Inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel

Normally the scene of decadent getaways, hedonistic bucks parties and spectacular stage shows, the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas will now forever be associated with America’s worst ever mass shooting.

The tragedy has transformed the once 43-story luxury hotel into a crime scene, after gunman Stephen Paddock began firing at nearby concert-goers from the resort's 32nd floor.

Before Sunday the hotel welcomed people to ‘Fabulous Las Vegas’ from the south, acting as a golden beacon to mark the start of the famous strip.

Owned and operated by MGM Resorts International, the Mandalay Bay resort opened on March 2, 1999 and has over 3,300 hotel rooms as well as 12,500 square metres of casino.

It’s grand opening that year was marked by actors Dan Aykroyd, James Belushi, and John Goodman, who headlined a parade of Harley-Davidson motorcycles through Mandalay Bay's front doors.

Since then the hotel has played host to hugely popular stage shows including Mamma Mia!, The Lion King, and nowMichael Jackson: One, byCirque du Soleil, which opened May 2013.

The resort is also famous for it’s hugely popular Mandalay Beach – a pool area covering 11 acres, with three heated pools, including a wave pool, a lazy river and a waterfall.

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And if dining is more your thing, the resort is home to 24 restaurants.

But now its golden memories have forever been marred, after a gunman, identified by police as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, opened fire on an adjacent country music festival.

At least 59 innocent concert-goers have been killed and over 515 people injured.

The shooter, who then took his own life, fired from the corner suite on the 32nd floor of the resort, a room he had rented since September 28.

Whether that room will ever be available to stay in again remains to be seen.

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