Ignore the fancier neighbors and from the outside Excalibur is pretty cool - giant colorful turrets, a moat, and even a (non-functioning) drawbridge. It's like something you'd expect to see in the theme park inhabited by a certain cartoon mouse.

Inside the theme continues with all public areas designed to look like the inside of the aforementioned castle, which brings up my first problem with the place. Castles, as a general rule, are not usually warm, inviting places and neither is The Excalibur. I know I said I wasn't going to make comparisons, but it's hard not to here. Everything is kind of dark when you compare it to the other places in town, with deep reds and grays lending to a vaguely oppressive air. It's almost dungeon-like... okay, a dungeon with slot machines but you get the point. I often get a strong sense of claustrophobia when visiting.

Improved lighting in the casino has alleviated some of the gloom and there is certainly more than enough gaming action to keep you entertained. Slots of all denominations are available as are a host of table games, a poker room, keno, and a race and sports book.

The other "problem" I have with The Excalibur is strictly a demographic one and runs more to my personal taste than anything else I discuss here. This place, like its sister property Circus-Circus, seems to attract a lot of families with children. It's not that I don't like children it's just that I don't believe that Las Vegas is the best vacation spot for them. This city has always been more of an adult playground and I prefer to be with adults on the jungle gym here (so to speak).

The general trend in the city as it continues to refocus in a more adult manner is that there are fewer kids in general, and Excalibur is certainly a part of that change in perspective. The fire-breathing dragon out front is gone and there's a male strip show in one of the theaters so it's not quite the family Camelot it was when it first opened. But if children are around, this is one of the places you’ll find them so if you don't want to be around kids at the pool, the restaurants, and other non-gaming areas, don't go to The Excalibur. If you have kids - or don't mind being around them - it's one of your few reasonable Strip options.

There are more than 4,000 rooms divided into four towers. Getting to the elevators can be a bit of challenge, especially if you're carrying luggage, since you have to traipse through the casino all the way to the far fringes of the building. This is old school thinking ("Maybe they'll stop and gamble on their way to the room!") and just an all around pain.

Standard guest rooms are average in just about every way - style, size, decor, and amenities although regarding the latter there are few missing that we've come to expect. Except for the omnipresent King Arthur style pictures these rooms are undistinguishable from most of those in Las Vegas - or the world for that matter.

More impressive are the newer “Wide Screen” rooms, located on several floors of the hotel that have gotten serious remodeling love. These rooms are not quite the showplaces that you’ll find at more expensive hotels but they are about a bazillion times better than the older, more worn standard rooms. Wide screen flat panel television give the rooms their name but the new décor extends to suede covered oversized headboards, nicer mattresses, new furnishings throughout, and updated fixtures in the bathrooms. Eventually all rooms will look like this but for now they are charging a small premium to stay in one – totally worth it.

All rooms come with high-speed Internet access for a fee, cable television, hair dryers, and irons and boards plus standard bath amenities.

There is a large pool area that received a major makeover in 2007. It features four pools of varying sizes including a beach area, more lush landscaping, an improved pool bar and grill, and a more contemporary adults only section.

On the second level above the casino there is a a small Sherwood Forest shopping gallery, lots of restaurants including a satisfying low-cost buffet, a medieval dinner-theater show, and those male strippers we mentioned. Below the casino is a large arcade that includes some virtual reality/motion simulator rides.

The price is one of the biggest reasons to take a look at Excalibur. You can often get rooms mid-week for as low as $59 and sometimes below $100 on the weekend, although that's rare. It's usually in the $119-139 range, which isn't bad when you get back to that whole comparison thing.

The Excalibur is not one of my favorite hotels but it isn't because there's anything expressly wrong with the place. It's not like they make you swim the moat to get in or lock you in a dungeon if you do something wrong. In fact, it's one of the few good choices for families in Las Vegas and one of the last remaining places on The Strip for people on a budget. And those newer rooms certainly do add to the package.

But placing history and tunnel vision aside for a moment, it's hard not compare this hotel to all the others in Las Vegas. When I do that, Excalibur just doesn't stack up.

3850 Las Vegas Blvd. S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
800-937-7777
website

Highs: Wacky Vegas styling; can get some good deals here.
Lows: Casino is a dungeon (no, really); lots of families.

Location: 10 - Hard to do better than this prime South Strip location.
Price: 7 - You can find some real bargains here.
Value: 6 - If the rooms are expensive, it doesn't feel like it's worth it.
Rooms: 6 - Simple and a bit bland but comfortable.
Casino: 3 - Too dark and dungeon-like with its castle decor.
Amenities: 7 - Depends on which room you get, but not bad.
Facilities: 8 - Lots of things to do.
Service: 8 - Friendly and competent but a little slow sometimes.
Fun: 5 - Fun in a kitschy Vegas way, but that's about it.
Bonus: 4 - Not one of our favorites in Vegas.

Vegas4Visitors Rating: 64

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Seafood restaurants in this town seem to mostly fall into one of two categories: outrageously expensive, upscale joints and Red Lobster. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration but not by much and restaurants in the more moderate middle are few and far between.

Sweet Water hits that sweet spot with a casually upscale design, an innovative and extensive menu of dishes, excellent service, and bills that won’t make you lie belly up in a tank somewhere.

The design of the restaurant is what I’m going to call rustic elegance. Mostly done in various woods and slates the overall effect is something like a fish market if it was located in Beverly Hills. Beautiful lighting fixtures jazz up the space and the booths are comfortably plush with plenty of windows for natural glows. The only downside of the latter is that tables along the west-facing wall get quite a bit of glare in the late afternoon, sunshades by darned.

There are several chefs’ tables with views of cooking facilities and even a fish market up front in case you want to put a grouper in your suitcase for the trip home.

Many of the dishes are infused with a vaguely Asian or French spin, but it’s nothing at all intimidating for those more used to the traditionalist approach. Start with one of Chef Michael’s “Spectacular Plates,” a series of seafood samplers that are perfect ways to kick off the meal. There’s an Ahi Tuna Trio with tuna tartare, a tempura roll with miso glaze, and a white and black sesame encrusted ahi or you could go for the trio of crab, Maine scallops, or char-grilled fish tacos among others. A separate section of more appetizers includes smoked salmon, shrimp and garlic chicken, or lobster pizza; catfish and crawfish nuggets; and their wonderful cheesy garlic bread among others.

That’s just page one of the six page menu.

There are fresh smokehouse salmon dishes with toasted flatbreads; seafood cocktails of everything from Maine lobster tail to Florida stone crab claws; hand-shucked oysters and clams from Long Island, Washington, Canada, and Japan; seafood salads including a delightful Hawaiian Macadamia nut and shrimp variety; clam, salmon and roasted corn, or prime rib chowder; seafood steaks running the gamut from Alaskan king salmon to Pacific red snapper; a few non-seafood entrees (steaks, lamb, and chicken); interesting Chef’s specials like baked seafood spaghetti (with mussels, clams, white fish, and shrimp) or paella with chicken, sausage, shrimp, white fish, clams, and mussels; and a “crispy golden” selection of fried shrimp, scallops, oysters, and more.

Of special note are the shellfish feasts, cooked in poaching buckets and served family style complete with bibs to keep from making a total embarrassment of yourself. You can get a combo of Maine lobster, jumbo shrimp, clams and mussels, and crab legs or build your own with additional selections and each comes potatoes, corn, and garlic cheese bread.

Our starters included that wonderful garlic cheese bread and two of the chowders – the clam and the prime rib. The former was traditional in all the best senses of the word and the latter was terrific, packed with tender pieces of prime rib in a thick stew mixture that was surprisingly, but not unpleasantly, spicy.

For one of our entrees we went with the pan seared swordfish steak, served with a choice of accompanying sauces and it was the clear winner at the table. Although non-fish eaters scoff when people say “it doesn’t taste fishy,” this one came as close as any piece of fish could get to realizing that particular dream. The mahi mahi was not quite as successful but still a fine piece of fish and the bone-in rib eye very satisfactorily did the trick for the non-seafood eater at the table.

Desserts were broad ranging but being the heavy drinkers and sugar fiends that we are, we went for the martini’s and mousse platter – miniature dark chocolate, white and milk chocolate, and cappuccino mousses accompanied by miniature martins with similar flavorings. Although strong on both fronts, it was a prefect capper to the meal.

Prices are higher than what you’ll pay at Red Lobster but not by a lot. The combo plates and appetizers are mostly under $15, the giant seafood salads topping out at $18, the seafood steaks all under $20, and non-seafood entrees above $30. The shellfish feasts can get very pricey – that combo mentioned earlier is $42 per person but that’s for around a pound worth of food so certainly not outrageous for what you are getting. The smaller but equally satisfying lunch menu is cheaper of course.

Service was terrific from start to finish so no complaints there.

So yes, the evidence keeps mounting for getting yourself off The Strip for dinner.

Sweet Water Prime Seafood
9460 S. Eastern Ave.
Henderson, NV
702-588-5400
Open daily 11am-midnight
website

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Question: After the shooting this week in the Vegas casino, I’m worried about staying safe during our visit this fall. What do the casinos do to make sure stuff like this doesn’t happen? Are there any tips for staying safe?

Answer: I wish I could tell you with 100% certainty that your next visit to Las Vegas will go without a hitch but unfortunately the world we live in won’t allow that. The good news is you’re probably safer in a Vegas casino than you are walking down the average city street.

The casinos in Las Vegas are among the most secure facilities on the face of the earth, partially because of the massive amounts of money floating in and out of the joints, but also because of the realization that image is everything in this business. Even the vaguest whiff of trouble brings down the PR herds who don’t want anyone to think about anything other than pumping dollars into slot machines. Reality? It has no business here in Vegas, thank you very much.

Having said that, they do have things to crow about. Every square inch of the Las Vegas casinos and every square inch of the public areas of the hotels are monitored 24-hours a day by security cameras. Facial recognition software allows computers to scan the visages of everyone walking in and out, not only to look for known cheaters but for anyone who may be a threat to the general safety of the patrons inside. Private security officers both in uniform and undercover operate constantly throughout the casinos looking for suspicious activity and local law enforcement keeps up a steady presence outside.

But in the end there is very little they can do to stop the random crazy person with a gun from walking into a crowded building and opening fire short of installing metal detectors and armed guards at every entrance or taking all the guns in this country, melting them down, and turning them into playground equipment. Unfortunately neither of those options is likely anytime soon so you take your chances when you go into any public place.

And there’s very little you can do about it either, other than to not go into those public places ever. I could lecture you about staying aware of your surroundings, knowing where the nearest exits are at all times, keeping an eye out for people or situations that just don’t feel right but in the end when you’re hitting that “Max Bet” button or drawing to the inside straight on a video poker machine, there could be a group of masked gunmen running down the aisle next to you and you probably wouldn’t notice.

So in the end you should go to Vegas, take the normal precautions that you would take when going into any public area, and then just relax and have a good time knowing that you probably have a much greater chance of being killed in the cab on the way to the airport than you do sitting at a slot machine.

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