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Don’t worry, there’s nothing to be afraid of here.  I’ve got a lot to say about my latest jaunt to Las Vegas and very little space to do it in.  So…I’m going to touch on one particular experience that I think is worthy of a shout out - The Mandalay Bay Pool.

If you’ve ever been to Vegas, you may have a vague recollection of the concept ‘larger than life’.  Well, that little gem of a saying wasn’t lost on the developers who whipped up the layout (see picture to right) and overall touch n’ feel of the Mandalay Bay Pool. 

On this particular weekend, we were surrounded by people…all sorts of people.  Beach loungers, cabana partiers, lazy river dwellers, tubers, people wearing very little, people wearing nothing, and people wearing something more than nothing but should really be wearing a lot more than something.

Legend has it that if you want to be cool, you should arrive at the gates to the Mandalay Bay Pool no later than 9am to secure the coveted front few rows of beach loungers; however, if you happen to roll with the Puff Daddy crew, you can show up to your private cabana whenever the hell you feel like it.  Since P-Diddy and our group no longer rotate in the same social circles, we showed up like everyone else…except, we showed up at 11am.

Now, you may be saying…so what?  Well, the difference between 9am and 11am is probably somewhere in the order of 1,000 or more people which makes securing valuable real estate…challenging.

Here’s what you need to know and why:

• Upon arrival, seek out one of the ‘many’ but ‘few’ attendants in the blue shirts and white shorts;

• Make these people aware of your presence (talking to them works);

• Tell them your situation (need chairs…showed up late…and if possible, are from Canada);

• Smile;

• Tip; and

• Enjoy the result.

Not once did our blue-shirted helper make mention of the fact that finding enough room for a small group was probably next to impossible.  Picture Rick Astley all-of-a-sudden making it into your top 5 artists on your ipod kind of impossible…then, you’re close.

Instead, he assessed the situation (i.e., absolutely nuts), ran around for us to secure enough loungers, lead us to the front row of the beach, and…no joke, parted the first row of people like Moses and the Red Sea. Talk about service when and where you least expect it!

The message here…don’t knock yourself out of the game before you even set foot on the field.  The Mandalay Bay pool is absolutely off-the-hook when it comes to a great spot to relax and catch some rays whilst on vacay in Las Vegas. 

Should we not have rolled the dice (’scuse the pun) in this particular instance, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed the next six (or more) hours sunning, swimming, lazy rivering, and relaxing.  In fact, I know I/we wouldn’t have.

darren