I recently returned from three days at the Luxor (West Tower Room, facing pool), and would like to say that all of the reviews I have read on this site are basically correct, with the differences in rating (a few unlucky guests aside) based on how reasonable the reviewers were in their expectations. When booking a room at the Luxor, it is helpful to remember the following things:
1) The hotel (west tower aside) is now over a decade old, and has been used for a million things you wouldn't tell Mom about, but the Staff still tries to get it right.
2) Vegas is big, so what may be a long walk from check-in to your room where you come from is par for the course here. The walk from check-in to the West Tower is no longer than that at any other megacasino. If you are inclined to complain about it, odds are you need the exercise anyway.
3) There is a reason places like the Venetian and Bellagio tend to charge three to four times as much for a room as the Luxor, and why Mandalay Bay (their sister property) is always more. You will not be checking into the Ritz when you check into the Luxor. Don't expect it, and you'll be happy. On a related note, unless you have a fetish for wizards, dragons, and seriously bad air quality, the added difference in price between the Luxor and the Excalibur (their other less expensive sister property) is always worth it. Always.
4) Luxor is at the south end of the strip. Necessarily, therefore, most of what you probably want to see is down towards the other end. See point #3.
Now, with those statements out of the way, I will say this: on a weekend when most Vegas hotel rooms were going for $300 to $500 a night (or not even available at the trendier places) we could get a room at the Luxor for $219 for Sat. and Sun. Some would say this was high; we viewed it as the price of admission for Vegas. Desk service was quick and friendly at both check-in and check-out. We used the Luxor website to book a room. If you do the same, check it periodically to see if the rates have gone down. They did for us, and a two minute phone call to their 800 number locked in a lower rate for us.
Pool area is okay; drinks are a bit pricey even by vegas standards. Easy to get a deck chair even on sunny days; main pool at 3 1/2 feet at the deepest was too shallow.
Set up a massage at the Spa for the last day, at the end of which I was flying back east on a redeye at 12:30 AM. A Spa treatment gives you 24 hours of use of the Spa, including a locker. I would recommend this for anyone facing a red-eye; being able to take a shower at 10 Pm and change before your flight makes you feel more human. Aside from not having cross-gender massages (e.g., guys-only treatments on mens side / women-only on womens), the quality of the massage was excellent.
This may be the only respectable Casino left on the strip (and NO, I do NOT consider Excalibur, the Trop, or the Barbary Coast to be respectable, let alone little places like San Remo) where you can find 5 dollar tables on a weekend.
Buffet was average but competitively priced for dinner at $16.95.
Blue Man group still worth every penny they charge for admission; the back row is still a good view, unless your eyesite is poor. If you don't have good distance vision, it behooves you to sit closer.
All told, having stayed at other second-tier Vegas properties like the Monte Carlo, New York New York, Treasure Island, or even the Aladdin, I think Luxor is the best of the rest. It is not the Venetian, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, or even the MGM or Paris, so don't expect it. If you go into it with reasonable expectations, you will not be disappointed.
