Excalibur Hotel and Casino

This is one of the original themed hotels from the 90’s. It’s located at the south end of the strip, between New York New York and Luxor. You can’t miss the distinctive fairytale castle design, with it’s bright red and blue turrets. You can tell this was built in 1990, an era when Vegas was trying to become a family-friendly destination. The theming is basically a medieval castle, complete with turrets, moat and a drawbridge!

I’ve stayed here twice. The first time was in April 2024, and my latest visit was in December 2025. It’s a cheap option and I have to say my expectations weren’t particularly high before I stayed for the first time. However I was pleasantly surprised. Both times I stayed in a standard two queen room in the resort tower. The rooms are basic, but a decent size and was clean and comfortable. In 2024 the room felt a bit dated, but fine for the price I paid. There was no fridge in that room but there was a fridge in the renovated room. The air-conditioning unit was a little old and noisy, but it worked perfectly well, I think it was the same unit in the renovated room, it just the box around it had been removed.

In 2025 I had a newly renovated room on the 17th floor. Although, I say renovated, but really it was a clean up from the previous room e.g. new carpets, curtains, lamps etc. The decor was a little warmer looking and some of the medieval furnishing and art had been removed. The furniture was different and apparently this was the old furniture from rooms in MGM Grand that had been also been refurbished! The bathroom has also had a tidy up replacing the shower screen with a curtain and freshly painted tiles and walls, but all the bathroom fittings were the same.

The bathrooms have everything you need, but for some reason the sink vanity seemed weirdly high compared to other rooms, not sure why that was. The shower was decent and you have plenty of fresh towels provided.

My room in 2024 was on the 11th floor and the other from 2025 was the 17th floor. They both had a internal facing views, so you could only see turrents with a bit of the MGM Grand in the distance. An outward facing room would have had a better view. However the resort tower was convienently located, and the entrance to the pool area, gym and spa were just at the bottom of the lifts.

Renovated two queen bed room (room 17234) in the Resort tower (December 2025)

Original two queen bed room (room 11264) in the Resort tower (April 2024)

Comparison of the original (2024 room) with the newly renovated (2025 room)

The downside of staying here was probably the location. Being quite far south, it did feel like quite a way to get to the centre strip hotels and downtown. New York New York and MGM Grand are in easy reach and you also have the free Mandalay Bay tram (see Trams in Vegas) to take you to Luxor and Mandalay Bay just outside (or you can take the indoor walking route through the hotels).

The casino floor is very large and there is a good variety of slots and table games. However the drinks service wasn’t particularly great and it did seem to take a long time for the waitresses to come along with your order.

The pool area was suprisingly big, with four pools (although one was closed). Two large pools, an adult only pool (reserved for MGM reward gold card members) and two hot tubs. There were plenty of loungers, but not a lot of shade available during the day.

So overall, Excalibur is a decent budget option, particularly if you want to locate at the south end of the strip. Since it’s kept alot of it’s theming, it’s got quite a fun vibe and of course you are staying a castle! The rooms maybe basic but they are perfectly comfortable.

However, personally, I think I prefer to spend a small amount more and locate to a more centre strip hotel to have easier access to the hotels, bars and restaurants where I want to spend time on my trip.