Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas

[drscott]

I've been working on the pictures from our trip, and I'm too tired to finish that up tonight, so I'll carve out one topic, the interesting history of the hotel we stayed at, the Luxor. I picked it because they have been advertising a lot in the Advocate (and I was able to get a good deal at $80/night) and it was being built the last time I visited Las Vegas, in 1993 on my drive from LA to Boston (in three days, by myself.)

The Wikipedia entry is quite interesting. The complex cost almost half a billion dollars to build in 1992-93 and was considered a postmodern icon at the time. The beam of light from the apex is still the brightest continuous artificial light beam in the world. The original luxe Egyptian decor has been largely removed, though there are some interesting bits remaining. The recent renovations to target a younger crowd (including a new nightclub opened by Britney Spears) and the hordes of lower-middle class folk from LA attracted by downmarket pricing seem to have succeeded -- the place was full when many of the newer hotels clearly weren't. We stayed in the more recently renovated tower and found it mostly pleasant, with a decent gym and okay buffet. The only problem was the 15-minute walk to where the car was parked.

When I dropped in a few months before opening in 1993, I took a picture from the street. I wasn't able to exactly duplicate it this time because a large copse of trees would block the view, but you get the idea....

Comments

[joebehrsandiego.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's just sad.

The original incarnation was over-the-top, to be sure (I was still living in LV in '93) but at least it was thematically consistent. The pyramid rooms were cool in their own way too.

I would avoid staying there now, especially since there are so many alternatives in that price range, give or take $20/night. David/annoyinghandle and I stayed at the Westin Casuarina (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1448) in mid-'07 for $95/night and I've since paid anywhere from $88-100/night there. I love the place and the location.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I hadn't been to LV in 16 years and that's about how long it will be before I return. :-) Hate the place and the mindless attitude it represents.

But if we're sucked in again (by some special show, presumably!) I'll keep your suggestion in mind.

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

The hotel is one giant ad now???? Yikes!

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

They appear to be using the same process used to paint buses with ads that don't block views from inside. Ugly, tacky, and stupid -- let's get a little revenue by damaging the image we spent an extra $50 million to build! Each side had a different ad....

[notdefined.livejournal.com]

Just a wee correction (You know I had to) "The beam of light from the apex is still the brightest continuous artificial light beam in the world." is not entirely correct. If you had said visible light beam then it may have been. At the moment the brightest light on the planet is right here in Berkeley. The Advanced Light Source at UC/Berkeley Lab.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

"Light" in a physics sense includes all wavelengths above radio and below X-rays, but we're usually talking visible light in the normal context. But yes, the ALS is very impressive. [feel better? :-) ]

[notdefined.livejournal.com]

I rarely make a comment like that but I was in a mischievous mood yesterday. Besides, the ALS is probably our last hurrah. After 75 years the lab has been contracting over the past decade due to such things as the anti-nuclear sentiment in Berkeley, the anti-all things California by the previous person infesting the White House and the economy in general. Bombs continue to be the recipient of federal funding and as we no longer do weapons research, we tend to get the left overs.

[fuzzybearcub.livejournal.com]

thanks for the info. :-)

go [cal] bears!

[notdefined.livejournal.com]

It is about to be eclipsed however. The folks at CERN in Switzerland plan to use the big collider over there to create a light source (among other things), if they can ever get the thing to come online without trying to destroy itself. :)

[omero-hassan.livejournal.com]

I vaguely recall someone claiming at the time that the whole entire hotel had the curative/restorative powers that pyramids are supposed to have. It's hard to imagine being restored in the shadow of an enormous Transformers ad, but did you find it so?

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I felt transformed in that my distaste for smokers and hookers-on-the-make of all sexes was increased, but I don't think it was supernatural. It seemed mostly dim inside.

[dendren.livejournal.com]

Bob and I stayed there in January 1994 on our honeymoon. I actually really liked it at the time. Of course back then it was full of a handful of "rides" and the uber Egyptian theme. It's changed so much since then tho, I'd prolly pick someplace else further up the strip if we were going to Vegas again.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

If I'd known they were going to announce a special offer on combined Bette Midler and Caesars hotel packages the very next day we would have stayed there -- more convenient.

[dendren.livejournal.com]

oh, nice. too bad you missed out on that. we saw Bette there last year. Fabulous as ever, but definitely having a harder time hitting some of her higher notes... awful when the old faves start getting old :(

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Yup. Some of her songs were gently modified to reduce the required range to less than one octave. But she did a fabulous job with what she had.

The city is really hurting for business. One of the cabbies commented his income is way down. President Obama specifically suggested Las Vegas meetings were extravagances and helped sink convention bookings to half of what they usually are. Expect more promotions.

[dendren.livejournal.com]

wish I liked Vegas more, but it really does kind of bore me. I like the shows and the glitz, but that only goes so far. Bob likes to gamble and I'm too cheap for that LOL

I want big deep deals for Disney World... that I'd jump on. I really want to go this fall but just haven't had it together enough to pull together a group to go :P

[pklexton.livejournal.com]

Interesting, and a bit sad. We too stayed at the Luxor in the 90s closer to its prime. That Transformers ad - blech. Still I would say a 15 minute walk to a parking garage for any hotel on the Strip is about par. They don't exactly want to make it easy for you to hop in the car.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

On one particularly memorable evening, I spent 20 minutes going to the car to get something, then discovered something else was missing and made the same trip again, only to realize we had left it in Palm Springs. 45 minutes I'll never get back.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

I've been through the Luxor several times, and I've tried really hard to like it enough to want to stay there, but the atmosphere has gotten sort of Seedy-Great-America-Gang-Trashy, and I don't enjoy myself wandering around the hotel as much as other properties.

These days, I'm happier with Harrah's (Randy and I have received exceptional treatment there, despite not being high rollers). I also think Caesar's Palace is still a Vegas Landmark, and would stay there again.

Tried Treasure Island during the IAGSDC Convention in 1997. Room was OK, but didn't care for the hotel in general. It took 10-12 minutes to travel between our room and the lobby. I also found the layout more confusing than necessary for a casino/hotel.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

"Seedy-Great-America-Gang-Trashy" is about right. There are still plenty of Middle America and Euro types, though, and everyone was well-behaved.

I don't expect we'll be back any time soon.

[abqdan.livejournal.com]

Wonderful photos! I love the before-and-after idea. We have a book about NM where the photographer was at great pains to use a similar type of equipment and location to recreate 1900's photos of the state. He did have to avoid the middle of a freeway at one point. This type of historical contrast tells so much more of a story than simply explaining the changes.

As to staying in LV hotels; I think they are uniformly awful; though I haven't stayed in Vegas for 8 years, so things may be different now. Other than some of the shows, I don't find much to redeem the city. The ad on the Luxor is ghastly.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Quite right. Las Vegas' major appeal is that those of us who are immune to gambling, drinking, and whores are subsidized by those who aren't, so it's really cheap. But then there's no special reason to be there. The Europeans love the heat and the prices, and I can see enjoying the trashiness of it all for a few days...