The Mirage
The Mirage is a defunct casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The 65-acre property included a casino and 3,044 rooms.
Golden Nugget, Inc., led by developer Steve Wynn, purchased the future land of the Mirage in 1986. A hotel-casino, the Castaways, occupied a portion of the property and was demolished to make way for the Mirage. The resort opened on November 22, 1989, after two years of construction. It was the world's most expensive resort, completed at a cost of $630 million. It was also among the world's largest hotels. The Mirage was the first megaresort to open on the Las Vegas Strip, and its success prompted a building boom in the 1990s for other large resorts along the Strip.
The Mirage opened with several non-traditional attractions for a Las Vegas casino, including animal habitats for dolphins and tigers, and an indoor tropical forest display. Its primary attraction was an artificial volcano that erupted nightly, providing free entertainment in front of the resort. In 1990, the Mirage debuted a magic show by Siegfried & Roy, who performed there for nearly 14 years. The resort also hosted Cirque du Soleil's first Las Vegas show, Nouvelle Expérience, which opened in 1992. Cirque du Soleil would return to the property in 2006, with the debut of Love, a show featuring music by the Beatles.
Wynn departed the Mirage in 2000, when his company was bought by MGM Grand. Vici Properties acquired the property in 2022 and continues to own it, while Hard Rock International took over operations later that year, becoming the first tribal gaming operator on the Strip. Hard Rock intends to rebrand the resort as Hard Rock Las Vegas. The property will receive a complete renovation and expansion which will include a new guitar-shaped hotel tower, taking the place of the volcano attraction. The Mirage closed on July 17, 2024, and is expected to reopen under its new name in late 2027.
History
Background
A portion of the Mirage property was once occupied by a nightclub known as the Red Rooster. It opened in 1930, on what would become the Las Vegas Strip. The following year, it became the first Strip business to receive a gaming license. It was later purchased by actress Grace Hayes in 1947, and became the Grace Hayes Lodge. It was demolished in 1959, although Hayes continued living in a house located on the property. Another portion of the land was occupied by a hotel-casino known as the Castaways.Casino owner Steve Wynn had considered building a resort on the Strip to be known as Victoria Bay, but the project was canceled in 1981, due to high costs. Three years later, he thought about building a resort in downtown Las Vegas, on 50 acres of railroad land that would later become the site of the Clark County Government Center. Wynn's plan to build in downtown were scrapped after the railroad declined his $50 million offer for the land, asking twice that amount.
Wynn, through his company Golden Nugget, Inc., eventually purchased the Castaways and nearby acreage in October 1986. Wynn's purchase included Hayes' house, which was vacated and demolished along with the Castaways to make way for a new casino resort. Wynn sold his Golden Nugget Atlantic City resort, and used the profits to fund his new project.
Name
Numerous names were considered for Wynn's project, including Bombay and Bombay Club, which had been rejected by the end of 1986. "Wynn" was considered as a name, and would later be used for the Wynn Las Vegas resort.Wynn unveiled plans for the tropical-themed resort, temporarily known then as the Golden Nugget, in June 1987. He said the project would be renamed at a later point to match its South Seas theme. The project's working title came from Wynn's Golden Nugget hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas. Wynn did not intend to have two Golden Nuggets in Las Vegas, believing they would become known as "the old one" and "the new one", the former of which he found undesirable for the downtown property.
The final name was announced in December 1988: The Mirage. The name emphasized the resort as an oasis in the Nevada desert. To avoid confusion, Wynn purchased the rights to the Mirage name from two local businesses, the La Mirage Casino and the Mirage Motel. Both received $250,000 to change their names.
Development
Construction began in November 1987. General contractors included MarCor Development Company and Sierra Construction Corporation, the latter of which worked on the hotel tower. The project had an early cost of $550 million, although it went over budget. With an ultimate cost of $630 million, the Mirage was the world's most expensive hotel-casino ever built, until the opening of Trump Taj Mahal a few months later in Atlantic City. Much of the Mirage project was financed by Drexel Burnham Lambert. Financier Michael Milken, an executive of the company, helped fund the project by selling $525 million worth of mortgage bonds. The Mirage was the first Las Vegas resort to be built with the money of Wall Street through the use of junk bonds. This financing method would later be adopted by other casino developers throughout the U.S.Bobby Baldwin oversaw major aspects of the project with Wynn, and would later serve as the Mirage's president, after previously serving in the same position at the Las Vegas Golden Nugget. To prepare for the opening, Baldwin and others spent nearly a year visiting 250 companies – in fields such as hospitality and dining – to gather information and advice. Dissatisfied with the current public relations firm, Wynn hired Hill & Knowlton eight weeks before the opening. Despite the company's objections, Wynn refused to allow media tours and the release of early images, wanting to keep the resort a surprise for the opening. The Mirage hired nearly 6,400 employees. Wynn emphasized customer service to the workers, who underwent a month of job training before the opening.
Operation
The Mirage opened at 12:00 p.m. on November 22, 1989. Wynn previously scheduled a December 26 opening, but changed these plans after securing the Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Durán III boxing match at the resort for December 7. He intended for the Mirage to become a popular venue for boxing matches, competing with other Las Vegas resorts. Within hours of the opening, a casino customer hit a $4.6 million jackpot on a $1 slot machine.The resort had non-traditional features for a Las Vegas gaming property, and Wynn considered them to be the primary attractions, saying the Mirage would not be dependent on its casino like other properties. Its signature attraction was an erupting artificial volcano, providing free entertainment to pedestrians in front of the resort. Other attractions included a dolphin habitat and a lush jungle display located beneath a domed atrium. In addition, the resort featured a magic show by Siegfried & Roy, and the duo's white tigers were on display in the resort while not performing. Financial analysts and gaming executives were skeptical of the Mirage, which needed to make an unprecedented $1 million per day to cover its expenses. The property would end up exceeding expectations, and gaming would become less of a focus for future Strip resorts.
The Mirage was the first new resort to be built on the Strip in 16 years, after the completion of the MGM Grand in 1973. The Mirage was also the first megaresort to open on the Strip, and was the second in the Las Vegas Valley after the opening of the International Hotel in 1969. The Mirage's success prompted a building boom for other large Strip resorts during the 1990s. Prior to the Mirage's opening, the city was experiencing a decline in tourism, especially following New Jersey's legalization of gambling in Atlantic City. Las Vegas tourism increased 16 percent in 1990, which remains one of the largest year-over-year increases in the city's history as of 2024.
Due to the Mirage's success, Wynn borrowed an additional $100 million in 1990, to add more features. These included a parking garage, more high-roller villas, and an expansion of the pool area. Wynn also partnered with singer Michael Jackson to design a mountain and water attraction at the Mirage. It would resemble Diamond Head, Hawaii, and would include pools, a water slide, and high-roller villas. It would cost up to $15 million, and would be built behind the resort. It was scheduled to open later in 1990, but ultimately went unbuilt.
Wynn owned the resort through his company, Golden Nugget Inc., which he renamed Mirage Resorts in 1991. A $55 million renovation took place in 1995. As of 1997, it was the most profitable resort on the Strip. Wynn left the property and Mirage Resorts in 2000, when the company was acquired by MGM Grand Inc., later renamed to MGM Mirage. The hotel rooms were renovated in 2002, and a major renovation took place from 2005 to 2006, to help the Mirage compete with newer resorts. The project included several new restaurants and a nightclub, among other changes. It was the largest renovation since the resort's opening.
A $100 million renovation took place in 2008, updating the casino floor and hotel rooms, while adding several restaurants. In 2009, Phil Ruffin bought the adjacent Treasure Island Hotel and Casino from MGM Mirage. He subsequently made offers to buy the 65-acre Mirage, but was rejected. MGM Mirage was renamed MGM Resorts International in 2010. Twenty years after its opening, the Mirage remained popular despite being overshadowed by newer and more-luxurious resorts.
Ownership of the Mirage, along with many other MGM properties, was transferred in 2016 to MGM Growth Properties, while MGM Resorts continued to operate it under a lease agreement. Vici Properties would later acquire MGM Growth, including the Mirage, in 2022.
Hard Rock rebranding
In November 2021, while Vici was in the process of buying the Mirage, MGM Resorts announced that it was in the early stages of selling the resort's casino operations. The company already operated nine other resorts, and was preparing to add a tenth to its portfolio. CEO William Hornbuckle, who helped oversee the Mirage's opening, said the resort "just fell pretty far down in the spectrum of how much in capital we'd allocate to it in any given period of time in the near future. And so we just took a strategic decision to sell it".In December 2021, Hard Rock International agreed to purchase the Mirage's operations from MGM Resorts for $1.075 billion. Hard Rock would lease the property from Vici and rebrand the Mirage as Hard Rock Las Vegas. MGM would keep the "Mirage" name and license it to Hard Rock for up to three years, until the rebranding went into effect. The Mirage will receive a full renovation as part of the rebranding, and Hard Rock also intends to construct a guitar-shaped hotel tower, replacing the Mirage's volcano. This prompted a Change.org petition to save the attraction from demolition, although the effort was ultimately unsuccessful.
Hard Rock's deal to operate the Mirage was finalized on December 19, 2022, making it the first tribal gaming operator on the Strip. Under the new management, additional slot machines and table games were soon added in an effort to increase gaming revenue. Stages were also added to two bars for nightly entertainment, consistent with Hard Rock's music theme.
The Mirage was expected to continue operating throughout the Hard Rock transition. However, in May 2024, Hard Rock announced that the Mirage would permanently close two months later. Hard Rock Las Vegas is expected to open in late 2027.