MGM, Flamingo and Ballys

MGM

Flamingo:

Ballys:

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The Mirage, Planet Hollywood and Monte Carlo

The Volcanos of the Mirage:

Planet Hollywood:

Monte Carlo:

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Mandalay Bay

Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino is a 44-story luxury hotel casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by MGM Resorts International. Five floors (floors 35–39) of the main hotel building are occupied by the five-star and AAA Five-Diamond Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas. The top 3 floors (numbered as floors 60-62) are penthouses, with a penthouse lounge on level 62 for guests staying in the penthouses. It is connected by the free Mandalay Bay Tram to its sister properties, Excalibur and Luxor.

Mandalay Bay has 3,309 hotel rooms, 24 elevators and a casino of 135,000 sq ft . The adjacent Mandalay Bay Convention Center has almost 1,000,000 sq ft of space. In addition, the Mandalay Bay Events Center hosts events including boxing, the UFC's MMA fights and concerts. It hosted the Latin Grammy Awards in 2007 and from 2009 to 2011. It will host the Latin Grammys again in 2012.

More casinos in the next post.

Excalibur, The Hotel and Casino

Excalibur opened on June 19, 1990 and was originally built by Circus Circus Enterprises, which was purchased in 2005 by MGM Resorts International When it opened, Excalibur was the largest hotel in the world with over 4,000 rooms and covering over 70 acres.  As of 2009 it was the fifth-largest hotel (by total number of rooms) in Las Vegas, and the seventh-largest hotel worldwide.

Excalibur was originally designed in line with the "theme resort" strategy popular among some casino operators during the 1990s which included the traditional Las Vegas gaming experience coupled with family-oriented elements.  However, since 2006 most of the medieval themed statues and scenery have been removed as part of a four-year renovation and modernization project. As of 2010, few of the themed wall murals still remained as Excalibur was updated to include more modern and understated elements, including contemporary furniture and flat-screen plasma TVs in 2,000 renovated guest rooms.

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The Luxor

Designed by hotel architect Veldon Simpson and interior designer Charles Silverman, the Luxor has received recognition as being among the most recognizable hotels on the strip because of its unique design. The main portion of the hotel is a 365-foot high, 30-story pyramid encased in 11 acres of dark bronze glass.

The guest rooms are situated on the outer walls of the pyramid and are reached by riding in "inclinators" that travel along the inner surface of the pyramid at a 39-degree angle. The hotel also features a 29 million cubic feet atrium, which was the largest open atrium in the world when it was built in 1993. The hotel is marked by a 140-foot high obelisk and a 110-foot tall re-creation of the Great Sphinx of Giza.

The light of the Luxor:  The tip of the pyramid contains a fixed-position spotlight that points directly upward and is claimed to be the brightest beam in the world at over 42.3 billion candle power.

Next Post:  Excalibur