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| - Having to write this review as I am truly saddens me. This used to be one of my favorite places in Vegas to visit; and now...well....read on..
The wife and I ventured to Vegas with the family to celebrate the birthday of one of cousins. We chose a cheap motel that was in walking distance to the "Four Corners" of hotels that anchored the intersections of Las Vegas and Tropicana Blvds. The Excalibur is one of these attractions, and we were looking forward to a saucy mix of casino fun and Medieval themed romp that the hotel was known for. The key word for our experience was: Disappointment.
The hotel opened in 1990, and the first time I visited was in 1993 when my then-fiance (now ex-wife) paid a visit to look into possibly getting married at the Hotel's Canterbury wedding chapel. Even though we wound up getting married elsewhere, we had a blast here. The hotel/casino was a perfect combination of adult casino fun and medieval dungeony..dragony..King Arthury whimsy.
Now.. I realize that this was during the 90s, and during this time, Vegas was trying to re-invent itself as a resort for all members of the family (anyone remember when they had a water park...right there on the strip?) Many of the casinos had attractions that appealed to all ages...and Excalibur was one of the most well-known of these.
Then the new millenia came, and Vegas and its attractions began to re-assert themselves as playgrounds for adults. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for this. Adults need their own version of Disneyland as well.
What's so sad with the Excalibur these days is that its lost its whimsy...its lost its magick. Food courts have replaced most of the medieval/fantasy themed shops that made the place fun to patronize. In fact, the only two such shops left are "Kids of the Kingdom" and "The Dragon's Lair" (which is still an awesome place to shop for dragon and fairy shirts and prints). The "Medieval Times"-esque Tournament of Kings dinner show is still there...but also is the Thunder from Down Under male strip dinner show.
There is still a Fun Dungeon downstairs with circus/midway type games where kids can win tickets for prizes...as well as what passes these days for an arcade, but its a far cry from what it used to be years ago...its almost an afterthought now.
Most of the Arthurian statues and suits of armor and mural artwork has been removed and replaced with a restaurant where the staff and waiters make fun of you (Dick's Last Resort)...really?...really?! You'd think that kind of douchebag-ish behavior was more of a match at New York, New York.
Now.. I will say this. There are a tremendous number of places to eat here, in a whole gamut of price ranges. But when I talked to one of the Krispy Kreme workers, he told me that right behind where I was standing was going to be yet another food court!...with 6 more eateries!! *le sigh*
Yes... I understand...Las Vegas is about consumerism and making money. I get that. But really, a balance needs to be struck. Neither the wife nor myself appreciated being accosted and, for lack of a better term, panhandled by various staff members; asking us if were going to be in Vegas very long and trying to sell us timeshares! I almost felt like we were in Mexico with all the up-scale panhandling going on...it was almost *that* aggressive!
We left the Excalibur feeling rather sad. What used to be a fun place of adult romping and playing mixed in with nice touched of Ren Faire whimsy has, thanks to recent rennovations, become a hollow shell of itself. Its become little more than a pretty resort and hotel in the shape of a castle. All glitz and glamour to look at on the outside...with little substance left on the inside.
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