Mandalay Bay

Mandalay Bay was built on the former site of the Hacienda hotel and casino at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip. In 1995, Circus Circus Enterprises purchased the Hacienda for $80 million and an adjacent site, directly south, for $73 million. That June, plans were announced for a new resort project, tentatively known as Millennium, to replace the Hacienda. The Hacienda closed on December 1, 1996, and was demolished on New Year's Eve. Details about its replacement were unveiled on the same day; the tropical-themed resort, now known under the working title "Project Paradise", had an estimated budget of $800 million to $1 billion, with completion expected by the end of 1998. The target clientele would be higher-end compared to Circus' prior resorts, competing against The Mirage and new properties such as the Venetian and Paris resorts. It was planned as part of a larger project known as the Masterplan Mile, a complex which would include two other new resorts by Circus, although these never materialized. Construction on Project Paradise began in 1997. Problems arose during construction in mid-1998, because of excessive and uneven settling of the soil beneath the resort; the core of the building sank by , while one of the wings had settled by only . Rumors about the severity of the issues depressed Circus Circus's stock price. The damage from the settling was limited to minor cracks in the resort's valet parking facility. In February 1998, the project was officially named Mandalay Bay, after the city of Mandalay in Myanmar. The name was also chosen to evoke the exotic tropical romanticism of the poem "Mandalay" by Rudyard Kipling. More than a dozen names had been considered for the resort. Mandalay Bay cost $950 million to build, making it the most expensive project to date for Circus Circus. The company expected to spend more than $10 million on a print and television advertising campaign in the months leading up to the resort's opening. Mandalay Bay opened at 10:00 p.m. on March 2, 1999, following a private opening for VIPs earlier in the day that included numerous celebrities. Grand opening festivities included the Blues Brothers (Dan Aykroyd, James Belushi, and John Goodman) leading a procession of 200 motorcycles to Mandalay Bay's front doors. Later, they performed at the resort's House of Blues club, as did Bob Dylan. Mandalay Bay employed 5,000 people, with 30 percent coming from other Circus Circus properties. In 2002, Mandalay Bay sought approval from the U.S. and Chinese governments to import two panda bears for exhibit at the resort. The property would build a glass-domed structure for the animals, next to the resort's Shark Reef aquatic attraction and away from the casino floor. The panda exhibit would generate up to $50 million a year, which would be given to the Chinese government to further conservation efforts for the species. Critics viewed the proposed exhibit as an exploitative way to attract casino patrons. Ultimately, the resort did not gain approval to import the animals. In 2003, the resort added a convention center and a second hotel tower. Two years later, the resort was bought by MGM Mirage as part of its acquisition of Mandalay Resort Group. In 2006, Mandalay Bay was investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice over complaints that the resort failed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The property eventually spent $20 million to correct the entry doors of 3,000 hotel rooms, as they were deemed too narrow. The resort's first major renovation began in late 2012, and continued into the next year, improving various areas of the property. Stunt performer Andy Lewis achieved a new slacklining record at Mandalay Bay in 2013, walking 360 feet across a loose rope situated 480 feet above the property. In January 2020, Mandalay Bay was named the pre- and post-game venue for the Las Vegas Raiders, a football team which plays at the Allegiant Stadium directly west of the resort. That month, MGM Resorts also announced that it would sell Mandalay Bay to a joint venture consisting of MGM Growth Properties and The Blackstone Group. MGM would own 50.1 percent of the joint venture, and Blackstone would own the remainder. Mandalay Bay would be leased to MGM Resorts, which would continue to operate the resort. The deal was finalized in February 2020. Vici Properties bought MGM Growth in April 2022, and then bought out Blackstone's stake in Mandalay Bay in January 2023. 2017 mass shooting On October 1, 2017, gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire from his room on the hotel's 32nd floor. He targeted concertgoers attending a music festival, located diagonally across from the resort. He killed 60 people and wounded approximately 867 others, before killing himself as authorities approached his room. The incident is the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in U.S. history. Mandalay Bay remained open following the shooting. Hospitality experts believed the massacre would have only a minimal impact on the resort's revenue. Several hundred workers, out of 7,400, were laid off as a result of decreased visitation due to the shooting. MGM had also paused its marketing of the resort after the incident, which contributed to profit losses. Finances gradually improved, with a near-full recovery in 2019. Resort security was increased as a result of the shooting, while MGM announced that it had no plans to rent Paddock's suite out to future guests. Floors 31 through 34 were renumbered as 56 through 59. Numerous lawsuits were filed against MGM by the shooting survivors, alleging inadequate preventative measures at Mandalay Bay. The company and plaintiffs eventually settled for $800 million. ==Features==