Las Vegas has to offer a lot. Numerous casinos are lined up along the Strip and the electronic billboards imply wealth and happiness. Almost all hotels provide the illusion of a singular experience. The MGM Hotel stands for the world of Hollywood, the Bellagio for the sophisticated Mediterranean world, Circus Circus for the circus world, Excalibur for the mythology of the Middle Ages, Caesar’s Palace for the old city of Rome, the Venetian for the historic Venice and so on.
But what do they all really offer you? How about customer service and the real services of the casinos on the strip?
Is the price-performance ratio still in balance is only the “Highroller” a highly welcome guest in Las Vegas? For most readers this is the all-dominant question. Not everybody can visit Las Vegas with several hundred thousands of Dollars in his wallet. Most visitors plan on a normal and manageable budget.
The question is how you succeed in having a great trip and enjoying the best entertainment in Las Vegas even with a fairly low budget. Almost all casinos offer any kind of luxury in different categories. But watch out – all that glistens is not gold. Important for all Las Vegas tourists is how the hotels and casinos treat you as their guest. One example is the Luxor Hotel & Casino. It features excellent customer service, a friendly staff and outstanding management. No matter if you are an individual guest, a member of a tourist group or a family with children, the casino is prepared for all situations and offers the perfect programme for everybody.
The Luxor in Las Vegas is more than luxury
Just a mile off McCarran International Airport, you see the “Luxor Las Vegas Resort Hotel and Casino” which is among the TOP 50 Resorts in the US and the most impressive hotels in the world. No doubt it is one of the most striking hotels in Las Vegas and is located at the Southern end of Las Vegas Boulevard (3900 Las Vegas Boulevard South). The hotel chose the “Antique Egypt” as its subject and Dan Juba, architect in Nevada, has used the most important assets of Egyptian architecture to stay as close to the original buildings as possible. The complete design of the hotel has the feel of Egypt without coming across as kitschy.
The hotel and its facilities form a little city in itself. The 31-stories high pyramid made of black tinctured glass, is a copy of the Cheops-Pyramid in Gizeh while the Luxor pyramid with 107 m is only 27 m smaller than the Cheops-pyramid (135 m). The pyramid was built in 1993 and accommodates the breath-taking casino and part of the spacious hotel-rooms. Right in front of the main entrance there is a huge sphinx. The sphinx is not made out of stone. It is a hollow wood construction wrapped in concrete. Right next to the pyramid are two towers, about 25 stories high, also paned with black glass. The towers were completed in 1998 to enlarge the number of hotel-rooms to 4.406. 26.783 glass panels embellish the complete façade of the hotel – a surface of 44.500 square meters. Window cleaners need 64 hours to clean the glass façade.
On top of the pyramid there is an extremely strong light source – a combination of 36 Xenon lights – glaring into the sky at night. This luminous source can be seen from several miles outside Las Vegas. Therefore the Luxor Hotel claims to have the brightest light beam in the world which in clear nights can be seen up to 400 km.
Entering the hotel you feel like having entered a gateway to the old Egypt. Already at check- in in the entrance hall you are welcomed by an oversized sphinx and some guests keep their mouths open while standing in front of these impressive figures. The “River Nile” (including a boat trip) was removed during reconstruction activities in 1997/98. From the lobby you can see all the way to the top of the pyramid vertex. The temple of Ramses – rising 10 m high into the atrium, the giant obelisk – set up in the middle if the hotel, the complete decoration create a perfect illusion of being in the old Egypt. Straight on is the casino-complex where you find all casino games you can think of. On the right hand side is the check-in counter. Depending on availability there are rooms in the pyramid or in the attached towers with a view on the pyramid.
Restaurants, rooms, pool- and leisure-facilities
The hotel accommodates 20 wonderful restaurants, 10 bars, 2 movie theatres, about 40 shops and the casino. Everything has the Egypt décor and is within the huge hollow black glass-pyramid. The restaurant- and shopping area is located in the main and upper level. The variety of restaurants is fantastic, there is something for every taste and wallet. It starts with fast food like Nathan’s New York Style Hot Dogs, Little Caesar’s Pizza, McDonalds, Luxor Coffee Company und ends with upscale restaurants like the Luxor Steakhouse, Sacred Sea Room (Seafood), Papyrus (Chinese), Hamadas (Japanese), Nile Deli (Koscher), Las Salsa (Mexican) und the Pyramid Cafe (24 hours, American)
The hotel-rooms and suites are behind the black glass façade. The luxurious rooms are big and extremely comfortable. Each of the 4.406 rooms – 2.256 rooms in the pyramid and 1.950 in both towers – has a standard furnishing. The rooms are very spacious, feature a bath, King-size beds, TV (Pay Movies) , telephone, radio clock, safe and a manually adjustable air- condition. Apart from having more space the Jacuzzi Suites feature a whirlpool in the living room and a separate bedroom. Not all the rooms have bath tubs. The pyramid room (about 2.500) only have showers. On each story there are several ice- and vending-machines – room service is provided 24 hours a day.
The view into the pyramid and to the lower casino level is outrageous depending on which floor your room is located. The higher floors do not have a direct view into the pyramid. They are perfect for those guests who like to have more quietness. But relax – even on the lower floors you won’t be bothered by any noise since all the rooms are perfectly sound-proof. The room-rates are relatively low priced and the price-performance ratio is more than reasonable. A room for two persons is 69 $ which is a very good deal for an “Egyptian room” with this furnishing. The rooms in the tower are newer than the ones in the pyramid, they are bigger and in my opinion also nicer. I can warmly recommend the Mini-Suites in the towers or the Jacuzzi-Suites in the pyramid. Like anywhere else in Las Vegas room-rates vary depending on the seasons, for example on New Year’s Eve, when 360 – 390 $ per room are standard rates. The quality standard in the hotel is very high, so is the service.
The Pharao’s Pheast Buffet in the Luxor is rated one of the best. It offers a great variety of salads and fresh fruits, which I have missed in other hotels. Prices for the Buffet are not exactly low compared to Las Vegas standards: Breakfast is $ 8,99, Lunch $ 10,99 and dinner $ 14,99. Certainly the buffet is not to be compared to the ones in the luxurious hotels like the Bellagio, the Wynn Las Vegas or others, but it does offer a wide variety of food and salads. Again the price-performance ratio is more than adequate.
For those who prefer to dine in a more elegant way I recommend the Steakhouse or the Japanese Restaurant. Whether pizza, McDonald’s or fine dining restaurants, the hotel caters for all tastes and offers a wide selection of restaurants for all occasions. The five Gourmet-Restaurants Sacred Sea Room (fish), Isis (Gourmet), Papyrus (Asian), Bellzoni’s (Italian) and the Luxor Steak House can be recommended.
The huge IMAX-Screen stretches across 7 floors. The Imax Theatre – ideal for the whole family – shows 2-D- and 3-D-movies every day. The Giza Galleria is a copy of the Kairo Basar, which inspired the big shopping mall. The shops offer vases and sculptures from the Middle East as well as cosmetic products. The tomb of King Tutenchamun was reconstructed true to original as Howard Carter found it in 1922. The nightclub “RA” is named after the Egyptian God Ra. The entrance fee of $ 20 is worth it. It is one of the “hippest” nightclubs worldwide. The motto is seeing and being seen.
Those who look for recreation are in good hands at the Luxor Hotel. Kids and adults can enjoy four swimmimg-pools – all really big. The pool-area – with heated pools – is an oasis just like the complete spa-area. Towels are provided und friendly cocktail girls serve drinks right at the recliner chairs.
Parking is free of charge. Unfortunately the parking lot is very big and only part of it is covered. Considering the extremely hot temperatures in Las Vegas most of the year the long walk to your heated car can be really sweaty. Valet-parking is offered as well.
Security
The Hotel has its own security service. Only when you show your room-key (chip-card) to the security guards you have access to the hotel-towers. The main areas, especially the casino, are video-controlled. Safe Deposit boxes are provided at the front desk.
From the Luxor other casinos on the strip can be reached easily. The monorail connects the Luxor with the Mandalay Bay Hotel. A sidewalk takes you to the Excalibur. Also the New York New York, the Tropicana, the MGM Grand and the Monte Carlo are in reach within minutes.
The casino
With more than 2.500 slot machines and numerous tables the Luxor is one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. The cocktail girls are very attentive, drinks in the casino area are certainly on the house (don’t forget a tip, otherwise the cocktail girls won’t show up quickly):
All casinos have so-called player’s clubs. Memberships are free and you receive a chip-card, which registers all turnovers at slot machines or tables independent from wins and losses. For a certain amount of credits on the card you receive either cash, vouchers for the hotel or the restaurants or merchandising products of the hotel. The Player’s Club at the Luxor – “The One Club” offers a decisive advantage. The Card also works at the Casinos of Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, Monte Carlo, Circus Circus and Slots a Fun in Las Vegas as well as the Colorado Belle and Edgewater Casino in Laughlin and the Circus Circus in Reno.
Entertainment
The Luxor presents one of the best and most famous shows in Las Vegas, the Blue Man Group, known from the Intel Pentium 4 advertising spot. The show is pretty expensive (tickets are $ 87,45) but an ultimate experience. The show is sold out on most days and reservations are highly recommended. Only single tickets can be bought easily. The show „Midnight Fantasy“(tickets are $ 33) is another option. I visited the show and it was terrific. Time passed so quickly and it seemed to have been minutes but in fact it took more than an hour. Visiting the show is definitely worthwhile.
Conclusion
I can highly recommend to visit the Casino Luxor and stay there. It is a unique experience and you won’t regret it. The friendliness of the hotel and casino staff is overwhelming and the service at the bars in the casino is very obliging and quick. Please say “Hi” from me to Tony at the bar right next to the Buffet. In case you need help on the spot I warmly recommend Host Lorna Palmer. She takes great care of her guest und looks after them excellently. Thank you very much, Lorna, for your perfect support at the Luxor.