Monday, March 1, 1999 | 4:03 a.m.
Construction workers and decorators primped with finishing touches Monday as the $1 billion Mandalay Bay hotel-casino was readied for Tuesday's opening.
Glenn Schaeffer, president and chief financial officer of parent Circus Circus Enterprises, Inc., promised the city's newest megaresort would be "a world of escape where entertainment has the edge over reality."
"Mandalay Bay is a place where fun and sun meets up with class and cool," Schaeffer told more than 100 members of the media on hand for a preview look at the 3,700-room resort.
Standing in front of a two-story, 12,600-gallon aquarium in the lobby of the resort, Schaeffer listed amenities such as a beach where waves 6 feet high are produced and surfing competition is planned.
A short distance away, in the 1,700-seat Mandalay Bay Theatre, the Tony-award-winning musical "Chicago" is set to open to a VIP audience Tuesday night.
Earlier Tuesday, actors James Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and John Goodman are scheduled to arrive at the resort leading a contingent of motorcyclists. The trio will be performing at the Mandalay Bay's House of Blues as The Blues Brothers, with Bob Dylan performing at the venue later that night.
The new resort will give Circus Circus 27,000 hotel rooms, Schaeffer said. They range from the budget-priced, family-oriented Circus Circus hotel casino to an affiliation with the posh Four Seasons Hotel chain at Mandalay Bay.
The Four Seasons has a separate two-story structure that includes its own lobby, restaurants, pool and health club, plus three private elevators that whisk guests to the hotel's 424 guest rooms on the 35th through 39th floors of Mandalay Bay.
"We've looked at Las Vegas for many, many years," Isadore Sharp, chairman and founder of Four Seasons, said Monday as he greeted members of the media. "We've waited for the right thing, and this mixed use development is everything we've looked for."
Rooms at the Four Seasons will run $200 to $600 a night, with suites ranging from $450 to $2,500. Rooms at Mandalay Bay will average $110 a night, Schaeffer said.
Mandalay Bay opens to the public at 11 p.m. Tuesday following a VIP party. It is one of four resorts opening in Las Vegas this year, with The Venetian set to open April 14, the Resort at Summerlin later in the spring, and Paris-Las Vegas in September.
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