Luxor, Excalibur and NYNY....No Love?
Started by Romaman on Friday, 20th January 2012 7:14 pm
Curious topic...but here it goes:
During my trip last week, I decided to take a stroll though Luxor, Excalibur and NYNY (given that I haven't visited in over a year) and I've noticed that they dramatically decreased in popularity compared to all of the other casinos on the Strip. They all use to be 'the' tourist destination too. Out of all the places, I would think that they would be the most popular due to their unique building shape and theme. I hardly hear news about those places anymore either. Why is this? Is it because MGM sucked the fun out of the places?
twofours responded on Friday, 20th January 2012
Yes the buildings are unique.If you show anybody in the world a picture of the Luxor they would recognize it and probably Excalibur also.They should be a world traveler destination and should be selling rooms like crazy.
Just look at Trip Advisor reviews (when you are finished going over VT of course)and see all the world wide travelers that expect a once in a lifetime vacation to Las Vegas at the cool pyramid and get the shock of their life with an MGM bottom feeder property.
danman252 responded on Friday, 20th January 2012
I received an email from Excalibur today with free rooms up to 4 nights (Sun-Thurs) and $59 bucks Fri-Sat. It has declined in the past few years however,The tower rooms in tower II are renovated and decent. The Excalibur is slowly transitioning away from the castle theme, They recently added a Lynyrd Skynyrd resturant and a Buca di beppo
Akala responded on Friday, 20th January 2012
IDK, NYNY has been okay on the past few trips, but really has nothing over any other midrange.
Luxor and Excal are just WAHAHA.
They are both poorly trying to distance themselves from their respective themes, and without that, what's the point really? Aside from cheap, crappy rooms, I guess. Most places downtown have better versions of what I would want out of an Excal trip, and Luxor's "hip and cool" vibe rings hollow when placed next to the alternatives. I kinda wish I didn't have some weird affinity for Mandalay Bay, because then the strip could end at Aria (okay, FINE, the Trop).
Maybe I'm just bitter because I've never won anything at either.
bigdaddyj responded on Friday, 20th January 2012
Luxor was actually a kind've cool, albeit campy, and definitely more upscale place when it first opened...and up until the MGM takeover, it actually had a selection of half-decent restaurants, too...the Mandalay Group pecking order was Mandalay Bay, top (it was built to be a direct competitor to Bellagio), Luxor Upper-Middle to middle, Excalibur middle to lower-middle and Circus Circus lower, with all of them aimed at being somewhat "family friendly", too...but I think what happened (besides the oft-discussed on here logistical problems with renovating the pyramid rooms) is that when MGM took over Mandalay Resort Group, they wound up with a glut of upper-middle-tier places (Mandalay Bay, Mirage, MGM Grand, Luxor, Treasure Island, etc.) and for whatever reason decided some had to be downscaled, so to speak, probably because it left them with too much higher-end inventory and/or so that they could serve all segments of the market...I think this is why they really haven't given Mandalay Bay much love since they bought it, and even why they've deliberately downscaled the Mirage over the years, too (they've put a lot of money into the Mirage, true, but I don't think anyone can argue it is now anywhere near as high-end of a place as it once was, and I think that was done deliberately following the purchase of MBRG & the opening of Wynn...)
Excalibur & NYNY were always lower-tier & mid-tier joints respectively, and I think both actually still do a pretty robust business with middle-American Vegas first-timers and those who just want to be on the strip and just look at where they're staying as a bed with a cheap casino downstairs and don't obsess over the kind of things most of us that visit this (and other) boards do when we think of Vegas resorts...Excalibur has it's niche and does quite well serving it; let's face it, people who will choose to stay at Excalibur don't care about the design of their room and aren't looking for an upscale experience...
New York New York always makes me think of the episode of "The Simpsons" where they go to Japan & Homer insists they eat dinner at "America Town"...New York New York is the America town of strip casinos...a faux-New York City for tourists from the midwest who are either too scared or too lazy to visit the real thing...
And of course, at least in the cases of Luxor & NYNY, MGM has done their best to de-theme them...and who wants to stay in a giant pyramid or a replica of NYC that no longer tries too hard to be a giant pyramid or a replica of NYC?
mjames1229 replied on Friday, 20th January 2012
I liked the Simpsons episode better when Ned rode in the car while Homer drove past "Newark Newark", which advertised "THE LOOSEST CRAPS IN TOWN".
adztheman responded on Sunday, 22nd January 2012
Excalibur has rehabbed some of their rooms in the past 18 months or so, and charge an extra $10-20 a night for the upgrades..but the casino is dark, smokey and reminds me of some portions of Foxwoods in CT..just a jumble of stuff..
Luxor's been downgraded to a mid level property, when it was designed as upscale when it opened..MGM has tried a lot of things here..Criss Angel, different nightclubs, a casino redesign etc..it tends to skew a little younger, but the douchebags don't seem to make it that far South..I like the casino, the buffet, but the 11am checkin policy is strictly enforced here like it is nowhere else in Vegas..
NYNY still has an excellent casino..but the rooms are tiny..but the location is excellent..I've not been inside the property in the last year, so not sure how you "de-theme" something like this..and I've been to the real thing a couple of times..Times Square isn't what it once was now that Virgin Records and ESPN Zone are gone..