Reader Barry B. Plays “Casino Executive for a Day – Luxor Edition”
A VegasBright reader has big dreams for his favorite hotel…
If I could be the Casino Executive in charge of a revamp, I would choose my favorite casino on the Strip…the Luxor. Instead of moving away from the Egyptian theme, I would embrace it and incorporate more of it into a “styling” theme as opposed to an “attraction” theme. I’m not saying to bring back the Nile River Ride and the theatrical chariot shows of yesteryear.
However, I would do the following:
Décor – Repaint the wall murals and hieroglyphics in vibrant Egyptian colors. When a customer walks into the casino from the front door, the side door, the Mandalay Bay Shoppes or the moving walkway from Excalibur, I would want that customer to have the sense they are walking into a full-blown ancient Egyptian temple. They have the architecture but they took away all the painted murals that provide that sensation. Bring it back.
Hotel Rooms – Renovate the rooms to include a mixture of lower-cost accommodations but also have upscale rooms and 2-bedroom suites. You don’t need to be one or the other. Why not offer both? Update the 90’s furniture but keep the Egyptian styling. You don’t need the cartouches on the furniture and headboards to do this. I would be classy, not tacky. I’d also bring back having a sculptured Egyptian wall hanging in each room. This would extend the styling theme into the rooms.
Current decor – Pyramid Deluxe Queen
Hotel Staff – I would put an emphasis on the uniforms worn by the staff. Staff uniforms would maintain the Egyptian temple theme but would be classy and where appropriate, classy and sexy. Every interaction with a staff member should leave the customer feeling that they are somewhere truly special.
Scene from Mars Attacks! (1996)
Casino Bars – Bring back the Nefertiti’s Lounge as a place where adults can sit down, relax, and have a drink. It’s all about the “experience”. I think the Luxor has lost a lot of this. Again, bring back a classy, semi-upscale Egyptian theme. You don’t have to tear things down and build another Aria or SLS to create this type of environment. I’ve been to these properties and they just seems so monotone…there’s just an absence of atmosphere.
Luxor’s Centra Bar – 2016
I’d also transform the current Centra Bar to have a DJ and dancers on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Keep the Egyptian theme going with sexy but classy costumes. This would attract a certain very valuable demographic to the Luxor. Extend this out onto the casino floor by having one of the stairs leading from the Centra Bar into a table gaming area. I don’t want to make comparisons, but for purposes of illustration, make it somewhat like the Heart Bar and Pleasure Pit at Planet Hollywood.
Current food court on the Atrium level…
Shopping/Restaurants – I’d transform the current Atrium level into a shopping, restaurant, and show/attraction area. I really think this space is underutilized. Currently, you have the amazing building facades that really aren’t useful space. This would be perfect for stores such as Banana Republic, Victoria Secret, Alex & Ani, and other upscale affordable businesses. Keep the facades and move in the stores. I also would expand this “décor” into space currently being used by the Titanic Exhibition to create a true shopping experience that leads you into the shoppes at Mandalay Bay.
I realize you could think that this is funneling foot traffic to another property but they are all MGM Resorts. Create the shopping area in such a way that if you start in the Luxor you find yourself in the shoppes at Mandalay Bay…and of course the reverse. I would get rid of the “quick bites” eateries and have more sit-down restaurants. As I said, this area is not being used effectively. I recently stayed at the Luxor for 5 days and I never had a reason to go up to the Atrium.
King Tut’s Tomb exhibit, circa 2007
Shows – Maintain the two show areas on the Atrium level that house Fantasy, Carrot Top, and the returned Blue Man Group. I would use the space that is currently housing the Bodies and Titanic exhibitions for expansion of shopping while maintaining an area for revolving exhibitions. I would like to see the old King Tut’s Tomb as one of these selections. The idea would be to have two or three resident shows and one revolving exhibition-type attraction that keeps things fresh.
I truly believe that you can transform a property without breaking the bank. You don’t need to tear down and rebuild. Las Vegas is changing and the ratio of gambling revenue vs. spending revenue ratio is reflecting this change. However, I believe the current changes on the Strip are over-saturating it with shopping malls.
Shopping needs to be incorporated into a trip to Vegas. It will never be the sole reason someone goes there. The updates I have outlined for the Luxor combine the best that Las Vegas has to offer. The class of yesteryear, the unique experiences of the 90’s and a sexy nightclub atmosphere for the millennials.
Photos: [Cover photo by Sammasseur, Pinterest, Luxor.com, Warner Bros., still captures from Youtube]
6 thoughts on “Reader Barry B. Plays “Casino Executive for a Day – Luxor Edition””
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I’d hire you to be the GM of the Luxor for sure! While we are at it, can we please bring back the quarter 80s arcade that was once in the atrium? I used to love to take a gambling break in there and play Donkey Kong and Ms. Pac Man for hours and only spend a few bucks.
Well said – for my part, I love Luxor and have 8 days planned for March (already booked) It has an atmosphere that is amazing, but it does lack in some ways. They should enhance and double down on the Egyptian theme. And your ideas about how shopping should be incorporated into the stay, is wise. Their attempts at modernizing their resort has had them step so far away from what it is, that it’s almost embarrassing. They should get back to what the place was designed to be. Nice article.
If they made your suggested changes, I would totally stay at the Luxor again.
Do all of your ideas, and change the 6:5 blackjack to 3:2, and I’d stay there.
“I’d also transform the current Centra Bar to have a DJ and dancers on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights – make it somewhat like the Heart Bar and Pleasure Pit at Planet Hollywood.”
Thats a PERFECT idea they should take note of. That space really felt wasted last time I have been there.
I stay at the Luxor 6 or 7 times a year. It has become my “go to” hotel for the past two years. It find it’s upkeep and ambience far exceeding that of its neighbor, Excalibur, at virtually the same price. I had perviously stayed with consistency at the Monte Carlo, but as restaurants closed and the property was obviously about to become something else, loosing its laid back style, I found Luxor an affordable and agreeable alternative. I’m nots sure that all the suggested changes are necessary, not that they would be bad necessarily. I find the room decor pleasant; the beds super comfortable;and the tower king rooms sizable and a pleasure to stay in. I also find the WiFi in the Tower rooms consistently excellent. One item I do agree on would be a broader pricing scale. One of my pet peeves at Luxor – which their guest relations people refuse to even comment on when I write them – is how they distribute rooms. I am a Gold tier member of MLife and as noted above, stay pretty much every other month. Yet because I usually check in late (flying in from the East Coast) I always get a Tower room on the 3rd or 4th floor. The room itself is fine, but the view of the air conditioning system is a bit depressing. Both the Monte Carlo and Excalibur have pricing based on high floors and low floors. I would welcome that at the Luxor. getting the Nile ride back would be fun but its not going to happen. Better utilization of the mezzanine would seem to be a no brainer. I wish they would make the Pyramid Cafe 24 hours again but I love the Back Stage Deli which is 24 hours. But whatever they do, I hope they keep it a reasonably priced property in the midst of the Strip gone price and fee crazy.