The Luxor Hotel is located
on the far south end of the Las Vegas Strip, south of Tropicana Avenue,
between the Mandalay Bay and Excalibur Resorts. The theme is Egyptian and the
Luxor blends the sharp edges of the Pyramids with shape edged architecture.
The main hotel is actually a glass sided hollowed out pyramid shape. One of
the most compelling and intriguing aspects of actual ancient Egyptian ruins is
how clean the lines are and how modern those buildings look today. The
designers of the Luxor Hotel combined cutting edge architectural design with
the clean, elegant lines to create a well integrated environment which has
high tech features in an Egyptian setting.
|
|
 The stone masonry from another era
fits naturally into the rows of slot machines and makes normally mundane
features such as columns into familiar icons of Ancient Egyptian culture.
From the top of the pyramid, which itself has 2256 of the resorts total of
4400 rooms, emits a huge laser that can be seen from the space shuttle. With
the right weather conditions, the laser can also be seen from as far away as
California when you are driving towards Las Vegas at night.
The one problem with the Luxor is that it does not shoot well at night. The
pyramid is solid glass windows at that 39° angle and the only lights on the
place are alone the edges of the buildings. The modal for the sphinx was a
life sized photo of Elvis Presley. If you look closely you will immediately
see the resemblence. *
The best photos are taken inside anyway. The Luxor has a ton of photo
opportunities inside with its replicas of Egytian statues, temples and
architecture.
The use of natural stone in many places really enhances the look of the place
and makes some of the larger spaces such as the lobby.
|
|
The
marble floors refect the light coming in from the side of the pyramid and give
the whole scene a symetry that both visually expands the area and extends the 
design. The overall feeling is one of solidness and quality. Everything
looks real and they tied not to make anything too cheesy.
In other places, Egyptian motifs are often poorly or inaccurately done. Not
here. If you want something to look like it has lasted over 4,000 years, it
has to appear solid enough to be able to sustain that journey through time.
The Luxor blends a credible set of replicas into its elegant high tech
architecture to create that effect.
|
|
One of the effects of all
this polished stone are the reflections that you see in them. Note in the
photo above, left how the person getting in the car 70 feet away is reflected
in the base of this statute. In other places the stone is not polished as in
the above left photo, so as to create contrasts and spaces where there would
normally be none.
|
 The
effective use of lighting, space and materials makes the Luxor a
special place just because the design is so good and consistently
applied. Your gambling dollars were well spent here.
This is a dandy establishment and well .. wish I owned it.
|
|
| Since
the first time that remark appeared, it has come to my attention that
some folks actually believe that. It's a joke, folks. Just me being
silly. But I do find it amusing that someone would think that. Thanks.
:) |
|
