Our team of hotel investigators are stationed all over the world, and every day we have expert photographers and reviewers visiting (and revisiting) properties. But often all you get to see is the final product -- our comprehensive hotel reviews paired with hundreds of accurate, honest photos. Well, those reviews and photos are certainly helpful when planning a trip, but we figured it might be kind of fun for you to see just how we get to that end result. So we've decided to bring you along on our trip to Las Vegas, where we've been checking out the scene since Wednesday. We've visited pool parties and we've dined on some delicious eats and we've shared it all on Instagram, so be sure to check it out! But we're most excited to share our pics and opinions of the brand-new Delano hotel. We were a little confused and thrown off that entry was through the parking garage, but otherwise we've been quite impressed! Let's start at the beginning...

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Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino

Delano South Beach Hotel

This sleek, new property skips the gaudy, colorful look Vegas is known for and instead opts for stylish, desert-inspired decor. The lobby and hallways are decked out with “boulders” and interesting wooden structures and hanging sculptures.

Now onto the rooms…

They’re great! With separate bedrooms and living rooms, they’re spacious — and bright, thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows.

Modern bathrooms include both glass showers and separate soaking tubs, along with MALIN+GOETZ toiletries, but we were disappointed that they hadn’t been renovated since the days the hotel was THEHotel at Mandalay Bay. (Note that the spa hasn’t either.)

The living areas include plush seating and cool black-and-white pool photos shot at the Delano’s sister property in Miami.

Is it dinnertime yet?

We dined at Della’s Kitchen, which serves upscale comfort food like chicken and waffles with bourbon maple syrup. Our Tuscan Kale Salad with Chicken was tasty, but the Thai Salad was pricey for being pretty standard.

Stay tuned for more updates!! And be sure to check out our Instagram page for up-to-the-minute pics and tips.

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