Excalibur - Vegas - Is it that bad/unclean?

[mickeysgal]

You guys are scaring me. I just paged through the Vegas Hotel Review thread and yikes! We just made reservations at Excalibur (we're taking kids). We're going as part of a large family group - total of 5 rooms. Nothing I've read on that thread so far about Excalibur has been complementary. Is it that bad? We stayed there years and years ago and thought it was ok. Its not glitzy, but ok. I'm worried about cleanliness primarily. We're going in the beginning of April and the prices are sky high thoughout Vegas...maybe its the Final Four playoffs or spring break, but they're high! Any other suggestions? We didn't want to stay off the strip.

 

[Lewisc]

Monte Carlo is probably the nicest "kid friendly" resort on the strip. They have a food court. The pool has a (small) lazy river and wave pool.

Excalibur (and Circus Circus) is for famlies that are looking for a hotel on the strip and only care about price.

 

[Zoemakes5]

I've visited Excaliber, but not stayed there. I think it's a great place, generally, for a large group of multiple ages. Not sure about the rooms/accomodations, though.
We stayed at the Tropicana across the street at a great price and LOVED it! Inexpensive, great pool area, wonderful drinks and a swim up pool bar. I think it was only about $10-20 per night more than Excaliber, and the fun stuff would still be close by. There were lots of kids around.
I have to share my family experience of Monte Carlo though......keep in mind, however, that this was about 10 years ago, so there could be changes....
Their pool area is what made me choose that place, as DS was two and other DS was 6 months. The pool was nice, though my kids were the only kids there the entire week. The water was cooler than I would have expected, especially in the wave pool. The management were flat out rude and we had issues with them putting a $500 hold ($100 per day) when we checked in, but not letting us know and us not giving them permission. (This, by the way, put a huge damper in our day trip to DL. For 7 of us, we ended up only having $100 for the entire day!!! We had counted on that money on our card for spending money while we were there.) Monte Carlo continued to indicate that they didn't do anything wrong.
Also, at the restaurants, they had no kids menu and the buffet had no children's prices. We had to pay full price for DS who was 2, thankfully, not the baby. They also only had two high chairs at each restaurant, making it a big challenge to eat. They had issues with us using the stroller through the casino, even though that was the only way to the front door from the hotel rooms, they gave us negative looks when we had DS in the stroller by the pool and there were almost no changing tables in the bathrooms. Now, I know Vegas isn't all about kids or anything, but those are some of the attributes to a hotel that I would consider "family friendly" or "kid friendly".

 

[tracys2cents]

Excalibur is probably not much different than when you first stayed there.

But I would rather stay just off the strip at the Gold Coast. They have a bowling alley for kids. Kids will enjoy the flat screen tvs in the room. Movie theatres across the street at the Palms. Both hotels will shuttle you back and forth to the strip very quickly and frequently and you are actually CLOSER to the center action of the strip than way down at the Excalibur. And the coffee shop and buffets at Gold coast and Palms are WAY better than Excalibur, and cheaper!

The ORLEANS is another great place for families to stay, but it is further off the strip and a bit longer shuttle ride.

 

[Disney owl]

Have just got back from Vegas & stayed at the Luxor next door to the Excaliber. Wlked through the Excaliber most days & the downstairs all looked clean enough to me. Obviously didn't see any rooms. Found the decor a little tacky for my liking But didn't seem dirty.

 

[honeymom]

Nearly 20 years ago, I stayed at Excalibur. Back then, it was fine. Rooms very simple, plain, but not dirty. Hopefully, they have renovated since then, or I would think the rooms could have problems. We did stay at CircusCircus a little more recently - 9 years ago. Simple rooms again, but not dirty.

 

[Emmo]

Stayed at Circus Circus November '06 and we had 2 great rooms (we stayed before and after our trip to Disneyland) and we had no problems with cleanliness. Good quality for the price!

 

[woody73]

We visited the Excalibur in October. Did not see any rooms, but the casino, restaurants, and shops looked fine, so I suspect the rooms are of the same standard.

I would not hesitate to stay there. It's not the Bellagio, but it does't have the same price tag either. You'll be fine.

Woody

 

[ZekeKelso]

The Excalibur is fine - don't worry. It's the perfect place for folks who want to stay with kids on the strip for cheap.

If you've stayed there before, you know the negatives - big, chaotic, kids, "not fancy" etc. None of that has changed. if you are OK with it, go and have a great time.

 

[jpeppers]

Just got back from the Excalibur a couple of weeks ago and it is fine. My friends stayed at the Sahara and they were envious of our room.

 

[pearlieq]

We stayed at Excalibur a couple of years ago. It was...OK.

It wasn't the best place we've stayed at, but it wasn't the worst either. The room wasn't fancy and wasn't pristine, but it was fine. I wouldn't go looking under the bed or anything, but I was fine staying there for a few days.

The accomodations are acceptable and the location is great. For the price it's a really good value, especially with kids.

I wouldn't recommend eating there, except for maybe the food court. The Italian place is WAY overpriced and the buffet and coffee shop are truly godawful.

Take the 5 minutes to walk over to the Luxor for the buffet--it's only a dollar or so more but the quality is SO much better. Same goes for the coffee shop.

 

[Magix]

When staying at Excalibur, pay an extra $10 per night and get a North Tower view room. A little nicer and more spacious than the regular rooms. The hotel is not quite the quality it used to be, but it's still a decent place to stay at a good rate.

 

[Albort]

The only thing i remember about Excalibur, it smeeeeeells!

love love love the kid gaming area. full of carnival stuff.

 

[ZekeKelso]

BTW - did you see this special:

http://www.vegashotelspecial.com/index.php/2007/02/22/excalibur-deal-no-road-work-ahead/

 

[mickeysgal]

BTW - did you see this special:

http://www.vegashotelspecial.com/index.php/2007/02/22/excalibur-deal-no-road-work-ahead/

Thank you for posting this. We were able to reduce the cost of our room by at least $90. I appreciate this! The promotion is now over, but I was able to rebook while it was still running. Thanks again!

 

[funhouse8]

I've stayed here three times and thought it was fine. I was also scared the first time becasue of the reviews but went anyway and was pleased with our room. You can't beat the price and as a family we rarely were in our room! We didn't find the rooms dirty just felt it was old. The kids enjoyed the pool and the location can't be beat. The kids arcade is one of the best for them on the strip. They also enjoyed the Medevil Times Dinner Show. It was inside the Hotel. Have a wonderful time.

 

[53offsuit]

Don't panic about the Ex. If you go into it expecting the Bellagio, you will come away disappointed. Those ----negative reviews are by people who either:

1) are used to a higher level place at $100+/night in other cities, and think they should get similar quality for the same price on the strip;

2) normally stay in a "Days Inn" type place anywhere else. When they pay $90 in Vegas and get a "Days Inn" quality, they're upset, because they think Days Inn quality should cost $30/night. On the strip, $30=$90 (sort of).

I think of the Ex as a Holiday Inn or Days Inn type place. Mostly clean, maybe a little clunky, but with generally good service, so they will probably do well about correcting any problems you encounter.

 

[mickeysgal]

Ok - just got back from a 3 night stay at Excalibur. Now, I went in with my eyes wide open knowing that I wasn't to expect a Bellagio type of hotel on an Excalibur room rate. However, I will say that I will most likely not stay there again. Even for a Days Inn type hotel, I did feel it was too loud, too smoky (compared to other casinos), too dimly lit in the guest rooms and hallways, too worn, and yes, a bit too dirty and trashy in places (elevators and elevator hallways especially). The food quality was lacking - it was basic and bland at best. The rooms were clean, BUT the beds were horribly uncomfortable. And to put it bluntly, I felt that the clientel was a bit on the seedy side.

I'm sorry Excalibur fans, but this is what we experienced and felt. We stayed there twice years ago and we enjoyed it then. This time, I felt that it has taken a major dive downward in quality. We were staying with about 15 family members and they weren't thrilled either with the hotel.

 

[eduk8r26]

For a great "family-friendly" hotel, albeit somewhat down the strip from the action, The Southpoint is great. Nice pool area, including a pool for the little ones, bowling alley and arcade upstairs away from the casino, good ventilation, nice, big, well-lit rooms with plasma TV's. Only drawback was no kid's prices in buffet. In the restaurants, yes. Great place to stay.