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August 29, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Floor numbers at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay

MandalayBob Sifniades submits a picture taken in Las Vegas, Nevada:

When I arrived at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, and was told to go to the 61st floor, I was quite amazed that this building had so many floors, as I hadn't noticed any exceptionally tall buildings on the Vegas Strip.

But when the elevator took just 1 second to go from floor 38 to floor 60, I was quite un-amazed. It turns out the building only has 43 floors, and they had employed wishful numbering for the top 5 floors.

Comments:

I like how it also skips from 2 to 24.

Posted by: fluffy at August 29, 2006 12:54 AM

fluffy, that's an express elevator, so you don't have to wait through stopping on the lower 20+ floors, save for the public spa level.

Someone help me out, is the number 4 unlucky in Chinese culture? With all the Chinese high rollers coming to Vegas, you wouldn't want to risk putting them on a floor beginning with 4.

Posted by: klew at August 29, 2006 02:33 AM

I'm not so sure that this is an express elevator, based on the comment that "the elevator took just 1 second to go from floor 38 to floor 60". That tells me that the total distance between the two was probably one story.

If it were an express elevator, you would also find that the floors reached by that particular elevator would be posted somewhere outside the elevator, so that you could call the appropriate one.

...unless you are at SUNY Brockport. Let me tell you about elevators that are truly broken.

When I was in college at SUNY Brockport, there was one dorm that had 12 stories and three elevators. One elevator served all 12 floors, one served floors 1-6 and 12, and one served floors 1 and 7-12. There was, on floors 1 and 12, only one call button, and the nearest elevator would get dispatched.

When the elevator that arrived was not one that went where you were going, you would have to step inside, send it to the farthest away floor, step out quickly, wait for the doors to close, count to five, then call again.

Now, you would think that this would happen once every three trips, but in fact, it happened more often for residents living on floors 7-11, because the elevator that served those floors would more often be further away than the one that served 1-6 and 12, increasing the odds of getting the wrong elevator to something closer to 50% for those students, but not quite.

Posted by: Glenn Lasher at August 29, 2006 07:16 AM

Apart from the number-4 and number-13 stuff, a lot of building owners lie about the number of floors the building has. Generally speaking, the more of an egotistical tit the building owner is, the more he will exaggerate the length/height of his dick/skyscraper:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_Tower_(New_York)

Posted by: Daniel Rutter at August 29, 2006 07:22 AM

This is clearly mis-numbered to make the building appear larger.

Because they are numbered simultaneously and take only seconds to travel between them, floors 38 and 60 are located next to each other.

Also, I agree with klew that this is an express elevator, in the sense that it can be used when you are going to the upper floors and don't wish to stop on every floor from 2 to '60'

Posted by: freedomlinux at August 29, 2006 08:28 AM

You guys need to get out more!

Walk out to the sidewalk and look up. Count the windows vertically, using the edge of the building as a guide. If the number is nearer to 60 than 40, the building is r-e-a-l-l-y tall. Using the elevator buttons as a ruler may not be the best way to measure the height of the building, morons.

Posted by: tartan at August 29, 2006 08:46 AM

Um, call me crazy, but I think the 'express elevator' thing was supposed to be a JOKE, seeing as how the submission clearly states that there are only 43 floors in this building.

Posted by: ambrocked at August 29, 2006 10:41 AM

I think the "express elevator" comment was discussing the gap between 2 and 24, hence "so you don't have to wait through stopping on the lower 20+ floors". I think that poster perhaps missed the point, though, since it seems clear that the gap between 38 and 60 seems to be in numbering only.

They may do this to distinctly separate their nicer rooms from their standard rooms. Telling someone you're on floor 39 doesn't mean much if they don't realize that 39 is where the nice rooms start, but if you make it obvious, and make people notice the gap, saying you're on 60 has more of an effect. Other hotels label their top floors using exotic words or colors to achieve the same thing.

It's also possible that the building has some.. unusual qualities.

Posted by: Fastolfe at August 29, 2006 12:12 PM

ah... 4 in chinese is the same pronounciation as the word death and so i gues they dont use it

Posted by: ragingbullxxx at August 29, 2006 12:13 PM

I'm surprised to see the numbers 24 & 64 as most hotels here in Las Vegas do not use the number 4 on any of the floors. Just don't want to upset the oriental visitors.

Posted by: Napster at August 29, 2006 01:35 PM

And where did this Chinese nonsense come in? 4 does NOT have the same pronunciation as "death", wrong tone. Besides, it wouldn't explain the missing 50's. As far as I know 4 and 5 carry no bad connotations in China. And it is an express elevator, see as it skips from 2 to 24, unless they have a 21-story-tall gap in the building, which would be quite noticeable from the outside.

Posted by: Fuzzy at August 29, 2006 04:42 PM

and what is on floor 63? it's not listed but I don't know of any superstitions with the number 63..

Posted by: Infinity306 at August 29, 2006 09:38 PM

Tartan thinks the smart thing to do is fly to Las Vegas, take a car to the Mandalay Bay Hotel, and count the number of floors. And, if you're not willing to do this, he proclaims you a moron.

Tartan, here's a better idea: Google the hotel, and you'll see from several sites that the hotel is, indeed, 43 stories tall, not 60+.

Now, I saved you some serious dough on airfare and other travel expenses, not to mention travel time. You owe me. ;)

Posted by: mmcwatters at August 29, 2006 11:41 PM

No, no, no! You go to the roof, jump off, and count the floors on your way down.

Let me know how that works out for ya....

Posted by: Erich at August 30, 2006 02:13 AM

A building in Vegas that is not what it claims to be? How shocking ;-)

Posted by: Zephyr at August 30, 2006 11:21 AM

The Nevele Grande, a decrepit low-end resort in the Catskills town of Ellenville, NY, has numbered the floors of the 6-story Empire Wing 11 through 16.

Posted by: Reynold at August 30, 2006 01:39 PM

The reason for the odd numbering is that the Four Seasons is located in the top floors of Mandalay Bay...

Posted by: Craig at August 31, 2006 06:44 PM

Weird. I've found sites indicating both 64 and 43 floors. Floor numbers and stories are not necessarily the same thing, especially accounting for below-ground levels and penthouses and such. Could the "missing" floors be service/mechanical or private areas that are not accessible via a public elevator? (Craig, good suggestion, but the Four Seasons is apparently in the other Mandalay Bay building.)

Posted by: Bryan C at September 5, 2006 03:22 PM

oh c'mon...

everyone knows the numbers between 2 and 24 are for "the little people" and anything between 38 and 60 is bo-ring...

Posted by: aynne at September 6, 2006 12:36 PM

it think it made for fun , think about try to find a need button fast, and you start laghfting is menute, it is very funny. Not Broken - funy, purposfully made.

Posted by: Gordonii at September 11, 2006 05:08 PM

Fuzzy wrote:

"And where did this Chinese nonsense come in? 4 does NOT have the same pronunciation as "death", wrong tone."

Please see the wikipedia article on Tetraphobia.

Quote:

"The Chinese and Japanese pronunciations for "4" is "si" or "shi" (Korean pronunciation being "sa"), which is nearly identical to the word for death (the only difference is the tone)."

If this is incorrect, please to that article and correct it.

See also references in the entry on Triskadekaphobia, (""Die" and "four," in Mandarin Chinese, are si3 and si4, respectively, and a similar situation occurs in Cantonese.") and the talk page on the article on the Thirteenth Floor.

Posted by: Rhandir at October 4, 2006 11:56 AM

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