Hello all,

I am just returning from my very first stay at THEhotel, and predicting it will be my last is Vegas's safest bet:

We arrived on Wednesday around 2 PM, were promptly checked into a regular suite and proceeded towards the pool (very distant and shared with the Mandalay Bay main hotel) where the cast iron bars enclosing it are more suggestive of the former East Berlin than of a resort. Give me the Bellagio any time...

The real crisis, however, began when after a nice bath in our (well appointed) bathroom, I tried to rinse-off in the shower where I was engulfed in a very strong smell of raw sewage, the kind which would attract very nasty looks in an elevator, restaurant or casino. I called the front desk, an engineer showed up within 20 minutes, almost died on the smell and declared a problem with the drains. He mentioned that it was common and would return with the proper chemicals. He did...

My lady friend decided that she was NOT washing her teeth in that water and I called to ask for a couple of bottled water, explaining the situation. While we were out, the water was delivered with a receipt for a faily high room service charge. I had no problem to have it comped and was then asked (10 PM, before going to the casino) if I would like to change rooms. The smell was gone, I was not in the mood to play room musical chairs during a 3 night stay, and declined. We came back around 3 AM and so did the smell as soon as we touched the taps... That smell, by the way was very noticeable outside, near the Strip, by the underpass between Mandalay Bay and the Luxor... it seems to be a huge problem, probably not linked to one room.

More calls the next morning, several instructions to hold, a couple of hanging ups by me after 15 minutes, and I was promised more bottles of water and more chemicals... which came, the water with the now customary room service charge receipt. One more call to have it comped, no problem.

I finally visited the front desk last night to mention that in my humble opinion, some REAL comping was in order, and was told that all that drinking water had already been given free of charge. After I commented that free drinking water was offered in places with less offensive smells (Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Kenya etc...) Internet charges ("2 of 3 days") and 50 $ worth of food were finaly offered, accepted with no argument (I am not into comp begging)... This morning, when I reviewed my bill before checking out, all the charges INCLUDING THE WATER were still on it !

I did check out manually at the front desk where all was finally deducted, but who honestly needs all that hassle ??

Is the place a healh hazard ? Probably not. But it certainly felt that way. As to the situation, it was definitely not handled professionally.