visitors.
We’re especially giddy that two of our favorite Strip properties have joined the ranks of the under $100 club – MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay. Here’s a quick peek of deals and the money-saving perks once you get there:
MGM Grand is offering rock-bottom room rates as low as $75 per night with its “Maximum Vegas” deals. The happy hour deal at SeaBlue is also pretty unbelievable – especially by Michael Mina’s usually spendy standards. From 5:30 to 7 p.m. guests can enjoy half price lobster corndogs and calamari, $1 oysters and gulf prawns and $2 draft beers.
Tags: Cigar Bars / Dudes in Vegas / Mandalay Bay / Foundation Room / House of Blues / → All Tags
Smoke Your Stogies in Mandalay Bay’s Foundation Room
Considering that Las Vegas is nicknamed Sin City, there’s certainly no shortage of places to light up and smoke a stogie with the guys.
In previous posts, we here at VegasChatter have highlighted Casa Fuente, the standout cigar shop/smoking lounge inside the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace (take note: they also serve wine, scotch and brandy).
One spot we’ve overlooked: The Foundation Room on the top floor of Mandalay Bay.
Tags: Top Chef / Nigella Lawson / Circus-Circus / Bellagio / The Mirage / New York-New York / Excalibur / Mandalay Bay / → All Tags
Finally! Top Chef Las Vegas Gets Back to Vegas Basics
All season long, Top Chef Las Vegas has been doing its very best to isolate Vegas from the cooking competition equation. All they've done is parade in big name chefs to act as judges and let the contestants use their fancy hotel casino kitchens to complete the elimination challenges. Heck, they don't even give the M Resort any love anymore.
Oh sure, every so often they throw something "Vegas-y" into the mix like showgirls, a couple of Vegas celebs, a $10,000 poker chip or the opportunity to double down on an Elimination Challenge. But we've always felt that this season could have just as easily taken place in another city. Where's the glitz and glamour? And more importantly, where are the casinos?
Finally, last night we got what we've been waiting for all season.
The episode kicks off with every foodie's fantasy--Padma in bed wearing white robe and her hair in soft layers around her face. In the bed next to her (sadly, not in bed with her) is every foodie's other fantasy--Nigella Lawson, equally stunning as Padma and also clad in a white robe with her hair in soft layers around her face. And thus the Quickfire Challenge begins.
Tags: Top Chef / Mandalay Bay / Rick Moonen / rmseafood / → All Tags
Restaurant Wars Whittles Top Chefs Down
Our regular Top Chef recapper, Globetrotting Gourmet, is in port in Alaska and is having some connection issues. She cabled in her Top Chef report which we're pasting below. Ok, so maybe it wasn't a cable but rather just regular old email instead but cable sounded fancier.
Yay for Restaurant Wars, the most anticipated episode in every Top Chef season. We also think we've figured out some Top Chef secret, in that they seem to pan to and pay extra attention to whomever is getting the ax at the beginning of the episode. We don't want to spoil who it was this week, but if you watch the first six minutes and last six minutes of the past few episodes, you'll see what we mean.
The episode rolls right into a Quickfire Challenge with guest judge, "champion of conscious cooking," and chef/owner rm seafood, Rick Moonen. In this episode, cooks must manage all matters of a restaurant, including serving, cooking and hosting. This Quickfire Challenge is a test of teamwork, the first ever Top Chef Tag Team Cook-Off. Here's how it works: the chefs pulled knives, with Jennifer pulling one marked "First Choice" and Michael pulling "Second Choice." Every other knife was blank. The two picked teams were Team Jen: Kevin, Mike I., Laurine and Team Michael: Bryan, Eli, Robin.
Tags: Top Chef / Charlie Palmer / Springs Preserve / Mandalay Bay / Aureole / → All Tags
Praise The Lard on Top Chef
Last week, we kvetched about how the product placement has gotten waaay out of control on Top Chef. Well, this week, we decided to pay extra special attention and keep a tally. The results are in and the greedy marketing minds at Bravo TV stake claim to NINE not-so-subtle products strategically placed throughout this week’s one hour “Pig and Pinot” episode. (That doesn’t include the pay-to-text your Top Chef opinion opportunities peppered throughout the hour episode. For a fee, natch.)
In case you were curious, the showcased products were M Resort, Natural Alexia’s Crunchy Snacks, Pig and Pinot event, Aureole at Mandalay Bay, Whole Foods, Toyota Venza, GE Monogram Collection, Swanson Stock and Glad Cling Wrap.
Tags: Hotels / Deals / THEhotel / Mandalay Bay / DealBase / → All Tags
THEHotel for $125 During the Week Plus Some Freebies
Yes, it's true. If you're watching your budget but you still want to come to party in Vegas, you can always stay at the Luxor for $38 a night and the Excalibur for $22 a night. But really? Is that how you want to "do it up" in Sin City? Trust us, we spent the night at the Excalibur for $56 for the widescreen (aka renovated) rooms and we're pretty sure we don't want to go back.
DealBase.com currently has an offer for $125 a night for THEHotel At Mandalay Bay that includes all-day buffet dining for two, a cabana credit for a rental and 2-for-1 weekday entrances to Moorea Beach Club. The deal works best during the week and is based on a two-night stay. We found the $125 rates for next week, the week of November 8 and the week of November 22. Weekend rates jump up to about $200 a night except the weekend of October 23 and November 13th which hover around $400 bones a night.
With an intimate boutique hotel feel and lots of space, we think you'll like this place a heck of a lot more than a medieval-themed room at Excalibarf.
[Photo: Pat+/HotelChatter Flickr Pool]
Tags: Special Events / Mandalay Bay / Tattoos / Hard Rock / Mario Barth / → All Tags
'The Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth' Comes to Vegas This Weekend
If you’re a tattoo enthusiast, Vegas might just be your Nirvana starting Friday. That’s when “tattoo mogul” Mario Barth – of Starlight Tattoo at Mandalay Bay – brings the 2009 Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
Barth’s clientele includes Usher, Sylvester Stallone, Lenny Kravitz, Tommy Lee , which means there’s sure to be a pretty significant celebrity presence at the show. From rockers and DJs to top tattoo artists, the weekend includes parties at Mandalay Bay’s Rumjungle (October 1), the first annual Inked magazine True Colors Awards (co-hosted by Barth) at the Hard Rock Hotel October 3, and a closing party at Bellagio’s The Bank on October 4 featuring Dave Navarro, DJ Skribble and DJ Slynkee.
Tags: Special Events / Mandalay Bay Beach / Mandalay Bay / Wine-Tasting / Moorea Beach Club / → All Tags
Rock 'n Roll Wine Event Hits Mandalay Beach Tonight
Tonight at Mandalay Bay Beach, you can catch the 4th Annual Wine Amplified Festival, featuring 50 participating wineries as well as entertainment by modern rockers Lifehouse.
Tickets for the event, which begins at 7 p.m., are $55 and can be purchased here, and include tastings of 150 total wines from makers like Ferrari-Carano, Layer Cake, Wild Horse, Estancia and Rodney Strong. Tickets also include a $10 voucher for local wine purveyors, as well as admission to an after party beginning at 11 p.m.at Mandalay’s Moorea Beach Club.
