3900 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV 89119, 877-386-4658,
Rates: $55 to $200 a night, depending on the type of room, day and season. It’s rare to pay more than $100 a night, though. Parking is free.
Stay here if you: have an Egypt fetish or want to be on the Strip and still have plenty of money left over for gambling.
It’s close to: the Strip, baby.
The rooms are: a little mummified. With more than 4,400 rooms, the Luxor reportedly is the third-largest hotel in the world, so remodeling it has to be a pricey proposition. But it’s been 15 years since it opened, which is equivalent to a dynasty in Las Vegas hotel time. Little things like a missing knob on my TV armoire or a toilet that doesn’t flush properly are reminders that this luxury hotel, like its namesake, has seen more glorious days. And if you’re a fan of bathtubs, don’t stay in the pyramid rooms, which have only showers.
They put all of the money into: the spectacular architecture. Who doesn’t want to stay in a room shaped like a pyramid, or ride an “inclinator” elevator that travels at an angle rather than straight up? Walking into the massive atrium with its 20-foot-tall bronze Anubis statues, you can’t help but want to celebrate the imaginative decadence that is Vegas.
The bottom line: Think of the Luxor as Cleopatra: still legendary, but in need of a little embalming.
Vicky Uhland
