Excalibur: Fits The Bill in “Non-Luxury”

James Dingsdale discusses a recent stay at Excalibur

So, where does the Vegas low-roller stay these days? A few choices remain in a town that is most certainly on a trajectory towards the upper echelons of the luxury market. Off-Strip has always been a solid choice, but what about those who still want to be planted right in the heart of the action? That’s the conundrum I faced when planning my most recent trip. I was travelling with a group of old friends, and we didn’t want or need a high-end property. We were more interested in saving our cash for gambling, drinks and entertainment, but we still wanted to stay on-Strip for easy access to the other resorts. Excalibur seemed to tick the right boxes.

Excalibur opened in 1993, and not a great deal has changed in the intervening years. Entering through the front doors, the first thing that hits you is the strong smell of stale tobacco. In the twenty-three years since the Excalibur was built, I’m guessing the technology of air filtration systems has come along quite a bit as this smell is noticeably absent from other, newer properties. The casino floor is relatively small when compared to surrounding properties, and there are most definitely more pleasant places to spend your hard-earned money on the tables. In line with other low and mid-level MGM Resorts, Excalibur’s casino offers 6-5 Blackjack with a $5 minimum bet along with several full-pay Video Poker machines. It is also connected via an internal walkway to Luxor, which has a much better and less odorous casino.

I checked into my supposedly newly-remodelled room in the Royal Tower. It had a Strip view overlooking the Tropicana and MGM Grand.

The room itself was very spacious (which had been a deciding factor in choosing Excalibur over the LINQ, which has smaller rooms). The decor was certainly more modern than what I had seen of the property’s older offerings, but the furniture was still pretty worn out, with huge chips in the woodwork of the dresser. I heard a rumour that Excalibur’s remodelled rooms contain fixtures and furniture removed from the Mandalay Bay’s older rooms, though I cannot comment on whether this is true or not.

The cleanliness of the room was excellent and the bathroom facilities more than adequate. Other things that can often be a problem in Vegas hotels did not bother us at all at Excalibur; it wasn’t noisy, it wasn’t full of children (perhaps owing to the fact that we chose the slightly more expensive upgraded rooms), and we never had to wait for the elevator. I was honestly quite impressed with what Excalibur’s rooms had to offer for the small amount of money that I had spent on them.

So, what about Excalibur’s dining options? First, The Buffet, subject of a recent, multi-million dollar renovation. Aesthetics were promising; it looked very modern, particularly compared to the dated buffet restaurants at MGM Grand and Luxor. The price was reasonable as well, although a problem at the M-Life desk meant that I was unable to redeem my ‘MyVegas’ comp for a free meal. The quality of the food, however, left a lot to be desired. The typical breakfast offerings were lacklustre at best, with the eggs, in particular, striking me as being very dry and tasteless. Other items like waffles and pancakes just seemed to have been sitting in the heat for too long and had developed a rubbery texture. I wasn’t all that impressed. Excalibur’s ‘flagship’ restaurant is a Buca Di Beppo which I did not visit on this trip. I ate there once in 2015, and it was absolutely dreadful, leading me to vow that I would never return. We did sample the Pizza Hut takeout, Starbucks and Krispy Kreme, all of which were perfectly serviceable and nothing more or less than one would expect.

Would I stay at Excalibur again? Possibly. It would very much depend on the nature of my trip. For a group of guys who weren’t particularly concerned about luxury, it fit the bill perfectly well. We had a comfortable and enjoyable stay. Just gamble elsewhere, because that casino is extremely depressing.

[Photos: James Dingsdale, Greg C]

James Dingsdale

James is a British travel writer and blogger who visited over 30 countries.
He divides his time between the UK and the western United States. James enjoys cult movies, craft beers, bourbon, retro video games.When in Vegas, James prefers low-roller gambling, specifically blackjack. Find him on Instagram @dingovoyage