The casino opened in 1993 and was renovated and expanded several times.[3] Later renovation work modernized the design of the property and raised the hotel's capacity to 4,407 rooms, including 442 suites. The hotel's rooms line the interior walls of the main tower, which has a pyramid shape, and the 22-story twin ziggurat towers.[2][4][5]
The resort officially opened at 4 a.m. on October 15, 1993, to a crowd of 10,000 people.[13] When it opened, the pyramid, which cost $375 million to build, was the tallest building on the strip and contained 2,526 rooms and a 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) casino.[4][14][15] The resort was financed by "petty cash" earned from other Circus Circus Enterprises properties and did not include any outside financial investors.[16] The hotel's pyramid is similar in size to the Red Pyramid and Bent Pyramid of Egypt. When the hotel opened, it was the tallest structure on the Strip, surpassed after only 11 days by Treasure Island[citation needed], and featured the world's largest atrium, which has since been surpassed.[3]
Renovations
A $240 million expansion occurred in 1996, and included an IMAX theater.[17] A theater and two additional towers totaling 2,000 rooms were added in 1998 for $675 million.[4]
In July 2007, owner MGM Resorts International announced plans to thoroughly renovate the Luxor, spending $300 million to remodel 80% 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.[18]
Incidents
On May 7, 2007, a vehicle exploded in a Luxor Hotel parking garage due to a homemade pipe bomb which left one man dead.[19] Local authorities believe the victim, a 24-year-old employee at Nathan's Famous hot dog restaurant in the Luxor food court, was the intended target. The hotel was not evacuated, operations continued uninterrupted, and the parking structure as well as the casino were undamaged.[20][21] Two men were found guilty of the bombing, and in 2010 were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Facilities
Luxor Las Vegas includes 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2) of convention space, four swimming pools and whirlpools, a wedding chapel, Nurture Spa and Salon, and 29 retail stores.[22][23][24][25][26] As of 2010, the Luxor was designated as a 4 Key rating from the Green Key Eco-Rating Program, which evaluates what is known as "sustainable hotel operations."[27] The hotel features inclined elevators which travel up the side of the building on a 39-degree incline.[28]
The Atrium
The atrium of the Luxor pyramid
Luxor Las Vegas has the largest atrium in the world (by volume) at 29 million cu ft (0.82 million m3).
Since 2009, the resort has hosted Bodies: The Exhibition, an educational display on the human body, and Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition; the exhibits replaced the hotel's three-story arcade.[30][31]
Former attractions
At its opening, the resort featured the Nile River Tour, a river ride that carried guests to different parts of the pyramid and passed by pieces of ancient artwork on a river that encircled the casino.[32] It was removed after three years.[33]
The hotel also featured King Tut's Tomb and Museum, a replica of King Tutankhamen's tomb as found in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.[16] It was closed in June 2008 and its replica artifacts were donated to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum[34][35] where they are displayed in its "Treasures of Egypt" exhibit, which opened January 30, 2010.[36][37][38]
Secrets of the Luxor Pyramid was a collection of three attractions which also debuted at the hotel's opening,[39] including:
In Search of the Obelisk
Luxor Live
Theater of Time
Theater of Time was replaced[40] with an IMAX Cinema, which operated from 1996 to 2008.[41]
From 2000 to 2005, the Luxor Theatre was the home of the performance-art show Blue Man Group, which then moved to the Venetian Las Vegas.[42] They returned to the Luxor Theatre on November 18, 2015.
Clubs
On August 31, 2007, LAX Nightclub officially opened at a party hosted by Britney Spears.[43] A number of other celebrities, including Christina Aguilera, also hosted events at the club.[44] The two-level, 26,000 sq ft (2,400 m2) venue contained 78 VIP tables and Noir Bar, which according to the Las Vegas Review Journal was an "ultra-elite bar" with a reservations-only policy. LAX Nightclub was closed on April 1, 2017, and was transformed into an esports venue, Esports Arena Las Vegas.[43] Work on the Esports Arena began in July 2017 and completed in March 2018.
Additional nightlife destinations within Luxor include CatHouse, Aurora, Liquidity, and Flight.[45][46]
Luxor Sky Beam
The light of the Luxor low view
At 42.3 billion candela, the Luxor Sky Beam is the strongest beam of light in the world, using curved mirrors to collect the light from 39 xenon lamps and focus them into one intense, narrow beam. On a clear night, it is visible up to 275 miles (443 km) away by aircraft at cruising altitude, such as over Los Angeles.[47][48]
Each of the 39 lamps is a 7,000 watt[49] Xenotech fixture[50] costing about $1,200. At full power, the system costs $51 an hour to operate, with $20 per hour of that just for its 315,000 watts of electricity.[49]
The beam has operated reliably since it was first activated on October 15, 1993.[47]
The lamp room is about 50 feet (15 m) below the top of the building and serviced by a staff of two workers during the day.[51]
The room's temperature is about 300 °F (150 °C) while the lights are operating.[52]
Since 2008, only half the lamps have been lit as a cost- and energy-saving measure.[53]
Location
Luxor is at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip,[54] flanked by the Mandalay Bay to the south and the Excalibur to the north. All three are connected by the Mandalay Bay Tram,[55] as well as by walkways. The Shoppes of Mandalay Bay, a boutique shopping centre, is on a bridge over Mandalay Bay Road, directly connecting the Luxor with the Mandalay Bay resort to the south. All three properties were built by Circus Circus Enterprises, which in 1999 became Mandalay Resort Group, which was then succeeded by MGM Mirage in April 2005 (now named MGM Resorts International).[56][57]
Usage in popular culture
This destination hotel is often viewed as a prime example of 1990s Postmodern architecture, and appeared on the cover of architecture scholar James Steele's book Architecture Today.[58] Since opening in 1993, it has appeared in numerous films, including Mars Attacks! (1996), where a major character is depicted as an employee of the hotel, dressed in an Egyptian costume;[59] and the film 2012.[citation needed]
In Up in the Air, George Clooney's character, Ryan Bingham, is asked to take a picture in front of the Luxor hotel. The hotel was also seen in the movies Showgirls and The Hangover.[60] A futuristic but abandoned version of the hotel is seen in Blade Runner 2049, along with other famous landmarks in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas.[61]
Comparison of approximate profiles of the Luxor Las Vegas with some notable pyramidal or near-pyramidal buildings. Dotted lines indicate original heights, where data is available. In its SVG file, hover over a pyramid to highlight and click for its article.
^Sonya Padgett (November 18, 2012). "Luxor light serves as beacon for millions of Las Vegas Strip visitors". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2013-05-31. A staff of two, supervised by Hayes, maintains the Sky Beam. Every day, Hortizuela and co-worker Nick Mihalic take an elevator 30 floors up, then climb a series of ladders and stairs that lead to the Luxor's light room.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Padgett, Hortizuela and Mihalic work during the day, as it's too hot to work around the lights when they're on. It's also too bright. Just five inches above the surface of the lamp, Hayes says temperatures have been measured at 500 degrees. On the worker's platform 25 feet above the lights, temperatures reach 300 degrees when the lights are on.
^Padgett, While the hotel management may have claimed that it was the brightest light on Earth, it has been dimmed considerably. It's not visible to the naked eye but the beam has been shining at half-strength since 2008. As a cost-cutting and energy-saving effort, management decided to use only half of the lamps every night, Hayes says.
^"Five of the best". Sunday Mail. 12 September 2010.
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