It's important to look at Excalibur in a historical perspective. When it opened in 1990 at the corner of The Strip and Tropicana there was no New York-New York, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, or MGM Grand a few feet away to compare it against so its giant medieval castle theme was both outrageous and impressive. If you're able to look at it with a bit of tunnel vision, it still can be.

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, those male strippers we mentioned, and a large arcade that includes some virtual reality/motion simulator rides. See the related reviews below for more information on some of the things you can do here.

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.

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