Monday, May 10, 2010

Excalibur - "Crown Jewel" of the MGM Resorts Empire!

For the first two nights of the trip when I was solo, I decided on staying at Excalibur; largely due to the price and to check out the newly remodeled "widescreen" rooms. I actually booked a Widescreen Deluxe, which is slightly larger with a seating area for an extra $10. I arrived to a very short line at check-in (Sunday at 6 PM) and was told that the Deluxe rooms were only on the 1st and 2nd floors. I would rather be a little higher up so I asked what my options were. I was given a Widescreen "View" room, which also a $10 upgrade. I dragged my stuff up to the 10th floor and sure enough, the key doesn't work. Thus begins my fun at Excalibur Excalibur! Back down to the casino to call the front desk and they tell me they will send maintenance to the room. Back up to the 10th floor and 20 minutes go by... I give up and go back to the front desk where they give me new keys. Back to the room where the maintenance guy shows up as I do. The lock is toast and he replaces it quickly but says the door is jacked up and engineering will have to come back and fix it. Fine whatever... I take a few pictures of the room and the view, which was definitely worth a $10 upgrade over an Excalibur "non-view" room. The remodeled rooms are considerably nicer than the older rooms with better furnishings, completely redone bathrooms and of course the widescreen TV, minus the high-def programming.

After unpacking, I proceed to take a shower to wash 4 hours of desert off of me and this is when the real nightmare starts. As I am getting in the shower, I notice a few stray hair on the floor of the bathroom that definitely aren't mine. Im a little skeeved out but I deal it. I start to shower when I look down in the stall and notice quite a few more hairs. F&$%ING GROSS! I actually threw up a little, it was that disgusting. I quickly get out, dry off and promptly call downstairs to be moved! In my 75+ trips to Vegas, never once have I asked to change rooms until now. To top off the disgustingness, as I am on hold waiting for the front desk, I notice a little cocaine straw under the writing desk. Awesome! The "Guest Services" person was understanding enough and after clicking and typing for a little while, tells me that she will upgrade me to a suite for the rest of the stay.

So I pack up and head down to VIP check-in (and bypass a now large line at the front desk) to get my new keys. Its a 1 BR suite on the top floor and it actually is a pretty nice room all things considered. It an actual suite with a dining area, seating/TV area and half bath in the living room and a large master BR/bath with jacuzzi tub. Before settling in, I do a top to bottom inspection and am satisfied with the cleanliness. The only issue with the room was that the tub was looking a little tired (but clean!) and the remote was missing in the bedroom.

Needless to say, I didnt spend a whole lot of time at the Excalibur. The only meals I ate there was at Starbucks and Krispy Kreme but ended up staying quite a bit in the "neighborhood," which is the what MGM refers to Excalibur/Luxor/Mandalay Bay. I made my now regular trip to the BUrger Bar in Mandalay Place which was excellent as always and had drinks at Aurora in Luxor. There is quite a bit between the 3 hotels with a huge collection of restautants, clubs and bars.

Obviously, I was completely disappointed with my stay at Excalibur. I certainly wasn't expecting the Bellagio experience and actually love the whole cheesy medieval theme but I was expecting something far more than I received. I have never gotten a room that disgusting at a Motel 6 and the problems extended beyond the rooms. The elevators are horrendously slow, the public areas are totally worked over and the service was much less than top-notch everywhere I went. The place has seriously descended to the level of Circus Circus but at least there, I was fully prepared for what I was got and ended up even being pleasantly surprised! At Excalibur, that wasn't to be...

Click Here for Room and Suite Pics


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