Few forget their first elevator ride to the 63rd floor of Mandalay Bay and the Foundation Room. It was perched so high, sunsets and entire cityscapes stretched on from the outdoor patio. Inside, maximalist decor saturated every corner. The Foundation Room transported people to a rare space of luxury, one where everyone could feel on top of the world.
After 26 years of that feeling, the Foundation Room has closed its doors, and the Vinyl Room has taken its place. Inspired by the Japanese listening lounges of the ’70s—intimate, phone-free and focused on high-fidelity sounds—the Vinyl Room is dedicated to Las Vegas’ rich music history.
“We really wanted to create a space that celebrates it. There’s so many different choices for entertainment in Las Vegas, but nothing that exactly pays homage to all the entertainers,” says Kurt Melien, president of Live Nation Las Vegas, which operates the venue as well as Mandalay Bay’s House of Blues. “This is a room where you have the opportunity to explore and discover your favorite music on the wall. Every single artist that’s on the wall has a connection to Vegas, or has played Vegas at some point in the past.”
Vinyl Room swaps out the Foundation Room’s ornate excess for retro warmth with wood tones and exposed brick. But thankfully, some things never change—like the incredible view. “It’s sort of the one thing that’s a must preserve for the Vinyl Room-Foundation Room history,” Melien says.
Audiophile cocktail
And the lounge’s Asian-inspired menu still offers the same level of quality. Shareables like the Sushi Tots and Chili Crunch chicken wings pair fabulously with music-inspired cocktails like the Life On Mars and Smoke on the Water. Memberships also afford record enthusiasts perks like private listening spaces, exclusive events and specialty menu tastings.
More than 4,000 records furnish the walls of the Vinyl Room. But even that feels like a fraction of what’s playable.
For the record: Las Vegas has hosted more legendary residencies than almost any city on the planet. Celine Dion. Janet Jackson. Bruno Mars. Aerosmith. Elton John. Cher. Backstreet Boys. Lady Gaga. Diana Ross. The list goes back decades. And we haven’t even scratched the surface of the touring artists who’ve headlined the Strip or just passed through.
These artists have never sounded better than in this room. The venue spared no expense with its audio system. MasterSounds Clarity-M speakers, Fulcrum Acoustic reference monitors and Full Fat Audio amplifiers combine to pump out the highest quality of sound you can hear.
Lobster salad
A live DJ will man the turntables and take requests, but don’t expect a loud club experience. Melien says the goal isn’t to “blast you off the floor” with Vinyl Room’s sound. It’s to help you gain a new appreciation for the ritual of record-playing in an intimate setting, a trend that’s currently taking Vegas by storm.
“We’re sort of swimming right along with pop culture, and I think it’s authenticity,” Melien says. “The authenticity of the vinyl print and the vinyl experience is what makes this, I think, so unique. There’s a nostalgia factor to this that I think is what we all desire, what we all look for sometimes.”
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