I’d like an honest discussion of what to think about basic security and privacy in Las Vegas, as it can be disconcerting to experience a privacy invasion.

What is a reasonable policy for security and privacy at a hotel?

If you’re a guest at a hotel, what should the hotel do to make you feel safe? I know that there are many different avenues to achieve the same goal and that some policies are better than others.

What’s a reasonable policy for security and privacy? I’m not asking about the best policy, but just what’s considered by many to be reasonable. Getting strip searched and all bags inspected upon entry might be the most robust method to ensure no weapons are present, but no hotel does this to guests. Because who wants to experience that?

Thus, I’m back to the question of what’s reasonable. The hotel might not catch everything that could possibly happen, but it’s going to catch most issues and tail-end events are just going to happen regardless.

Inevitably, the concepts of security and privacy are at odds with each other. So a company has to find balance. I also don’t think it’s a strict answer that will work for every location. The security needs for a true VIP will be different from the average Joe.

Las Vegas was the site of a past tragedy

I’m sure you could go into the annals of any major city and find some scars that changed the course of time. For Las Vegas, it’s arguably the 2017 shooting by Stephen Paddock—or at least it’s the most recent major tragedy. You might remember it as the incident at Mandalay Bay that resulted in 58 people dead as the shooter took shots from his hotel room.

It’s an absolute tragedy allegedly caused by how he felt casinos were treating him. Could it have been preventable? That will unfortunately never be answered. It’s a pain that survivors will have to live with the rest of their lives.

Las Vegas implemented “wellness checks” in the aftermath

As I’m sure many know by now, there are what casinos call “wellness checks” that are performed on each room. Essentially, the thought is that housekeeping or another casino employee will check on each room periodically to ensure nothing funny is going on. You know, in case you have an elaborate setup to plan a mass shooting.

The other potential reason is to check if someone died in the room. “Checking in to check out” as it’s sometimes called. It happens more often than you would want to know. But, obviously, the sooner the hotel understands that it happened, the faster they can remove the corpse and turn the room around for the next guest.

In any event, the Las Vegas hotel wants to know what’s going on in their rooms, and won’t be shy to investigate. Enter the concerns about privacy in Las Vegas…

Someone entered our Las Vegas room in the middle of the night

With all that in mind, on the first night of our stay at the Mandalay Bay in August 2025, someone entered our room at around 2:20AM. We were all asleep at the time and heard no courtesy knock. The door opened, the light by the door turned on and off, and the door slammed shut. No one else in the room awoke to the incident. And while I cannot confirm how far in the individual came into the room, I saw movement, the light, and the door close.

At the time, my first thought was that Jenn entered or exited the room. I don’t know why she would be up and need to leave the room at that time, but what else would I think? After a minute or two, I looked over to the other bed where Jenn slept and my heart sank when I saw her already there. Who was that?

On top of that, I did hear a lot of noise coming from the hallway. It sounded like other doors were opening and closing. Unclear who it was or what was going on, I didn’t investigate–I don’t need to get involved with whatever that was.

And before you blame me for not bolting the door shut, this is exactly how the door appeared the next morning. Somehow the person who entered was able to re-bolt the door closed?

The other thing that I should point out is that in addition to the keycard access, there is also a regular lock. So, there are two ways to access the room.

Recovery has been non-existent

I didn’t want to trouble the kids with them overhearing a phone call about the intrusion. So the next morning, I went down to the front desk to have a conversation. The agent could see when the door was opened with a keycard and when it was deadbolted. She saw activity on the keycard at 4AM (a test, according to her), but nothing at or around 2:20AM. That caused her to immediately discredit my claim.

But who would access the room? I asked her who it would be who could enter the room at that time. She said it could be housekeeping needing to clean the room or a guest who had the wrong room. I gave her a bewildered look as if to say that doesn’t seem to apply. She caught herself and then admitted that the security department can access the rooms and her list of who accessed the room doesn’t include security.

She then took down my phone number and assured me that a call would be forthcoming. So I waited and waited, and it never came. Not the rest of the day, the whole stay at the hotel, or in the time since our stay ended. I was given the cold shoulder. We don’t expect foul play–just that the hotel doesn’t care enough to make an effort. But is that acceptable?

I’m only left with a theory and a suggestion

My assumption is that the regular lock isn’t picked up on the list of who used a keycard to access the room, and that using it bypasses the deadbolt.

It would have been nice to have received some assurance that it was actually security in the room. But Mandalay Bay couldn’t be bothered to even provide that. Worst case scenario was that it was someone who grabbed the keys, looking room to room for an easy target, but saw us and wasn’t interested. The more likely scenario was that security had a tip that something was going down on the floor. Again, a note from the hotel would have been helpful!

I think it’s fair to say that privacy in Las Vegas is dead, more so than in other places. I’ve never had a hotel employee elsewhere in the world enter the room in the middle of the night without first waking us up. I would have been very concerned if Jenn were here alone and experienced that without me.

My only suggestion is to barricade the door if no effective door stopper is present as was the case here. And it just so happens that this hotel had a nice nook by the door that works as a barricade. I’d rather be awakened by someone entering the room than have them enter at will to observe me while I sleep. I’m not trying to fully prevent someone from coming in–just to make enough noise to increase reaction time.

Final thoughts

There have been tragedies in the past within the city limits of Las Vegas. These tragedies have seemingly caused Las Vegas hotels to implement security protocols that intrude on the privacy of guests. We would have liked to receive closure on our own intrusion, but it went nowhere. Thus, we can only recommend guests take caution when staying at the Mandalay Bay (or potentially any hotel). We feel that privacy in Las Vegas is no more.

We have yet to publish our review of the hotel, but we’ll be getting around to it soon. There is plenty more to say about this property, along with our honest thoughts on whether it’s worth staying here.

Has anyone ever entered your room unexpectedly?

Suggested reading:

• Low Las Vegas Crowds: Is It As Empty As They Say?
• Quick Hit: Overriding The Hotel Thermostat In Your Room
• Pro Tip: Celebrity Cruises Gives Free Parking at MGM Resorts