Luxor Las Vegas

Luxor Las Vegas is the only hotel in the world that's also a pyramid. It's not a pyramid facade hiding a standard hotel tower... or an empty decorative structure... it's an actual pyramid which contains 4,407 hotel rooms, a casino, and other attractions.

I was a guest at the Luxor in 1997, 1999, and December 2006. It's the only Las Vegas area hotel I've stayed at more than twice, so it's obviously a favorite of mine.

While I would prefer to be in a penthouse suite at Wynn, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, or Venetian; financial reality displaces these $2,000+ nightly room rate fantasies. Actually, the best rooms in Las Vegas resorts are priceless - you can't book them. You have to be a millionaire high roller and you get "comped" into them, which means you get the room for free because they know you'll be gambling away a lot of money. If you were a millionaire or billionaire high roller (also known as a "whale.")

So in my quest for an affordable rate, I have often selected the Luxor. But I also like it for several other reasons.

#1 - it's in a very pedestrian friendly area. I've rented cars in Las Vegas several times only to find that navigating the Las Vegas strip in an automobile is, overall, less convenient and more time consuming than walking. You often have to navigate insane traffic, park a quarter mile from where you're going; then walk there; do whatever, then walk back to the car, pull into the insane Las Vegas Blvd. traffic of hundreds of taxis and buses again; get to your next destination, find a place to park; rewind and repeat.

Renting a car is essential if you're going to visit off-strip attractions like the Grand Canyon or Area 51. If you're not going to venture beyond Las Vegas Blvd. (the strip) however, I recommend taking taxis and walking.

Although Luxor is almost at the south end of the strip (Mandalay Bay is the only resort that's further south), it's in what I call the "south stripolopolis"; which is a network of six megaresorts that are interconnected by a combination of indoor passageways and outdoor elevated pedestrian walkways.

Luxor is connected to Mandalay Bay to the south by what used to be an empty pedestrian tunnel, which is now a mall-like row of clothing stores called Mandalay Place. To the north, the Egyptian theme of Luxor transforms into the medieval theme of Excalibur through a pedestrian tunnel with a conveyor belt you can stand on and "ride" to Excalibur. So you have access to these three megaresorts without ever having to go outdoors.

Elevated pedestrian walkways connect Excalibur, New York New York, MGM Grand, and Tropicana. While they are outdoors, they let you avoid the daredevil feats of crossing Las Vegas Blvd. and Tropicana Ave. You have safe access to six very large casino resorts, without ever having to cross a street or traverse long distances. Being a guest at any one of these six properties is almost like being a guest at all of them simultaneously. It's definitely the most convenient area of the Las Vegas strip... defining "convenient" as having fast, hassle-free access to a large variety of attractions.

#2 - it's near the airport. One of the most popular questions first-time visitors to Las Vegas ask on Internet discussion forums is, "how much does it cost to get from the airport to my hotel." While it seems ironic that tourists going to the gambling capital of the USA would be concerned about cab fare... they are.

If you have a 6:00 a.m. flight home, proximity to the airport may be a concern for that reason as well. If you try to stay up until 6 but doze off at 4:30 and wake up at 5:30... will you be able to catch your flight?

#3 - it's a unique experience. Thinking about living in a giant pyramid for a few days, and actually doing it, are two very different things. Once you get there and walk around a bit, you realize you're experiencing something you've never experienced before. The architecture from inside looks a lot different than what you expected. I don't expect you'll have an epiphany or life changing experience... but it is fun. And that's one of the primary objectives of a vacation. Fun.

#4 - the atmosphere is pleasant. This item is probably more important overall than the first three I listed. When you can't afford to ignore price when choosing a hotel, there is some risk of choosing a property that will strike you as unpleasant in one way or another. Like when I stayed in a Sahara "garden room" during my noob (very first) visit to Las Vegas and encountered an evil mutated half grasshopper half giant roach monster bug in my room. (Not that there's anything wrong with the Sahara... the problem is choosing the low priced garden rooms at any property; sometimes called motor court or courtyard rooms.)

In addition to the 4,407 pyramid rooms, Luxor added about 2,000 standard tower rooms five years after they opened. So you should either request a pyramid room or tower room when making a reservation.

I highly recommend the pyramid rooms between the 10th and 25th floors. If you're below the 10th floor you may get too much noise from the casino. Above the 25th floor there is a ceiling that obstructs the view of the pyramid interior from the guest hallways.

Rather than trying to type elaborate descriptions of what the Luxor looks like from the inside and outside, the rest of this intel will be visual. Please click on each of the photos below to experience the Luxor as much as one possibly can, without actually having to go there.