Great hotel on a budget, rooms a good size, clean and staff friendly. Location on the main Vegas strip near to all the shopping and nightlife. A trip to the grand canyon is a must!!

My trip to the Excalibur was a mixed bag the entire time. First I wanted a King instead of two queens as I was traveling alone. They did not have my king room so I asked if there was any other options. The clerk said I could upgrade to the Widescreen Tower Room and get a king bed. I asked if I could do it at at the promotional email rate that I signed up for (the promo had tiers based on the types of rooms). She said yes. I was then charged the rate I signed up for with an additional room upgrade cost, rather than the promotional rate (works out to ~$30 more).

When I called to rectify this situation, I was told "The clerk didn't switch your promotion, so I don't understand what you're talking about. The clerk did not do what you say she was supposed to do." Obviously.

Next, Excalibur charges $13.99 a day for internet and its absurdly slow. In 2009, when bargain hotels that have rooms that barely go over $13.99 have free internet I find it absolutely absurd that a resort hotel is unable to offer it.

The upgrade got me a widescreen TV in my room which was completely worthless. Out of about 20 channels you can go to with your hotel remote, 10 of them are English speaking TV channels; not one of them is close to high definition or broadcast for widescreen. The rest are in spanish or are the hotel menus/vegas promo channels. Again, the Excalibur is being outdone in service by the Super 8.

The noise level was pretty high, but I relent that its vegas and that happens. My room overlooked the pools, which is neat until 9:01am when they start blaring Ricky Martin and other bad 90s pop music and you can hear it over the cranked AC.

The bed sheets were ripped, there was stains on the comforter and the underblanket in a supposedly "upgraded" and "remodeled" room. The difference is not worth it.

I loved Excalibur as a kid, and aside from the fact that their poker room is all electronic tables (no dealers, all computers) I enjoy the casino and the atmosphere on the floor. The room and the staff however has made me unlikely to ever stay here again, which is truly sad as it is one of my fondest memories growing up. Had I of taken the promo at the other hotel up the street I would've actually saved money after the upgrade fiasco, stayed in a better location, and had a better room. Lesson learned.

FAMILY FRIENDLY:
Since we were traveling with 2 young children, a big goal of ours was finding plenty of entertainment for the kids. Excalibur had it. Fantasy Faire downstairs of the lobby had carnival midway-type games and Chuck E Cheese type games, so the kids were thrilled to stop there anytime. Plus, we got a lot of buy-one-game-get-one-free coupons from the aggressive time-share hucksters upstairs. (I don't mind listening to their sales pitch for a minute or two to see what freebie I can get. However, they are all over and as pesky as flies, so some people might be very annoyed by them.) The pool area was also a HUGE hit with the kids. The pools are large. One pool had 2 waterslides and 2 waterfalls, which we all enjoyed. Another has a large shallow area for the very young kids (and adult tanners), with 2 jacuzzis right next to it. A third pool has a water cascade across one side, which you can stand in front of and get a nice massage on your neck. :) I think there was also a fourth pool thet we didn't see. It may have been an adults-only pool. Overall, the pool area was THE HIT of our stay- very family friendly. The only downside- the pool hours are only from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., which mystifies me.

THE ROOM:
We booked the cheapest room, but at check-in, I asked for a free upgrade, and we were immediately upgraded to the flat-screen room in Tower 2, which would have run an extra 20 bucks a night, so that was awesome. I'm not terribly picky about hotel rooms, and I'd say the room was adequate.
The plusses: bathroom was roomy and recently upgraded, with a huge granite counters. A/C unit also had a lagre granite countertop for extra storage. Dresser was roomy enough, TV was good, the room was fairly clean, the linens were good, housekeeping was good. Nice view of New York New York and some of the Strip.
The minuses: Only a shower, no bath, and the bathroom grout was dirty, which gives me the creeps. Carpet was kind of worn, and the beds were made with only sheets and a very light blanket, no bedspreads. We had to ask for extra blankets, which housekeeping brought within half an hour. Though the room was mostly quiet, you could always sort of hear the sound of the roller-coaster next door.

THE FOOD:
We tried the fast-food on location- too expensive and not very good. We tried the all-day buffet one day, and weren't terribly impressed. It was just okay. The only offerings that were really tasty were the sushi and the fish. The main thing the buffet had going for it was that it was cheap. To be honest, I think the next time I stay here, I'll bring a mini-fridge and microwave, and hit the CVS or Walgreens for canned/frozen food and cereal. (Or rent a fridge, because I think they provide them for an extra fee.)
The free drinks when gambling and the drinks by the pool were pretty watered down.

THE SERVICE:
Hit-or-miss. Check-in and check-out lines were HUGE, and it was a slow weekday. Took 30 minutes to get to the front of the check in line. Check in girl was friendly and efficient. Help desk girl was not. Cocktail waitresses were mostly friendly, with one exception. Restaurant staff was so-so. Dealers were mostly friendly and informative, though a couple had the personality of cardboard boxes. Tip- save yourself some hassle and use the self-checkout, which takes 5 minutes, rather than checking out at the desk, with its 45-minute line.

INTERNET:
They charge extra for in-room internet usage. Or you can go to the Krispy Kreme above the casino floor and use the free Wifi there.

LOCATION:
Pretty good. Free tram to Luxor and Mandalay Bay, which has the Shark Reef attraction. Walkways to New York New York and MGM Grand. Decent walk to Bellagio, long walk to Ceasar's, very long walk to Treasure Island. DO NOT, under any circumstances, make the mistake we made, and think you're going to walk from Excalibur to Circus Circus. You can do it, but it will take you an hour and a half in the desert heat. (In fact, Circus Circus is pretty much a dive, so not sure even the Adventuredome mades it worth the trip.)

OVERALL:
A good experience overall. Next time we will definitely bring/rent our own fridge/microwave because we spent most of our money on blah food. But for what we paid, we got a great, fun, hassle-free vacation at quite a value.

Stayed here June 14th to June 26th. This is our second time in the past year we have stayed at the Excalibur. Our vacation started with a $16 taxi ride from the airport and upon checking in we were given a free upgrade to the brand new refurbished rooms in tower 2 without even asking. We stayed in tower 1 in december 08 and were not disappointed. However, in all honesty, our refurbished tower 2 room, complete with 42 inch plasma and overlooking the entire pool area was more plush and more pleasant. The decor and furnishings were tastefully done. Hardly spent anytime in the room but pleasant to wake up in. The maids cleaned the room and prepared fresh towels every single day. Tower 2 is the best location for the pool, fitness suite and spa. The excalibur has 4 pools and one of them is adult only so no screaming annoying kids allowed. The hotel was advertising a $25 all day buffet so we tried it and were impressed. You get a wrist band and can eat as many times as you like. We had a huge breakfast, left the pool at lunch to revisit for a salad and fruit and a few glasses of juice and finished the day with a nice dinner. There was always a long line paying to get in but you bypass the line and enter via the vip entrance when you are wearing an all day armband. The hotel has an excellent location next door to the new york new york hotel and right outside the mgm hotel. The excalibur is the perfect launch pad for your activities on the strip. We walked everywhere on the strip and hardly relied on the deuce bus which is a good thing because people must lose a couple of hours every day stuck in traffic or waiting in long lines for this very busy bus service. To sum it all up, excellent hotel, perfect location, great value for money and well looked after.