Luxor Las Vegas is a casino hotel on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The resort is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. The Luxor features an ancient Egyptian theme, and includes a 65,214-square-foot (6,058.6 m2) casino and 4,407 hotel rooms. The resort's pyramid is 30 stories and contains the world's largest atrium by volume, measuring 29 million cu ft (0.82 million m3). The tip of the pyramid features a light beam, which shines into the night sky and is the most powerful man-made light in the world.
The Luxor was developed by Circus Circus Enterprises at a cost of $375 million. Construction began on April 21, 1992, and the resort opened on October 15, 1993, with 2,526 rooms. A renovation and expansion project, costing $300 million, took place from 1996 to 1997. The project included the addition of two 22-story hotel towers, as well as Nevada's first 3D IMA...Read more
Luxor Las Vegas is a casino hotel on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The resort is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. The Luxor features an ancient Egyptian theme, and includes a 65,214-square-foot (6,058.6 m2) casino and 4,407 hotel rooms. The resort's pyramid is 30 stories and contains the world's largest atrium by volume, measuring 29 million cu ft (0.82 million m3). The tip of the pyramid features a light beam, which shines into the night sky and is the most powerful man-made light in the world.
The Luxor was developed by Circus Circus Enterprises at a cost of $375 million. Construction began on April 21, 1992, and the resort opened on October 15, 1993, with 2,526 rooms. A renovation and expansion project, costing $300 million, took place from 1996 to 1997. The project included the addition of two 22-story hotel towers, as well as Nevada's first 3D IMAX theater. The Egyptian theme was scaled back as well, including the removal of an indoor Nile River ride.
MGM acquired the Luxor in 2005. The company launched a $300 million renovation two years later, further scaling back on the Egyptian theme while adding new restaurants and clubs. An esports arena was added in 2018, the first to open on the Strip. The Luxor has hosted various entertainers, including comedian Carrot Top, the Blue Man Group, and magician Criss Angel.
The resort was announced by Circus Circus Enterprises on November 14, 1991. Known temporarily as "Project X", the pyramid-shaped resort would be built on the Las Vegas Strip.[1] Groundbreaking took place on April 21, 1992, with the project by then known as "Luxor", after the Egyptian city of the same name.[2][3][4]
Veldon Simpson was the architect,[5] while Yates-Silverman, Inc served as interior designer.[6][7] President and owner Charles L. Silverman traveled to Egypt three times to study the country's atmosphere.[8] Of all the casino resorts that his firm had designed, Silverman called the Luxor "the most interesting and difficult".[9] Before the ancient Egyptian theme was chosen, Yates-Silverman had suggested developing the land with a moat and a real riverboat casino to traverse it.[10] Egyptologists were hired to create and oversee the Luxor's theme, which was prevalent throughout the resort.[11][12][13] The interior included replicas of various Egyptian artifacts, made of fiberglass and plaster.[9]
Perini Building Company served as general contractor.[14] The project employed more than 150 contractors and 3,500 construction workers,[15] several of whom died while building the resort.[16] Waltek, a Cincinnati-based company, provided the metal-and-glass exterior for the pyramid. Standing 30 stories high, it was one of the largest metal-and-glass projects ever.[5] The pyramid was topped off on July 9, 1993.[14]
The Luxor cost $375 million to build.[11] The resort was financed using internal cash flow from other Circus Circus properties and did not include any outside financial investors.[1][17] Circus Circus chairman William Bennett said the most challenging aspect of construction was dealing with Clark County officials, who he felt were overly critical of the resort due to its pyramid shape. He claimed county regulations, including improved fire precautions, added unnecessary costs to construction.[11]
The Luxor hosted a pre-opening event for hundreds of invited guests on the night of October 14, 1993.[6] It opened to the public the following day at 4 a.m., welcoming thousands of people.[11] It would compete against two other upcoming resorts, MGM Grand and Treasure Island. All three resorts had a family-oriented focus.[1][14][18] The Luxor employed 4,500 workers.[15]
Tupac Shakur, who was murdered in Las Vegas in 1996, had been staying at the Luxor during his visit to the city, although his death did not occur at the resort.[19]
Renovations and ownership changes The additional hotel towers added in 1996Within a few years of the Luxor's opening, resort executives concluded that it needed to be improved and enlarged.[20] A $300 million renovation and expansion was launched in January 1996, and was mostly finished a year later.[21] The changes included two additional hotel towers.[21][22] The casino interior, which was redesigned,[23] had initially included sections dedicated to space travel and the skyline of New York City, both of which were removed.[21][24][25] The Egyptian theme was also scaled back.[26] The changes improved revenue, and the Luxor was a consistently profitable resort as of 2003.[24] It was reported four years later that more people visited the resort than the actual city of Luxor.[27]
Circus Circus Enterprises was renamed Mandalay Resort Group in 1999,[28] and was acquired by MGM Mirage (later MGM Resorts International) in 2005.[29] Two years after the acquisition, MGM announced plans for a $300 million renovation of the Luxor that would remove much of the Egyptian theme.[30] Luxor president and chief operating officer Felix Rappaport said, "We're not a British museum with ancient artifacts, we're a casino-resort. This was a brilliantly conceived building from the outside. The pyramid always created a sense of wow and wonder, but the inside never delivered on that promise."[31] He further said: "We are trying to be approachable. We want to be a cooler and hipper middle-market property. We want to be less themed but still a middle-market property." Despite the interior changes, the exterior Egypt theme remained in place.[32] The resort added more adult-oriented and modern lounges, restaurants and clubs.[31][33]
The hotel rooms were renovated in 2021.[34] Vici Properties purchased MGM Growth Properties a year later, thereby acquiring numerous Strip properties, including the Luxor. MGM continues to operate the resort.[35]
2007 bombingOn May 7, 2007, a vehicle exploded in a Luxor parking garage behind the resort, due to a homemade pipe bomb which left one man dead.[36] Local authorities believed that the victim, a 24-year-old employee at Nathan's Famous hot dog restaurant in the Luxor food court, was the intended target. The resort was not evacuated, operations continued uninterrupted, and the parking structure as well as the casino were undamaged. Two men were found guilty of the bombing, and in 2010 were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.[37][38][39] One of the men escaped prison in 2022, and was apprehended nearly a week later.[40][41]
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