Excalibur Hotel and Casino

From its tall blue and red spires to the fortifications that surround this fictitious castle, there’s no missing Excalibur Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Owned by MGM Mirage, Excalibur takes its name from the mythical sword of King Arthur. The hotel’s façade is a stylized image of a castle, and, until 2007, a wizard-like figurine representing Merlin looked out from a high turret.

A Little History

Excalibur opened on June 19, 1990. It was originally built by Circus Circus company. At that time, it was the largest hotel in the world. In 2005, Excalibur (along with other hotels in the Mandalay Resort Group) was bought by MGM Mirage.

Location

Nightlife

People don’t visit Excalibur for its nightlife. In fact, it doesn’t have a nightclub nor are there any legendary lounges or bars in the resort. Octane and The Lounge have live music throughout the night, both of which are fun because they’re underrated and therefore not too crowded. Some of the restaurants are open late and Fun Dungeon is open until 1:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday as well. In general, though, this isn’t the resort to hit up for the typical Las Vegas nightlife.

Entertainment

Excalibur’s entertainment is appropriate for families but also fun and entertaining for other audiences as well. In addition to nightly live music, there are several shows that play daily at the resort. Comedy and a male strip show are the standing performances here, but most people come to Excalibur to enjoy the Tournament of Kings, a medieval variety and dinner show.

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Things to Do

Excalibur Hotel and Casino is known for its incredible variety of things to do. The Fun Dungeon, the resort’s midway, is in expansive area of arcade, video and carnival games as well as 4D rides and a laser maze. There are a few medieval novelty shops and clothing stores on the Castle Walk. The pool is free to both guests and non-gue

sts and consists of four pools, including an 18+ pool and one with water slides. There is also an on-site spa.

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>>read more about the things to do for kids at Excalibur Hotel and Casino
>>read more about things to do in Las Vegas

Ideal Visitors

Due to its high energy, exciting atmosphere, Excalibur is a good choice for families with children or people who are kids at heart. It is also an ideal home base if you’re traveling to Las Vegas for a stress-free, fun time. Also, for those attending a convention at Mandalay Bay, booking a room at Excalibur is considerably less expensive and still easily accessible to all the convention’s events.

Travel Tips

• There are timeshare booths set up throughout Excalibur. You will likely be approached and asked if you’d like free show tickets for a couple hours of your time. Feel free to participate in the timeshare presentation (and, in fact, it is a great way to see shows for free), but do be aware of what these people are asking of you.
• The pool at Excalibur is free, so take advantage of it and the discounted rates on the cabanas.
• Excalibur’s parking garage is small though there is also plentiful parking in the lot. However, regardless of where you park, you’ll have a short walk to get to the casino.
• There is a Network Preview Center in the resort’s Castle Walk. Give them a few minutes to preview television shows or films and get paid for your time.
• Take advantage of the free tram, which runs from Mandalay Bay to Excalibur with a stop at Luxor.

Photo credits: msmail (feature), MGM (Italian meal), PaysImaginaire (pink drink)