I need to rant for a moment. I was perusing my chip collection when I came across a Chipco I picked up at Luxor several years ago. It's the red $5 Chipco with the pyramid and Nefertiti (Cleopatra?) on it. This immediately reminded me of how irritating it is that almost every hotel in Vegas now assumes they need to drop their "theme" in lieu of some generic "we're hip and chic like every nightclub ever" routine. Treasure Island did this to become "TI," MGM got rid of their movie-studio decorations (I heard), Aladdin is now Planet Hollywood (call them PH for short?) and Luxor took out all of their Egyptian elements... except one! Hey Kerkorian, the main building is still a freakin' PYRAMID!
One would think some hotels like Excalibur and New York New York are pretty much stuck with their themes, but leave it to some MGM/Mirage Junior Marketing exec to change that as well. Excalibur will eventually be renamed "X" and NY, NY will be painted black and gray and renamed "GOTHAM" --not for a Batman theme, mind you, but for the untapped market of Goth kids who need a hotel-sized nightclub of their own.
I'm irritated at the marketing people that will eventually turn the strip into a collection of indistinguishable glass buildings trying to out-chic each other. I understand the hotels want to make everybody feel young and wild so that the money will come flowin', but I'm not that hip. I don't like the nightclub scene. Besides, if baby-boomers need to feel young again by hanging out around the MTV crowd--isn't that what the Hard Rock is for? Or try the Palms? I mean, c'mon, leave my fake King Tut's tomb exhibit alone!
That being said, I don't really like Circus Circus and Excalibur is a study in kitsch. I think properties like Mirage, Mandalay Bay, and Luxor (after they took out the Egyptian costumes & riverboats) had a good balance between class & theme without going so far as, well, Excalibur.
Oh well, I guess there's always Caesars Palace and the Venetian (until they take out the Roman statues and the Gondolas and rename them "CP and the Big V")