Excalibur Makes Deep Cuts: Valets, Doormen and Bellmen Laid Off

By Scott Roeben, on March 17 2025
2 min read 24 comments
Las Vegas

Excalibur has dramatically reduced or eliminated staff who provide customer-facing services: Valets, doormen, bellmen, baggage handlers and others.

From what we’ve heard, corroborated by our friend @LasVegasLocally on Twitter, the few bellmen who remain will no longer deliver bags to guestrooms. We’ve since been told there will be luggage carts available for guests to use (wait for it) for a small fee.

Cuts have been limited to Excalibur so far, but such cost-saving measures historically start at one resort to test the waters, then roll out to others. A source at MGM Resorts says these front line staff reductions are limited to Excalibur, but we’ve heard hotel bell desks are going away at other Las Vegas resorts as well.

No grandmothers with four fingers on her left hand for some reason were harmed in the making of this A.I. image.

Could the elimination of bell desk personnel at Excalibur be a bellwether of things to come?

Hard to say. The explanation given for the changes at Excalibur are related to the specific customer demographic of Excalibur. Specifically, not fancy.

Excalibur guests simply don’t use these services as customers do at higher end resorts. The expectation of gratuities makes the services even less in demand with value-seekers.

As with any big company, MGM Resorts executives are tasked with evaluating departments and staffing and processes to see if there’s any fat that can be trimmed. Such cost savings are critical to increasing margins, a way to ensure stockholders are happy.

Aside from staffing, MGM Resorts has also been bumping its fees, and they aren’t even shy about it.

The jobs of valets and doorpersons (they’re mostly doormen) and baggage handlers (again, mostly dudes) have always been highly coveted in Las Vegas, as they pay well with little or no formal education required, all due respect.

They don’t make as much as many believe they do, but they make much more than you’d think they could. Plus, not all their tips are declared, so that’s a nice perk come tax time.

They’re sort of a casino resort’s “middle class” and these folks are patrons of many other Las Vegas businesses, including other casinos. They tip generously, as most in the service industry do.

The down-sizing at Excalibur comes at a time when rumors are rampant there are significant layoffs looming at MGM Resorts casinos in Las Vegas, along with chatter there may be leadership changes at the company. We’ve been told that’s all hooey by MGM Resorts sources who prefer to remain anonymous. In a turn of events we’re sure have nothing whatsoever to do with anything, Ann Hoff, President and COO of Bellagio and Park MGM, recently announced she’s stepping down.

We told you traditional room service was going away in Las Vegas before it pretty much went away.

We told you smoking rooms were going away before they pretty much went away.

We told you reel slots were going away before they started going away.

We told you service bartenders were going away before they went away.

We’d have told you diving boards were going away, but we’ve only been doing a blog for a decade. Lawyers killed those off in the 1980s. We can’t do everything.

When it comes to valets and bell desks, we will hedge our bets with the timeless “time will tell.”