Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas Closing After 34 Years
Las Vegas is undergoing some massive changes and one of the biggest and most heartbreaking for fans of Sin City is losing The Mirage Hotel and Casino, just months after the iconic Tropicana closed to make way for a baseball stadium. The first to start the “family” friendly craze of mega resorts on the strip, has been on the Las Vegas Strip for 34 years. Today marks the closing of the iconic hotel and the resort threw a farewell event, letting its staff and patrons say goodbye one last time. It did not go quietly as getting rich quick obsessed gamblers stalked the last remaining slot machines open because of a state mandate that the casino had to pay out 1.6 million dollars before it could close.
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The Mirage Hotel & Casino History
Siegfried & Roy/The Mirage via Getty Images
Home of the beloved Siegfried & Roy magic show that opened in 1990, the Mirage was best known for its tropical theme with glimmering pools and stunning atrium filled with exotic tropical foliage that changed seasonally. Siegfried and Roy also housed their tigers in the Secret Garden along with dolphins and other animal habitats. The magic show closed in 2003 after the frightful tiger incident with Roy and made way for the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show “Love” set to Beatles music which ran from 2006 and closed on July 7, coincidentally on Ringo Starr‘s 84th birthday. Plus of course, the impressive volcano show which had a major overhaul in 2008. Lastly, who could forget the 1997 movie Vegas Vacation which was predominantly filmed here with Clark Griswald (Chevy Chase) losing all but the shirt on his back.
The Mirage was opened in 1989 by Steve Wynn and was the first luxury hotel on the strip to have a sidewalk attraction, which led to other hotels creating their own, including the beautiful Bellagio dancing fountains or now defunct Treasure Island Pirate Show. Not only that but it was said to be the world’s most expensive resort at the time, costing Wynn $630 million. He sold his Golden Nugget Atlantic City resort to have enough funds for the project.
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Wynn wanted the resort to have a tropical feel, taking you out of the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas for a moment. He decided on the name The Mirage because he felt it was an oasis in the Nevada desert but he had to purchase the rights to two local businesses, La Mirage Casino and the Mirage Motel in order for those to change their names to avoid confusion. The Mirage opened its doors on November 22, 1989, and started with a bang as a casino customer won $4.6 million playing on a $1 slot machine in the first few hours.
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What’s taking Mirage’s place?
The hotel was purchased by MGM Resorts in 2000 and just sold in 2022 for over $1 billion to Hard Rock International and is being renovated to reopen as Hard Rock Las Vegas in May 2027. Like the Tropicana, there will be a liquidation sale getting rid of all the memories that lie within this famed hotel and is set to start August 1.
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The volcano is also being torn down to make way for new rooms, including a 700-foot-tall hotel tower in the shape of a guitar but there are rumors some surprise may be in store for it. As far as the famed Mirage signage, the Neon Boneyard will be laying claim to it but exactly which ones are yet to be known. As far as the animals are concerned, they were all moved to other animal habitats.
What do you think about this hotel rebrand? Are you excited or sad to be losing The Mirage? I’ll be honest, I’m a little sad as I stayed in The Mirage during my one and only trip to Las Vegas and really loved it there.
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