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The Luxor Pyramid is located on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip, opposite the McCarran International Airport. The resort is flanked by the Mandalay Bay to the south and by the Excalibur to the north; all three are connected by free express and local trams. All three properties were built by Circus Circus Enterprises, which later became Mandalay Resort Group. Illusionist Criss Angel signed a deal in 2006 to film episodes of his TV series Mindfreak at the hotel. Angel currently has a production office and store in the Luxor. In 2008, Criss Angel will star in a new magic-themed Cirque du Soleil production at Luxor. |
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About the Luxor Pyramid
The Luxor was designed by renowned hotel architect Veldon Simpson, the main portion of the hotel is a 350-foot (110 m)-high (106 m), 30-story pyramid of black glass (in comparison, the Great Pyramid of Giza with original capstone topped out at 481 ft). The hotel is marked by a large obelisk with the name of the property in lighted letters, while the porte-cochere travels underneath a massive recreation of the Great Sphinx of Giza.
It has an Ancient Egyptian motif and contains a total of 4,407 rooms lining the interior walls of a hollow pyramid and contained within twin ziggurat towers that were built as later additions. The hotel is named after the city of Luxor (ancient Thebes) in Egypt, the site of the Valley of the Kings, Karnak and Luxor Temples, and scores of other pharaonic monuments — but no pyramids.
The tip of the pyramid contains a fixed-position spotlight that points directly upward – it is the brightest beam in the world, and is visible from anywhere in the Las Vegas valley at night, and can be seen at flight level from above Los Angeles, California, over 275 miles (440 km) away.[citation needed] At ground level, on clear nights, the beam could also be seen as far south as Laughlin and even as far north as Mesquite or Beatty. It is directly straight ahead on US-93 in Arizona, north of Kingman, before reaching the Hoover Dam. In the spring, the bright light attracts huge numbers of moths into the light beam, creating a phenomenon that has been likened to snow. Light is generated using 45 Xenon lamps of 7 kilowatts each. The hourly cost, including lamps, electricity, and repairs, is US$53.[citation needed] The total light output is rated at 41.5 gigacandela, or 30.2 billion lumens.[citation needed]
Legends of Ghosts
When the resort opened in 1993, it featured a more heavily Egyptian-themed interior, including a river that encircled the casino with a ferry that would carry guests to their inclinator core at the corners of the pyramid. The ride was then turned into a river ride that passed by many pieces of ancient artwork after people complained that the ferry service took too long. Most of the ancient Egypt theme and the river ride were taken away as part of a campaign to tailor the property towards more upscale tastes in 1995. According to the unofficial, albeit popular, ghost story, the Nile River attraction was removed because guests kept seeing ghosts of the three workers killed during the Luxor's construction whenever the river passed through dark tunnels.
