Venetian vs. Mandalay Bay
 

My husband and I are going to Vegas in late August. We can't decide where to stay but think we have narrowed it down to the Venetian or Mandalay Bay. We've never been to Vegas, so it is hard to choose. Factors that are important are: comfortable bed, nice room, well-equipped fitness center and nice pool area. Restaurants and casinos in the hotel aren't so important, as we'll be going all over the place and want to try a lot of different places on the Strip.

I know Mandalay Bay has a great pool-- how is the Venetian's? Can anybody report on the rooms at Mandalay Bay? I hear the ones at Venetian are wonderful. It's really a toss-up. Any opinions would be great. Are there other hotels we should consider besides these? Thank you!

One alternative is to stay at TheHotel at Mandalay bay. It is their newest tower and you use all the facilities of Mandalay Bay. The rooms are very comfortable-actually, they are all suites, with 1-1/2 baths, a seperate living room and bedroom.Plasma tv's in bathroom, livingroom and bedroom. Large soaking tub with seperate shower. The bed is very comfortable. We did find, however, that we had to be down to the pool by 9:30 am to get a chair by the pool. We liked sitting by the lazy river, as it wasn't quite as busy as the "beach" area.

I liked the Venetian a lot better than Mandalay bay! Better service, location, ambience, rooms. The pool is better at Mandalay, but that's about it.

We stayed at both this past May.

The Venetian is great with big rooms and good shopping right there. The pool, however, doesn't have a lot of personality (although there was always a chair), and the music was god-awful (unless you are into easy-listening...think Lionel Richie and Air Supply). Not a bad thing for some people, just not our cup o'tea (husband and I are mid-30's). Also, drink service was non-existent when we were there.

Mandalay rooms are very nice, bathrooms are large, and the hotel has an overall younger vibe. Great restaurants. Shopping is horrible (even with the new mall). My biggest gripe with Mandalay has always been the pool situation...people saving seats for hours. I finally moved a towel and book off a chair and sat for over an hour, with no one returning to any of the 8 chairs around (all with random pieces of clothing or magazines on them). There is a new pool to accomodate TheHotel guests which should help shoulder the load, as well as the "topless" pool that costs to get in ($10 for women, $30 for men...fyi-I didn't see anyone topless). I did see a room at TheHotel and it was very cool--and the lobby is about as swank as it gets. If you can afford it, the Four Seasons (at Mandalay) is the best of all worlds. The best pool, hands down. Our room their was on the smallish side (smallest shower I have ever been in--like a telephone booth), but very well appointed--and you really can't beat the service.

Hope this helps!
Kristy

I'm in my early to mid40's ;), and maybe I'm too old for Mandalay! Lionel Richie wouldn't bother me (Air Supply might be going too far)!
Mandalay Bay just didn't appeal to me very much! (We stayed in THEhotel, also). Funny, though, my husband and son loved our room at TheHotel! And I loved the room at the Venetian!
So it all depends on your taste!
But again, the service at Mandalay is just awful in the restaurants...and at the Venetian, it's fun to walk to other hotels...

Mandalay Bay is very nice but it will be swarming with kids in August, espescially in the pools. The restaurants are better in the MB, but you can always visit.

Venetian is centrally located and in walking distance of Madame Tussauds, Mirage dolphin habitat, white tigers, Forum at Caesar's etc.

For rooms, Venetian is definitely nicer than MB.
But I liked THEhotel much better than Venetian...both room quality and access to Mandalay's pools, which are far better than Venetian's.
There's a reason there are always chairs available at Venetian's pool...it's a dull pool complex for a resort of that type and size.

I also did not like the beds at Venetian (have stayed there twice) given the class of hotel it tries to compete in. The sheets were cheap and the mattress poor.
THEhotel's beds were far better (but I stayed there soon after it opened, so everything was brand new).

Big downside to THEhotel is location at the end of the Strip.

I'd have to agree with most of what everyone has said here. The rooms at Venetian are much better than the rooms at Mandalay Bay, unless you will be staying at The Hotel. Mandalay Bay bathrooms are nice but the rooms themselves, while there is nothing wrong with them, aren't anything spectacular. The Venetian rooms are very large - with a living room area a few steps down from the bedroom area and large marble bathrooms. The location of the Venetian is also better. Mandalay Bay's pool is "better" in the sense that it is more elaborate (river pool, wave pool, etc.) and has a more tropical feel to it. However, I didn't find it particularly relaxing as there were a lot of kids running around. It was also very difficult to find chairs. I usually don't get out to the pool until noon or so and by that time, the pool area was packed.

The Venetian pool area has improved from what it was when the hotel first opened (a little more landscaping), but it still is not one of my favorites (Caesar's Palace has my favorite pool).

The fitness center and spa at Mandalay Bay is large and very nice. I've never been to the spa or fitness center at Venetian so can't compare.

You said restaurants and casinos weren't important so I won't compare them, except to say that both have good restaurants (although Venetian has more) and very nice casinos. Mandalay Bay has a nice nighttime vibe - lots of twenty -thirty somethings, some good bars.

We really enjoyed our room at the Mandalay Bay but found the pool situation a bit overwhelming. Way too many people and not enough chairs! Don't look for a relaxing time at the pool!

Thank you all for your opinions! This really will help us a lot. We'll have to decide what's most important. Battling huge crowds at a packed swimming pool does not sound relaxing. Thanks again!

The pool at the Venezia towers in The Venetian is quite lovely...

Venetian is more centrally located.

If you decide on the Mandalay Bay, pick up those $1 inflatable floating tubes at your local drug store. MB charges $20 :-o to rent a tube to float in their lazy river!

Hands down...Four Seasons!!!