Mandalay Bay’s Exclusive Penthouse Lounge to Close

By Scott Roeben, on March 04 2025
2 min read 5 comments
Las Vegas

An exclusive VIP lounge at Mandalay Bay, the Penthouse Lounge, is set to close on March 9, 2025.

The closure news will come as a surprise to many, especially those who didn’t realize this lounge exists, specifically, us.

It’s believed closing the Penthouse Lounge at Mandalay Bay is the result of cost-cutting at MGM Resorts as the company strives to boost its margins.

The Mandalay Bay logo slyly contains the letters “TLC,” a fun fact we just made up but which is certain to appear in a future Las Vegas Review-Journal story.

It’s perhaps not surprising the Penthouse Lounge is closing. Caesars Entertainment closed its Diamond/Laurel Lounges in Las Vegas some time ago to save money.

Unlike the Diamond/Laurel lounges, however, one did not enjoy the perks of Mandalay Bay’s Penthouse Lounge simply by earning a particular loyalty club tier.

Access to the Penthouse Lounge was limited to “coded” players, or those who passed muster with casino hosts. In other words, you had to know a guy. In Las Vegas, “guy” can refer to men and women. A craps “stickman” or “box man” can be any gender.

Anyway, the Penthouse Lounge was on the 62nd floor of Mandalay Bay and consisted of three suites combined into one lounge. Here’s a look around.

The Penthouse Lounge offered impressive views, an open bar, snacks and a room with recliners to watch TV (mostly featuring sports, of course).

In an awkward twist, we’re told Mandalay Bay’s Penthouse Lounge closed at the end of 2024 for a complete remodel. Now, it’s closing permanently. That sound you hear is money being flushed as only Las Vegas casinos can.

Las Vegas has had an extended hot streak and big companies are less motivated to provide perks to players, even its highest-spending guests.

When Caesars Entertainment closed its Diamond lounges, there were a lot of doom and gloom predictions about a mass exodus of players. That exodus never materialized.

Players are going to play where they like to play, so casino companies are making a calculated risk about what perks they can cut without hurting the bottom line.

MGM Resorts and others are always looking for new sources of revenue. Today we learned Mandalay Bay offers a VIP Arrival Experience for $125. The company is also about to implement premium seating at its restaurants (you pay extra to reserve your view and not be given a table near a restroom, basically). Caesars Entertainment pioneered that one.

Never underestimate the power of public companies to find ways to lower costs and increase revenue.

We trust MGM Resorts will find another way to make its players feel appreciated. Caesars Entertainment gave Diamond tier players drink coupons.

Following the closure of the Penthouse Lounge at Mandalay Bay, high rollers will have to drink and watch sports on TV with the rest of us now. The humanity.