Excalibur

I was looking at Yelp reviews of Excalibur last night. I had no idea that people thought that hotel was so dumpy. I have had friends stay there in the contemporary rooms and never had a complaint. I booked a room through myVegas and I also had a comped room on my mLife account. Being that it's free, we went with Excalibur for our trip. Is it really that bad? We just got the standard contemporary room. Any chances they'd upgrade us, even though we are staying there with comped rooms?

 

Your myVegas comp room is probably a regular tower room and not a contemporary room. At check-in ask for a room in tower 2. I believe all rooms in tower 2 are contemporary or better whereas tower 1 has the older rooms.

Yes, there are rooms at Excalibur that are run-down. The maids don't seem to enjoy dusting much, all surfaces in our contemporary room where covered in dust

But if you just need a room to crash for the night it's OK

 

This is correct.

The difference between the standard tower rooms and the contemporary rooms are night and day...the standard rooms are very dated and run down...the contemporary rooms are really nice and fresh: granite counter tops, fresh paint, new carpet, very comfy beds, digital AC control, etc!

The upgrade from standard to contemporary is worth the $10/night upgrade cost if you cant get the upgrade comped...

 

We just returned from three nights in a Contemporary room, Tower II. I was a little apprehensive about staying here because of its nickname, Trashy Castle and other comments. However, we were traveling with another couple who made non-refundable reservations and we wanted to stay in the same place.

I had booked a standard room but upon check in, I asked for an upgrade as it was my wife's birthday (really). We ended up getting a two queen room on the 11th floor facing NYNY. The beds were hard and there was no wifi, but there was wired internet available. Looked like the granite counter in the bathroom was new-ish. Tower II is close to the pool area, which was actually pretty decent. Overall, the room was clean, but there is an undeniable odor from the casino that clings to ones clothes. It is a combination of smoke and carpet cleaning chemicals. The maintenance staff uses a riding carpet extractor and I met up with one upon checking out of the room, the odor on my clothes was the same as the cleaning solvent, just add smoke and you have eau de Excalibur.

After three days at the Excalibur, we checked in to the Vdara as the other couple was flying back home that day. I put my soiled clothing in a bag, then tossed this onto the top shelf of a closet in our room at Vdara. Whenever I opened this closet, I could get a whiff of Eau de Excalibur. This same odor hits you when walking from the NYNY bridge as you enter the Excalibur, but you get used to it once you're inside.

The Lobby Bar is kind of fun, had bloody Mary's while playing VP our first morning. It was kind of empty and the bartender kind of hovered over to make sure we were playing max coin. There is a food court with Krispy Kreme, McD's for a cheap breakfast. I am partial to McD's coffee, it just hits the spot. There is a Buca de Beppo as well and had dinner there as we didn't feel like venturing out. There is a tram to the Mandalay Bay or you can just use the covered walkways to get to the Luxor and MB.

 

You should ask for a complimentary upgrade, but if they won't give it to you Excalibur is one of those places where if they have better rooms available they will try to sell you on an upgrade.

Otherwise, if your friends liked it and had no complaints I'd go with that as a review over random posts on an internet review site - Excalibur is one of those places that a lot of people have an opinion on and are quick to share it, even if they've never set foot in the property... and usually the worst reviews are from the people that have never stayed there (you even see that a lot here as well).

 

I stayed at the Excalibur in June for two nights. I was happy with it for the price. It was clean and we are planning on staying there again next June for a few days. We also spent a few days at MGM Grand which was much nicer but more expensive.

 

I just stayed there last month for the second time this year, enjoyed my first visit and was in tower 1, second visit was in tower 2 and room is a little better but really didn't see much difference. Final review is that I am Excalibulerd out not because of rooms but because of the smoke filled casino that for some reason got to me during my secon visit. Here is a video from my room in tower 2

http://youtu.be/0otkB7VhQFc

 

rather stay at the quad than the excaliber.even the quad was nicer

 

My largest complaint with the Excalibur was the constant pestering of the sellers. It's as bad as the clappers on the strip. I noticed the smell the first time I set foot in the place. It was overwhelming and took a while to get used to. The fun dungeon made it nice when traveling with a kid.

I really didn't like the state of the rooms the first time we visited (Tower 1 standard); their housekeeping skills were quite lacking. It looked like the bathrooms had been cleaned in the dark and one of the beds needed fresh sheets. After that we stayed in Tower II (comped) and had better results though they never dusted the room.

I'm used to staying at nicer hotels, but after I started playing and having fun it was easy to ignore the rooms until bedtime when I was to tired to care anyway. I never had the desire to relax in the rooms.

 

Thanks for the comments everyone.
Do you think they will upgrade if we mention we are there for our anniversary? How should I ask? One room is comped from my mLife account, the other room is through my husband's mLife on myVegas.

 

I usually just say, "There wouldn't happen to be any complimentary room upgrades available would there be?" and they usually say "Let me check" and I have never gotten a no...

 

I'll try that. I'm really nervous to try the $20 trick..Only because I would feel silly as heck if they told me no...LOL. What if they took the money and then said no?! I guess I'll just flat out ask and tell them it's our anniversary, which it is...

 

No need to be nervous at all. The worst that can happen is they say no and give your money back. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone taking their $20 and not getting some sort of upgrade.

When I ask I like to stand out more than evey person and their mother asking "is there any complimentary upgrades." Ill wrap a $20 around my CC/ID and say something like "That $20 is all yours if you can put me in your finest suite." I always get a laugh out of them and they say let me see what I can do for you.

 

I would ask "Do you have any room in Tower 2 available". If granted then you are guaranteed an upgrade, otherwise you might just end up with same basic room in higher floor or strip view.

 

The smell is a combination of cigarette smoke and vanilla!!!!!!

 

This - my girlfriend will not go back in because 5 minutes inside, literally 5 minutes and her hair had that buttery vanilla coconutty unpleasant Excalibur smell. Similar to the horrendous smell at Tropicana.

This is no Flamingo smell, the Flamingo coconut is so so pleasant compared to the smell at the Excal. Luxor almost has a similar smell as well. It has made me so appreciative of MGM and NY NY in recent trips

 

I actually REALLY enjoy the smell of coconut, so maybe it won't bother me. I always get pina colada air freshener for the house and my car..LOL. If it's similar to that smell then all will be good.

It can't be as bad as the hotel we stayed at in Pismo Beach. Actually, it was more like a MOTEL. The mirror was seconds from falling off the wall, along with the bathroom sink. There was no counter space, AT ALL. The shower had hairs in it. The bed had brown stains on the fake "tempur pedic" mattress. The coffee pot had a bunch of disgusting stains inside and outside. It was a nightmare. This place made Motel 6 look like luxury.

 

Excalibur is not bad. Honestly that smell is in every lower tier casino and unless you're used to all the finer things in life, you'll be fine. We spent an entire trip there last year and had a blast. Dicks last resort was a blast.

 

I LOVE Dick's. That place is amazing and I love the hilarious hats they put on you.

We usually stay at the Signature, but since were only going for two nights we figured that a lower end hotel would be perfectly fine. If we were there for more than three nights then a nicer hotel would be a must. We don't do much resting when we are only there for a couple of days.

 

I am a fan of Excalibur.

I love the contemporary room. I would not like to be in the standard room. I am not a hotel snob...not in the slightest. But I like certain types of decor and the standard room is just not it. I do not even mind or care much about "dated" or "worn". I care about colors, materials and atmosphere. I am just not a fan of the standard room.

I enjoy Buca and the food court and the connections to NYNY, MB and Luxor.