<P> Excalibur is situated at the Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection . The hotel is linked by overhead pedestrian bridges to neighboring casinos to the north (New York - New York, across Tropicana Avenue) and to the east (Tropicana, across the Strip). A free tram connects Excalibur to its sister MGM Resorts International properties to the south, Luxor and Mandalay Bay . </P> <P> The land on which the Excalibur sits was originally the proposed site of the Xanadu Resort envisioned in 1975 . The 1,730 room Asian - tropical themed resort would have been the first mega resort in Las Vegas . The project was never built when the developers could not secure a deal with the county on the sewer infrastructure such a large project would have required . </P> <P> Circus Circus Enterprises constructed Excalibur which opened on June 19, 1990, as the largest hotel in the world, with over 4,000 rooms, covering over 70 acres . As of 2016 it is the seventh - largest hotel (by total number of rooms) in Las Vegas, and the eleventh - largest hotel worldwide . MGM Resorts International purchased the property in 2005 . </P> <P> Excalibur was designed in line with the "theme resort" strategy popular among some casino operators during the 1990s, which included the traditional Las Vegas gaming experience coupled with family - oriented elements . However, since 2006 most of the medieval themed statues and scenery have been removed as part of a four - year renovation and modernization project . As of 2010, few of the themed wall murals still remained as Excalibur was updated to include more modern and understated elements, including contemporary furniture and flat - screen plasma TVs in 2,000 renovated guest rooms . </P>

When was the excalibur built in las vegas