Mandalay Bay Resort Casino

An Encinitas man who claimed he was plied with drinks while he gambled away more than $1 million has reached an undisclosed settlement with two Las Vegas casinos. Stephen Roel, 54, filed a federal lawsuit in January, accusing the Las Vegas Hilton and the Mandalay Bay Resort of capitalizing on his alcoholism last fall by serving him alcohol while he was drunk and loaning him money to wager.

Las Vegas The lure of Sin City has a lot to do with the baser popular pursuits -- gambling, glitz, free-flowing alcohol -- all summed up in the tourism campaign "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." So when Mandalay Bay exec Glenn Schaeffer decided his hotel needed a place where intellectuals could gather, some people didn't take him seriously.

Royal Caribbean International canceled cruises of its Monarch of the Seas through Feb. 21 after the ship hit a shoal off St. Maarten last week, tearing its hull. The 2,557 passengers were evacuated safely. Information: tel. (800) 722-5053. . . . The Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, set to open March 2, 1999, is accepting reservations. The 424-room hotel is part of the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino complex at the south end of the Strip. Rooms are $250 to $550. Reservations: tel. (800) 332-3442.

Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas has filed a lawsuit against an Irvine conference planner for canceling a five-day business meeting after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The suit accuses Conference & Travel Management Inc. of using the tragedy as an excuse to break its contract with Mandalay Bay. The contract allowed CTM to cancel a conference it arranged for Tenet Healthcare Corp. if CTM paid the resort at least $390,000, or 60% of the revenue Mandalay Bay expected to receive for the event.

Las Vegas The lure of Sin City has a lot to do with the baser popular pursuits -- gambling, glitz, free-flowing alcohol -- all summed up in the tourism campaign "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." So when Mandalay Bay exec Glenn Schaeffer decided his hotel needed a place where intellectuals could gather, some people didn't take him seriously.

A thick coating of Death Valley dust clung to my skin and clothes as I approached the polished-wood-and-marble check-in counter at tropically themed Mandalay Bay, the latest mega-resort to open on the Vegas Strip. Behind the counter, a riot of ersatz jungle roots and vines engulfed a wall of ersatz stone ruins--a Vegas vision of Angkor Wat--while streams of water fell into small basins bordered by palms, ferns and philodendrons.

Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas has filed a lawsuit against an Irvine conference planner for canceling a five-day business meeting after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The suit accuses Conference & Travel Management Inc. of using the tragedy as an excuse to break its contract with Mandalay Bay. The contract allowed CTM to cancel a conference it arranged for Tenet Healthcare Corp. if CTM paid the resort at least $390,000, or 60% of the revenue Mandalay Bay expected to receive for the event.

Las Vegas has been dealt its first hand of five diamonds--the highest lodging and restaurant rating by AAA--in the new 2000 rankings, announced last week by the national automobile group. The diamonds went to the 8-month-old Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, which is on the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Complex. (No Las Vegas restaurant has ever been rated five diamonds.) The Four Seasons Resort Aviara in Carlsbad, Calif., also made the list, the only California addition for 2000.

Wait, are those wine fairies ascending skyward, on their way to pluck the perfect vintage from the clouds? Yes! At Aureole - an offshoot of the New York original by celerity chef Charlie Palmer - dining is a show-stopping Vegas glitz-fest. Watch (in awe) as cat-suited damsels are hoisted up a four-story glass tower, filled with more than 60,000 bottles of wine. And the food? Dinner is a three-course prix fixe, with seasonal dishes that reflect Palmer's signature progressive American cuisine.

If you haven't seen "The Lion King" show -- or even if you have and want to go again -- consider booking the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas , where you can get tickets with your room and save money too. The deal: The Lion King Package includes a two-night stay, starting at $205 per night,  plus two show tickets. Use the promotion code PDISNHS-PO to reserve this deal. When: The offer is available Nov. 27 through Feb. 28, based on availability.

An Encinitas man who claimed he was plied with drinks while he gambled away more than $1 million has reached an undisclosed settlement with two Las Vegas casinos. Stephen Roel, 54, filed a federal lawsuit in January, accusing the Las Vegas Hilton and the Mandalay Bay Resort of capitalizing on his alcoholism last fall by serving him alcohol while he was drunk and loaning him money to wager.

A thick coating of Death Valley dust clung to my skin and clothes as I approached the polished-wood-and-marble check-in counter at tropically themed Mandalay Bay, the latest mega-resort to open on the Vegas Strip. Behind the counter, a riot of ersatz jungle roots and vines engulfed a wall of ersatz stone ruins--a Vegas vision of Angkor Wat--while streams of water fell into small basins bordered by palms, ferns and philodendrons.

Royal Caribbean International canceled cruises of its Monarch of the Seas through Feb. 21 after the ship hit a shoal off St. Maarten last week, tearing its hull. The 2,557 passengers were evacuated safely. Information: tel. (800) 722-5053. . . . The Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, set to open March 2, 1999, is accepting reservations. The 424-room hotel is part of the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino complex at the south end of the Strip. Rooms are $250 to $550. Reservations: tel. (800) 332-3442.

What's happening the next few weeks: * "Notre Dame De Paris," a pop-rock adaptation of Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," opens Saturday at Paris Las Vegas Resort & Casino, 3655 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. Indefinitely. $69.50. (888) 266-5687. * "David Cassidy at the Copa," a musical show with live orchestra and co-starring Sheena Easton, opened Tuesday in the Copacabana Showroom at the Rio Suite Hotel and Casino, 3700 W. Flamingo Road.

Let's see, there's a House of Blues club, a Border Grill and a Wolfgang Puck restaurant. Sound like Los Angeles? Actually, they're all part of the $1-billion Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, opening March 2 on the Las Vegas Strip. In a city with a "fake" New York, and later this year adding Venice- and Paris-themed lodgings, the 3,700-room Mandalay Bay mega-resort bills itself as "tropically themed," but it might call itself L.A. East.