When the Luxor Las Vegas Hotel first opened back in 1993, it was THE place to stay in Vegas, no small feat for a property located on the far southern fringe of the Strip, next to the kid-popular Excalibur.
Luxor Las Vegas
The hotel is 30 stories tall and has a total of just over 4,400 rooms, making it the second largest hotel in Las Vegas after the MGM Grand (and third largest in the world).
The interior is an huge atrium that rises up all 3o stories, with walkways running along balconies on each floor overlooking the hollow center of the pyramid and the lobby, casino, and attractions below.
Even almost 20 years after it opened, the Luxor is still a jaw-dropper. Looking up from the ground floor all the way up to the top floors is enough to induce vertigo, so you can imagine what the views are like from up on those balconies looking down to the atrium floor far below.
The elevators that run up the inside corners, known as “inclinators” rise at a 39 degree angle. It’s a really odd sensation riding neither horizontally or vertically, and it takes some getting used to. But the views are so worth it.
Luxor interior
The hotel was renovated as recently as 2008, so it has kept up to date, and the exhibits and attractions at ground level were all renovated at a cost of $300 million around 2007. Two twin 22 story ziggurat towers were added to the resort in the late 1990′s, almost doubling its room total.
It’s a bit far south on the strip to recommend if this is your first trip to Vegas and you want to see everything – getting back and forth to the north end of the Strip can be a bit of a hassle from here, especially during the hot summer months. You might want to consider someplace similar that is closer to Center Strip, like Paris or Caesars.
But if you are happy staying on the South end, or if you have been here and seen it all before, then the Luxor can still be a great place to stay, especially in rooms within the pyramid, which can have some great views. Of course, if you have a fear of heights, you might want to stay on lower levels or in the ziggurat towers in the back.
Luxor Entertainment and Nightlife
The Luxor has managed to remain relevant largely though keeping its attractions fresh and its nightlife on the cutting edge. You can definitely have a great time here, day and night.
Luxor entrance
For enterainment, there is the CRISS ANGEL Believe show, along with Menopause the Musical and Carrot Top.
Two fascinating exhibitions run on the pavilion located at the top of the escalators from the lobby area. These are Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, which includes actual items raised from the wreck of the Titanic along with replicas of areas of the ship, and Bodies… The Exhibition, which contains real human bodies preserved and displayed, both their outsides and their inner organs. It is a fascinating exhibit, though the very squeamish might want to skip it.
Finally, there is the nightlife, including LAX Nightclub, CatHouse Loungerie, Liquidity, and Flight. LAX is from the creators of the famous PURE nightclub and is owned in part by Christina Aguilera. It’s also known to be a celebrity hotspot, with everybody from Britney to George Clooney stopping by.
So if you want a nice room with a cool view (and a pulse-pounding elevator ride to your floor), the Luxor is a great place to consider. It’s still cool after all these years.
