Excalibur Hotel and Casino

The Excalibur Hotel and Casino is located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, in the United States. It is owned and operated by MGM Mirage.

Excalibur, named for the mythical sword of King Arthur, uses the Arthurian theme in several ways. Its facade is a stylized image of a castle, with a wizard like figure representing Merlin looking out from a high turret. The style of the hotel is heavily based on the castle in Carcassone, France.

Excalibur is situated at the Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection. The intersection is so busy that pedestrians are not allowed to cross at street level. Instead, Excalibur is linked by overhead pedestrian bridges to its neighboring casinos to the north (the New York-New York Hotel & Casino, across Tropicana Avenue) and to the east (the Tropicana Resort & Casino, across the Strip). There is also a free tram that connects Excalibur to its sister MGM Mirage properties to the south, the Luxor and Mandalay Bay hotel and casinos. The three casinos are also connected to each other, so it is possible to walk between the three of them without having to go outside.

History

The Excalibur opened on June 19, 1990 originally built by Circus Circus. It was one of many new, modern Las Vegas hotels that featured children’s attractions, such as an arcade and a motion simulator called Merlin’s Magic Motion Machine. Another feature of the Excalibur that is prominent in many of today’s Las Vegas hotels is a large family swimming pool.

On March 21, 2003 the largest Megabucks Jackpot, as of that time, was hit at the Excalibur. The jackpot was for $39,713,982.25.

On April 26, 2005, the Excalibur, along with the other hotels of the Mandalay Resort Group, was purchased by rival MGM Mirage.

Attractions

Restaurants and other areas have Arthurian names, such as the Roundtable Buffet, Sir Galahad’s Prime Cuts, The Steakhouse of Camelot, and Regale Italian eatery, or reflect a broader “Merrie Olde England” theme, such as the Sherwood Forest Cafe. A long-running show, the “Tournament of Kings,” features simulated medieval jousting. Regale was originally called “Lance-a-lotta Pasta” and was more family/child oriented than Regale which is more upscale.

In Spring, 2007, the “Dick’s Last Resort” chain opened a restaurant in the Hotel Casino.

A few years after opening, Excalibur introduced a free nighttime show in the moat near the resort’s main entrance. A Dragon would emerge from under the main entryway bridge and do battle with the wizard, Merlin. After a few years of operation, this attraction was discontinued.

The Excalibur has never been a big boxing events venue as it lacks a suitable arena. Since the middle to late 1990s, the Mandalay Resort Group has staged its major boxing and Ultimate Fighting Championship events at their sister hotel, the Mandalay Bay.

Like many other hotels on the Strip, the Excalibur features a wedding chapel. The chapel offers themed Medieval Weddings complete with renaissance period costumes.

The hotel has opened a spa near the pool.

In 2007, the pool area was closed for renovation. Most of the parking area to the east of the parking garage was gated off for the expansion of the pool area. The new pool construction was originally started in Fall, 2006 in the hopes of being completed for the Summer of 2007 but there were delays so the new pool is now slated to open for Summer, 2008.