There is no doubt in my mind that the MGM is superior to Excalibur in just about everything. However, over familiarity can play a part in a Vegas hotel choice and if you haven't stayed at Excalibur then it might make a nice change. The Widescreen rooms are really nice, although not as big (imho) as the MGM Grand Tower rooms. The LCD TV's are a nice touch, but how long are you going to be spending in your room watching it???

The gym/spa pass is obviously important so if the resort charge includes use of that it probably makes it worthwhile going with the Excalibur. In saying that, clearly the MGM is a better hotel, but you probably know that already. If you fancy a change away from the MGM go with the Excalibur, but in my opinion you won't enjoy it as much, and the kids kicking around the public areas may well drive you to boiling point.

At least you only have two to choose from...that makes a nice change.

One thing to bear in mind with the Excalibur is that they do not have a bath - only a shower cubicle. So if that matters to you - go with the MGM. The Widescreen rooms are really nice but the beds at the MGM are very comfy aren't they?!!

Having stayed at the MGM I would go for the Excal - as you say it is another one to tick off the list.

Six weeks!! I am so jealous

Thanks for your replies. We have plenty of time to decide, and I think I'll leave it to Tony. He does like his bath, but he also enjoys the gym.

Do any of the rooms in the Excalibur have baths?

Not sure - I only know about the Widescreen rooms because our friends stayed in one a couple of years ago. It was a nice room though.

Hi Pebbles, as you know, we stayed at the Excalibur last August and were upgraded to a widescreen room after using the $20 trick.

Not having been to Las Vegas before, I cannot compare hotel rooms but ours was reasonably spacious with 2 double beds and comfortably furnished. We were on the 27th floor (I think ) and were lucky enough to be facing the rollarcoaster at New York New York.

As previously mentioned, there is only a shower and not a bath but it didn't bother us. It was that blooming hot, having a cool shower around 3 times a day was great!

We enjoyed our stay and wouldn't hesitate in staying there again.

Hope you have a great time

Sue

How many nights is it for Pebbles? If only a couple of nights then I would say the Excalibur, but if more than that I would say the MGM.

luci

The hotels don't want you relaxing in a bath for hours on end, they want you down playing in the casino!!!

Luci, it's six nights out of a six week trip. I'm leaning towards the Excalibur at the moment, but we still have ages to make our minds up.

We will also be staying at Rio, Flamingo, Imperial Palace and Orleans. The IP is free, so that won't change, but the others are all booked unless we get a better offer elsewhere. Our average rate at the moment (including free rooms) is $37 per day.

6 weeks? Wow...I missed that in the original post. What do you have planned?

$37 average per night is very good work. I honestly would have no problem staying in any of the hotels you have booked.

I would go with the MGM, but would also like to experience the Excalibur but maybe not for 6 nights.

luci

Hi Pebbles

Firstly I can't believe you're going for 6 weeks! Wow! Do you still work? I can't imagine getting that much time off, although of course it would be GREAT!!! Lucky you.

Good work on the rates. Firstly I was going to say stay at MGM, better property, then you said the gym passes were useful....then you've not stayed there. Sorry, I can't really advise here, I agree it's a difficult choice! Out of curiosity, did you ever look up Luci's London Clubs link? There's some good rates on there for Harrah's properties. I guess you already have a good deal on the Rio though with your average being so low!

We've still not decided where to go. It's 80 days around the world....were thinking about Vegas in June as well as September, then we decided to look at Tenerife for June, Malta can't get good deal, ....etc....then now I'm at Torremolinos! Wow, can't make my mind up. I just feel we need a bit of variety too, so I don't want to just do Vegas twice and nothing else (as much as I love it). When I retire I like the sound of your 6 week trip though. You going to do any side trips? Have you been out to San Francisco etc before? We flew out for the day last year and it was ok. I doubt I'll go back though.

I guess you need to look at what you want most from a hotel.

If you're like me, and tend to spend a fair bit of time around the pool in the day, then I would say MGM because the pool areas are so good and you don't have loads of screaming kids running around, personally I cannot think of anything worse than loads of kids running around!

However, if you don't plan to spend your days by the pool, then I guess Excalibur would be the best option.

Cheers,

TC

Talking of pools, the excalibur website shows a nice picture of a plain pool. It might ba an adult extra-charge one though! I'm not sure, but the picture makes it look nice.

We saw quite a few kids in the lazy river at MGM, however over at the other pools (I think we used the director's pool), it was nice and quiet, and always easy to get beds. It was weird because there were lots of Brits at that pool for some reason.

Didn't the Excalibur renovate their pool area recently? When we stayed there in 2006 the pool area was fine, but certainly not up to the standards of the MGM. Still waaaaaaay better than the New York New York pool though which is fine if you like the thunderclap sound of a roller coaster above you constantly and sunbathing in the shade!!!

I think it boils down to whether Pebbles wants a change from the MGM. If so, then the Excalibur it is but there is no doubt in my mind that the MGM is a better all round hotel.

Well guys we are toying with the idea of three nights at MGM and three at Excalibur. Still haven't made our minds up.

Lesley, I'm retired, that's why we get to go for such long trips.

Hi Pebbles...you don't look old enough though!

I retired at 39 (almost 10 years ago!) Long story, but I'll PM you with it if you like.

Someone sent me this rendering of the Excalibur pool. It is definitely better than I was expecting.