Have a Royally Crappy Stay, Sir!
Written: Aug 13 '01 (Updated Aug 13 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Oh look! Clean sheets.
Cons: Dirty, dank, dark, dingy, desolate and depressiong. Over-priced. Pathetic.
The Bottom Line: Hear ye, hear ye! The Excalibur sucketh the mighty blade!
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| Anne-Gwish's Full Review: Excalibur Hotel And Casino |
Here ye! Here ye! Avoideth the Excalibur Hotel and Casino or Ye will be GREATLY disappointed!
This was my 3rd trip to Vegas. Even the Gothic Mistress enjoys some sun and fun every once in a while, and since Vegas has everything a woman could ever dream of... Prada, Dolce and Gabana, Jacuzzi Suits, and of course, being waited on hand and foot, I return there frequently.
I was last there in the late 80's, and I must say, it has since changed a great deal. 4 days we walked the strip, ate, drank, and made merry, and I had a wonderful time in general, but I must tell you that the hotel we stayed at was horrendous. And that is putting it mildly. It was so bad, that we hung out everywhere BUT where we were staying after day one.
In short: We stayed at the Excalibur, and it was about as nice as a glorified Holiday Inn. Although, locally, the Holiday Inns out here are better than the Excalibur. At least at the local Holiday Inn, the maid doesn't make you put a $50.00 deposit down to use a hotel iron and board for one (timed) hour.
Service, Price, Etc: The service was lousy, unprofessional, not very welcoming, and very much about money. For what that hotel offered, the price was sure not balanced. Seemed all the staff cared about was making sure the bill was paid, they once in fact called us at 7am to inform us of how much our phone bill was, demanding we come down to the desk that moment, and pay it. Not to mention, it costs $11.00 a call JUST TO CONNECT anywhere long distance, so bring a phone card if you stay at this one. I have never HEARD of such a thing in all my years of staying in hotels. To think, a call coming in at 7am, when one has been out whopping it up till 6am the previous night, is well, simply unheard of!
We were also expecting a very important fax, which never made it, (and we still wonder if it did but it was never given to us. We were later told by our friend that he did indeed SEND the fax. It never showed up, however, we were still charged $9.00 for the service, which we later demanded be removed off our bill. That process took forever and a day. Trying to get anything removed off your bill will require a mile-long trek through the crowded, confusing casino, to the registration desk.
The Pool: We had an issue with the pool, which was dirty (it was so dirty, it actually started to change my bathsuit colors), cloudy, and hot. Pools are not supposed to be HOT, even in Vegas. We were so disgusted, we tried another hotels' pool, and it was cool, refreshing, and clean, which proved just how bad the Excalibur's pool really was. Not to mention it was over-crowded. Crowded pools mean higher maintenance, which this hotel did NOT have. Most the other hotels had waitress service around the pool area, the Excalibur had an over-priced hot-dog shack (that was what it looked like to me) and appeared to be more like a recreation center than a hotel pool area.
Family Oriented? Yay or Neigh: If you are looking for a more adult-geared hotel, do NOT stay at the Excalibur, which is a combination of Holiday Inn, Medieval Times, and a really cheesy version of a Disneyland Ride. It's essentially a kid's hotel, really, HOWEVER, it's very dark in the hallways, the rooms are very plain, and lacking in color and decor, and it is almost depressing to stay in. In general, the hotel seemed dirty and not very pleasing to the eye... on the inside. So don't let the web page and outside of the place fool you. Sure it's a big, bright white castle, but a kingdom is it not. If that's how a kid's hotel is supposed to look, color me very surprised.
The sad part is, even if this is more of a kid's hotel, every little thing costs money, so kids are constantly begging mom and dad for cash. The midway was an over-priced lawn fete full of pathetic, hard to win games, and low quality prizes.
I don't have children. This is obvious. I consider Las Vegas to be an adult town. I can understand children being there now with all the new hotels and attractions, but, I still stand firm in my belief that kids should NOT be allowed in the casino and gaming areas. At the Excalibur, not only are there children running around and playing in the gaming areas, but I saw some playing slot machines... and I'm not joking here. In any other casino, security would have never allowed that. But the security in the Excalibur is in 24 hour coma, daily.
Also, we noticed it was easy to get lost disoriented on the casino floor. The floor plan made no sense, and was very confusing. We often had to ask for directions, and it seemed every staff person we encountered in the Excalibur was not only grumpy, but rude as well. Example: When I called to ask about the pool, knowing that many hotels have more than one, and that they are usually bigger, the desk employee replied, "Well I can't make the pool bigger." - this was one of the many rude comments various staff members muttered.
Staff: Everyone who works at the Excalibur needs to be trained in customer service, and common courtesy. And when I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE, from the front desk staff, to the security guards, valets, dealers and waitresses. I met not one nice person working anywhere in this hotel. It felt like they were employing the dregs of society.
Food: the places to eat in the Excalibur are either WAY overpriced and very dressy (not very family oriented) or, are chain-places like McDonald's and Krispy Kreme. Their buffet did not appeal to us at all, and the lines to get in it were slow, and long. I later heard very bad things about the quality of the food, so I am glad we decided to eat at the Luxor next-door, which was beautiful and worth the money. So skip the "Round Table Buffet" at Excalibur, and go to the "Pharaohs's Feast" at the Luxor. It costs more, but believe me, it is SO WORTH the money. Sure, the Excalibur has a Krispy Kreme shop, but, stay elsewhere, and walk to get the doughnuts.
In summary: I picked this hotel because I thought it would be FUN. It looked fun (from the outside). Who wouldn't be attracted to a pretty white castle? It turned out to be more like FUNeral (hotel-wise), and I will NEVER stay at the Excalibur EVER again. Also, I will NOT recommend it in any way, and I plan on sending them a nice letter addressing my thoughts and feelings on our experience as a whole. I complained before we left, and the member I spoke to at the desk didn't even grace me with a VERBAL response, instead she shrugged, and gave me a very sarcastic grin.
Las Vegas, the Excalibur is an embarrassment. Blow it up and rebuild something else in it's place. It worked for Bally's and the Desert Inn.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
Anne-Gwish
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Location: La Pierre, Ohio
Reviews written: 104
Trusted by: 85 members
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