STAYING AT THE EXCALIBUR HOTEL AND CASINO IN LAS VEGAS

It’s located between the hotel that looks like a pyramid and the hotel that has the replica of the Statue of Liberty in front of it.

It’s the Excalibur Hotel and Casino and like the Luxor and New York New York , it’s located on the Las Vegas Strip .

Like most of the hotels in Las Vegas, Excakibur has a tgeme also.

Think the Middle Ages meets the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas .

It’s even shaped like a castle and in the entire hotel and in the casino, you’ll see statues of Knights, real Knights , not the hockey team.

As many times as I’ve been to Vegas , I never stayed at this hotel before.

Because I am a member of their M Life players casino card club, I was given a discount on my room for the two nights that I stayed.

Yeah, the Sports Diva plays the slots a lot, don’t judge me.

The hotel is near the airport, so since I had an early afternoon flight back to Newark Liberty , this was convenient for me,and I was able to get the room I requested .

High floor near the elevator .

I was on the 25th floor.

I was able to see the Luxor and Mandalay Bay hotels from my room.

It looked so beautiful at night.

I would stay here again if offered the great rate that I received this time.

The only thing that I really didn’t like about the hotel was that, if you needed to print out something other than your boarding pass which was free, you had to pay $7 to do so.

The Sports Diva of course, was printing out some hockey tickets for a friend who was going to the hockey game with me.

I didn’t pay it and went to the concierge across the way at New York New York, who did it for free.

(More about the hockey game in another post . )

Other than that , (and you really shouldn’t charge that Excalibur, get on your game, people) I would stay at the castle on the Las Vegas Strip again.

LAS VEGAS BABY ! – LAS VEGAS , NEVADA – YOU MEAN THAT WE AREN’T IN EGYPT? – THE LUXOR HOTEL

It’s  been  a  long  day  in Las  Vegas  for  you  and  your  family .

The  four  of  you ,  you ,  your  wife  and  the  twins ,  a boy and  a  girl ,  age  15 ,  have  just  come  from  riding  the  Big  Apple  Roller  Coaster  at New York ,  New York   Hotel .

Being  the  New Yorkers  that  the  four  of  you  are, the roller  coaster  ride  reminded  you all on a ride on  the  New York  City  subway .

The  kids aren’t  ready  to  go  back  to  your hotel  just yet and neither  are  you  and your  wife ,  by the  way .

The  kids  have  told  you  as only  tweenagers  can ,  that they want  to  go  see the hotel  with ”  that mad huge sphinx . ”   in front  of  it.

You’re  guessing  that  they’re  talking  about  the Luxor  because  it reminds  you all of the time that you took the kids to visit  their grandparents  in Cairo ,  Egypt .

Normally ,  you would  walk to  this  hotel ,  but it’s  117  degrees  out, and that’s  with  no shade whatsoever .

If there’s  one  thing  that  you’ve  learned  from  your  trip  to  Las  Vegas  is that  objects  are NOT  as close  as  they  appear  to  be .

Luckily ,  there’s  a  free  tram  that  goes  from  Excalibur  Hotel  to the  Luxor .

The  four  of  you  get  off at  the  Luxor  stop, and there it is right in front  of  you ,  the half man, half lion, ”  mad huge sphinx . ”

The hotel  is  in the  shape  of  a  pyramid  and at night ,  there’s  a  beacon  of  light  that shines  from  the  top of  the  hotel   that supposedly  astronauts  can see from  Outer  Space ,  but you aren’t  sure  if  that’s  true  or if it’s  just  an urban  myth .

You  do know  that  when  your plane landed from Laguardia  Airport  to Las Vegas  McCarron  International  Airport  the other  night ,  you did see the  light  and it just wasn’t  the  lights  from  the  Las Vegas  Strip .

As you  all walk  through  the  lobby ,  there’s  two  huge  statues  of  a  Pharoah ,  which  one ,  you have no idea.

It does  remind  you  of  the  statue  of  Pharoah  Ramses  I I that the four  of  you  saw when you  went to  Abu  Simbel  with your cousins a few years  ago .

The  kids want  to  take  a ride  on  one  of  the  “inclinators”  at Luxor .

Because  of  the  shape  of  some  of  the  rooms  at the  hotel ,  the elevator  doesn’t  go straight ,  it inclines.

The kids won’t  have the  chance  to  ride the  inclinators  because  you all aren’t  staying  at  the  hotel .

Maybe  the  next  time  that  you  all come  to  Las  Vegas ,  whether  it  be  a 30  Plus  Teams  Tour  or not,  this is  the  hotel  that  you’ll  make  reservations  for .

You have to  agree  with  the  kids, just  being  at Luxor  for  a  few minutes  reminded  you of those  wonderful  times  that the four of  you  had visiting  your relatives and  in laws  in Egypt .

LAS VEGAS BABY ! – LAS VEGAS , NEVADA – THE LAS VEGAS STRIP OR DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS ? WHERE SHOULD I STAY WHEN I GO TO LAS VEGAS ?

First  of  all ,  not  that  many  people  who  come  to  Las  Vegas  for  the  first  time  are even   aware  that  there  is  a  Downtown  area  of  town .

There  is  and  it’s  actually  the  oldest  section  of  town .

The  Las  Vegas  Strip  is  the  place  that  most  everyone  knows  and  associates  with  Sin  City .

All those  fancy  and flashy  hotels  all in your  face .

Not  to  mention  the  fancier  nightlife  with the  clubs  all trying  to  outdo each  other  with well  known  djs .

But some  of  you  would  be  surprised  to  learn  that  all those  casino  resorts  from  the  Mandalay  Bay  at the  beginning  of  the  Las  Vegas  Strip  all the  way  down  to  the  Stratosphere  at the  end of  the  Strip  are actually  located  in  the  incorporate  city  of  Paradise ,  Nevada .

But I guess  if you  win a lot of  money  at the  tables  and  slots ,  you’d  be in Paradise  for  awhile ,  too  .

Seriously ,  though ,  lots  of  tourists  who have never been  to  Las  Vegas  or even  the ones who  have  many times, want to  know  :

When  I  come  to  Las Vegas ,  should  I  stay  on the  Las  Vegas  Strip ,  also  known  as  Las Vegas  Boulevard  or should  I  stay in   Downtown  Las Vegas ,  where most  of  the  hotels  are on Fremont  Street ?

As someone  who  has lived and worked in  Downtown  Las  Vegas  for  three  years  and  has been  to the  Las  Vegas  Strip  more times than I  have fingers and  toes ,  I  think  I  have  some  street  cred  here .

Where should  you  stay?

It all depends ,  really .

Do you  want  to  be where the  major  action  in  Las Vegas  is?

Or do  you  want it quiet?

This  is  Las Vegas ,  folks ,  good  luck  with  that  quiet  thingy .

The Las  Vegas  Strip  or  Downtown  Las  Vegas  can give  you  both .

The  hotels  on the  Las  Vegas  Strip  are the  ones  that  you  see in every  picture  of  Las Vegas .

You  want  to  see The  Eiffel  Tower  without  traveling  to  Paris ,  France ?

There’s  the  Paris  Las  Vegas  Hotel  with the smaller  version  of  all things Paris ,  France  right  in front  of  you .

You  don’t  want  to  travel  to  Egypt ,  but that hotel  that’s  shaped  like  a  pyramid  looks  very interesting  to  you .

That’s  Luxor ,  people .

Or maybe  you  want to  see a replica of  ”  the  glory  that  was  Rome  ” ?

The  ginormous  Ceasars  Palace  is the  place  you want  to  be.

You  say that  you  want  to  stay  on  the  Las  Vegas  Strip  but  some  of  these  hotel  casinos  are way too  overwhelming  for  you .

How  about  the  quiet  elegance  of  the  Bellagio  or the  simple  elegance  of  The  Wynn  or its  sister  property ,  Encore  at  The  Wynn ?

You  say  that  you  brought  the  kids  with  you ?

How about  Circus  Circus  or the   Excalibur ?  Or even The  Stratosphere ?

Now   that you’ve  heard about  the  Las  Vegas  Strip ,  just  what  does  Downtown  Las  Vegas  have  for  you ?

Will you  see things  that  you’ve  never  seen  before  like on the  Las  Vegas  Strip ?

This is  Las  Vegas ,  folks .

Of course  you  will .

Where else  would  you  see  a  Dennys  Restaurant  with  a  wedding  chapel  or a  restaurant  called  The  Heart  Attack  Grill   where people  can weigh  themselves  right  outside  of  the  restaurant ?

Want  more  craziness ?

Take  a  ride on that zip line  that  flies  over  you  and  several  thousands  of  visitors   at the  Fremont  Street  Experience .

Yes ,  that  is  a  humongous  slot  machine  that people  are  shooting  out  of .

The  zip line  is called   “Slotzilla .

There’s  not  a  lot  of  casinos  Downtown .

There’s  only  11  of them and  most  of  them  are located  around  the  Fremont  Street  Experience .

If  you  want  a friendly  atmosphere ,  Downtown  Las  Vegas  is the  place  for  you .

There’s  a  light  show  every night  here from 8 pm  until  Midnight .

It’s  loud ,  but  this  is  Vegas  after  all .

From  Seventh  Street  up to  111th  Street ,  this area  of Downtown  is known  as   Fremont  Street  East .

You’ll  find  clubs, restaurants  and  a place  called  the  Downtown  Container  Park where everything  seems  to  be  made  from  old  shipping  containers .

There’s  even  a  Praying  Mantis  in front  of  the  building .

This being  Las  Vegas ,  even the  insects  have  to  put on a show ,  so at night ,  the Praying  Mantis  lights  up too .

I  would  say that this  is as far as  you  should  venture  on Fremont  Street .

After 11th  Street ,  there’s  no need to  venture  any further  down  Fremont  Street .

If you  decide  to  stay  on  the  Las  Vegas  Strip ,  but you  want  to  go Downtown ,  you  can  get  there  by public  transportation ,  either  the  Deuce  or the  SDX  can get you  there  and  back  .

So where would  I  advise  you  to  stay ?

In spite  of  the  glitter  and  glamour  of the  Las  Vegas  and  the  fact  that  some  areas  around  Downtown  are  sketchy ,  I  would  still  say stay on  Fremont  Street ,  Downtown  Las  Vegas .

The  hotels  are  much  cheaper  and  unlike  many ,  if not  all  the  casinos hotels  on the  Las  Vegas  Strip ,  some  of  the  hotels  don’t  have  a resort  fee ,  where  you  basically  pay for  everything  on top  of  paying  for  your stay and not to mention that they charge   $100   for incidentals ,  which  you get back when you  check out.

Providing  that you haven’t  used up $100   worth of  incidentals  ,  of course .

Some  of  the  hotels  collect  the  fees  when you  check  in ,  others when you  check  out .

Paying  the  resort  fees  are  not  optional ,  by the  way .

For  the  Las  Vegas  Strip  hotels ,  the  fees  can  range  from   $23  a night  all the  way  up  to   $35  a night .

The  hotels  Downtown  that  do have  a  resort  fee  charge   $  9  to   $20  a night ,  and no not  paying  the  fees  isn’t  an option  here  either .

From  Las  Vegas  McCarron  International  Airport ,  shuttles  can  get you  to  both  those  fancy  hotels  on the  Las  Vegas  Strip  as well  as  the  not  so  fancy  hotels  Downtown  that  you  and  the  family  decide  to  stay  at.