Mandalay Bay Spins Up the Vinyl Room, and Mama Says Bring Your Dancing Shoes

Live Nation and MGM Resorts are turning the old Foundation Room on the 63rd floor into a record-collector's dream lounge, and this cabaret girl thinks a room built for album lovers is exactly the kind of place where a sing-along could start.

A New Note on the Strip's Skyline

Way up on the 63rd floor of Mandalay Bay, in a space that spent more than two decades as the beloved Foundation Room, a different kind of hangout is getting ready to open its doors. Live Nation and MGM Resorts have partnered on the Vinyl Room, a listening lounge built around the idea that people still love to hold an album cover in their hands. The room opens to guests on August 8, and word on the Strip is that reservations for the public-facing lounges are already filling up fast.

For a gal who spends her nights around a piano bar, this is the kind of project that makes total sense. Vinyl isn't just a format up there, it is the whole point of the room. The collection reportedly runs to roughly 4,760 vintage albums, weighted toward rock, pop, blues and R&B, the same genres that keep a good sing-along crowd on its feet.

What's Actually Up There

The design team leaned into a 1970s listening-lounge feel, and by most accounts they did not hold back. Three oversized album cubes are said to hang above the entrance, and turntables, reel-to-reel tape decks and vintage radios are scattered through the room as working decor rather than props behind glass. Concert posters from a Memphis-based artist reportedly line the walls, adding another layer of music history to look at between songs.

There is also an outdoor terrace in the mix, with sightlines toward the ballpark, the football stadium and the arena that now share the valley's skyline. It is the kind of view that makes a late-night cocktail feel like an event, and it gives the whole space a reason to breathe beyond the record shelves.

Members, Locals and Everybody in Between

The Vinyl Room is reportedly built around a tiered access model. A members-only room sits at the top tier, described as carrying an opening membership fee in the neighborhood of two thousand dollars, while two other lounges are said to be open to the general public through standard reservations. Reporting on the concept suggests operators expect roughly an even split between members and walk-in guests, with a mix of Strip visitors and locals filling the room on any given night.

That tiered setup matters for anyone plotting a night out. A room like this can feel intimidating from the outside, but the reservation-based lounges are built specifically so a couple looking for a good record and a good drink does not need a membership card to get in the door.

Why a Piano Bar Girl Is Watching This One

Music nostalgia has been having a real moment on the Strip, and a room dedicated to the physical, tactile experience of an album is a pretty direct nod to that. As one Live Nation Las Vegas executive put it in coverage of the project, people like to hold albums and look at the covers, and there is a big nostalgia piece built into the whole concept. That instinct, wanting to touch and see the music rather than just stream it, is basically the same one that keeps a crowd gathered around a piano.

Reported food and drink details lean into the theme too, with rock-inspired cocktails on the list alongside small bites meant for sharing over conversation rather than a full sit-down meal. It sounds like a room built for lingering, which is exactly the kind of place where a night can turn into a whole evening without anyone planning it that way.

So go explore the new room, soak up the album covers and the skyline, and then come find a piano bar crowd that loves the same old songs just as much as any record collection does. Wherever the night takes you around town, save a little voice for a sing along, Mama always keeps a seat warm for you.

5 Things to Know Before You Go Spin Some Records

If a night among thousands of album covers sounds like your kind of evening, here is what the early reporting says to expect.

1. It replaces the Foundation Room: The space had operated under that name for more than two decades before the overhaul.
2. Two lounges take walk-in reservations: The public-facing rooms reportedly use standard restaurant-style booking, no membership required.
3. The members' room is the pricier tier: That access level carries an opening fee reported in the low thousands.
4. The terrace has serious sightlines: Views reportedly stretch toward the ballpark, the football stadium and the arena nearby.
5. The genre mix skews classic: Rock, pop, blues and R&B make up the bulk of the album collection on display.
6. The vibe is deliberately analog: Turntables and reel-to-reel machines are part of the working decor, not just wall art.

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