The past few times I visited Vegas I stayed at either the Venetian or the Wynn. This last time I decided to try out THEHotel at Mandalay Bay because I wanted the spacious room and I wanted to try somewhere new. I wanted to like the hotel because Mandalay seems like a great hotel with one of the largest pools but I was unimpressed and at some points just down right disappointed.\n\nTo start off, I got to the hotel early on my check in day so I had decided to try and check in early, around 1 pm, check in is usually at 3 pm. The front desk told me the room wasn't available yet, which I kind of expected, but they told me I can go through the check in process now and that they would call me when the room is available. So I wandered around the hotel, visited the Shark Reef aquarium (small but not too bad), ate some lunch, and checked out the shopping area (also small). 3 pm came and still no call. At 3:30 pm I checked at the front desk again to see if the room was ready but again was told it wasn't and that it would be ready soon. By this time I was tired and just wanted to rest somewhere, preferably the room. The rest of my party wasn't arriving until 5 pm and I hoped to relax in the room before they came. I sat around in the lounge area and waited for another hour and half. I went to the front desk again to check if the room was ready and was finally told it was (2 hours after the actual check in time), for some reason I wasn't called like they said they would.\n\nOn my way up to the hotel room, the first thing I noticed was that the hall smelled; the best way I can describe the smell is like an old car that has the fabric seats that has been sitting in the sun way too long. When I got into the room it was the same smell, very overwhelming; I had to call room service to bring up some air freshener spray and I opened up all the bottles of lotion hoping to have their scents disperse throughout the room. The size of the room was nice but the room itself felt very old; there were scratches on the bar cabinet, the tables, and the TV stand. I also found gum on the wall. For such a high end hotel, the room was a huge disappointment.\n\nThe rest of our stay was uneventful, nothing great but nothing horrible either. One restaurant I would definitely recommend is the Border Grill. The food was excellent and the blood orange margarita is amazing. The pool area is definitely big; it was crowded when we went but it was also Labor Day weekend so that was expected.\n\nAfter check out, I found an additional $56 charge on my card that was not on my bill. When I called the hotel to find out what this was, I was told it was an extra housekeeping charge. When I asked specifically what for (because we may have left some towels here and there, and some extra cups and bottles by the bar but nothing too messy), they just told me it took the housekeepers extra time to clean our room. I have never been one to trash the hotel room and I even make sure the trash we do leave behind is all in one area so it's easy for the housekeepers to pick up. With that being said, I was shocked to have this extra charge especially when they can't specifically tell me what was \"extra dirty\" about the room and also since the room didn't appear that clean to me from the beginning.\n\nI was disappointed from the get go and this extra charge was just the icing on the cake. At least I can say that I tried the hotel myself but I will definitely not be staying for a second time.
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