Luxor
Luxor
The Luxor Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It was one of the city's first fully-themed megaresorts. Ground was broken for the Luxor in 1991, that same year construction began on the Treasure Island and the current MGM Grand. It has an Ancient Egyptian motif and contains a total of 4,407 rooms lining the interior walls of a hollow pyramid and contained within twin ziggurat towers that were built as later additions. The hotel is named after the city of Luxor (ancient Thebes) in Egypt, the site of the Valley of the Kings, Karnak and Luxor Temples, and scores of other pharaonic monuments — but no pyramids.
In July 2007, owner MGM Mirage announced plans to thoroughly renovate the Luxor,
spending $300 million to remodel 80 percent of Luxor's public areas, removing
much of the ancient Egyptian theme and replacing it with more adult-oriented and
modern lounges, restaurants and clubs.
The Luxor is among the most recognizable hotels on the strip because of its striking design. Designed by hotel architect Veldon Simpson, the main portion of the hotel is a 350-foot (110 m)-high (106 m), 30-story pyramid of black glass (in comparison, the Great Pyramid of Giza with original capstone topped out at 481 ft). The footprint of the pyramid is a 556-foot square. The hotel is marked by a large obelisk with the name of the property in lighted letters, while the porte-cochere travels underneath a massive recreation of the Great Sphinx of Giza. The pyramid was originally conceived with a tram connecting the north side of the hotel with the neighboring Excalibur Hotel and Casino. This was soon removed for later property changes.
A second tram linkage now connects the east-facing porte-cochere with both the Excalibur and Mandalay Hotel and Casino. The pyramid is clad in very dark bronze glass, which appears black on clear days and a dark, golden-bronze on overcast days. There are 30 guest-room floors, six higher service floors (including the SkyBeam lamp room) and a large sublevel (originally site of the King Tut museum). Many of the original aesthetics of the external property have been eliminated. The original front water and laser show was the first to succumb. The laser show was stopped due to complaints of stray beams illuminating aircraft on approach to the very nearby international airport. The fountains themselves were removed and replaced by a parking lot and the new tram station.
The tram station and tracks hinder the views of the pyramid tower from the strip. The pyramid tower is also rather lost to view as it has been surrounded by the large East/West Towers, the two Mandalay Bay towers and the large auditorium on the SW side. The pyramid tower has also been transformed into a four-sided billboard (with three sides in use as of 3-09) for advertisements. Additionally, the Starlight Lighting System - a nightly remote-controlled show of lights along the pyramids corners powered by thousands of circuit boards and computer chips - was scaled back tremendously as it was plagued by faulty equipment and power shutdowns.
The tip of the pyramid contains a fixed-position spotlight that points directly
upward – it is the brightest beam in the world, and is visible from anywhere in
the Las Vegas valley at night, and can be seen at flight level from above Los
Angeles, California, over 275 miles (440 km) away. At ground level, on clear
nights, the beam could also be seen as far south as Laughlin and even as far
north as Mesquite or Beatty. The beam is visible straight ahead when driving
northbound on US 93 in Arizona, north of Kingman before reaching Hoover Dam. In
the spring, the bright light attracts huge numbers of moths into the light beam,
creating a phenomenon that has been likened to snow. Light is generated using 39
Xenon lamps of 7 kilowatts each. The hourly cost, including lamps, electricity,
and repairs, is US$51 — roughly two weeks' worth of electricity for the average
American household. Hotel engineers, as well as the hotel's own website also
claim that the light can be observed from space.
Text from Wikipedia
reception lobby
Margarita Bar
current attraction
Wedding Chapel
at the T & T restaurant
Quesadillas
featured restaurant
tram
Mandalay Bay
tram to Mandalay Bay
