My husband and I stayed at The Mirage over the first weekend of May as part of a larger group in Vegas for a friend's anniversary weekend. We had a wonderful time and felt that our experience at this Hotel was completely satisfactory.

ARRIVAL/ROOM/HOTEL:
We arrived late in the evening and check-in only took about 10 minutes. Our room - on the 5th floor - was not one of the newly remodeled rooms, but we found it to be quite nice. It was still very clean, very spacious, not too outdated, had a very large bathroom and large lighted closet and a decent view of some of the off-strip hotels and the mountains. We did see one of the remodeled rooms that our friends stayed in - very nice decor, nice pillowtop beds and better TV but the bathroom was very small, there was no closet and the view was not as good. It was definitely more modern, but we found our "older" room to be just as comfortable. There are a lot of Elevators to different sections of the Hotel - we never had to wait for one and Security monitors for room keys late at night to keep the floors secure for only guests. The ambiance of the whole Hotel is exciting and impressive when you walk in. You'll see a very large fishtank behind the front desk which is impressive and the front entry is a very large atrium full of trees, flowers, fountains and a large glass top through which you can see the top of the Hotel building. Definitely one of the best qualities of this Hotel is it's GREAT LOCATION on the Strip. It is close to just about everything else you might want to see and although cabs and a tram service are easily accessible, we walked everywhere and found it to be quite convenient.

FOOD/DRINKS:
The only restaurant we ate at was the Carnagie Deli. This place offers HUGE sandwiches that are very good. We also visited the coffee shop, which was very busy, but offered many choices and had a large seating area. Our friends ate at some of the other restaurants on this property and were happy with all food/service they received. The drink service in the bars or on the casino floor
was very good. All servers were attentive and quick and very friendly. They do expect tips - although at this property we didn't notice that there was any lack of service in between tipping. We did not go to any of the clubs at this property - but "Revolution" seemed fun - right off the Casino floor and played great music. The other club "Jet" was so busy one night that some friends stood in line for 2 hours, only to find another line at the end of that one - so they left. I guess the tip would be to get there early if you want to enjoy the evening inside. Everything - but especially - food and drinks are VERY expensive anywhere on the Strip in Vegas. This Hotel is no exception but not any worse either.

POOL:
The pool at this Hotel is beautiful. It's long and winding and very large and there are waterfalls and palm trees everywhere. Food and drink service is available right by the pool and beach sized towels are offered there. However, for this reason, it is VERY busy and crowded and not a quiet retreat because of all of the people there. Get there early if you want a chair or group of chairs - one day we arrived at about 11am and all were taken. Security does ask to see room keys when you enter, which allows only those staying at The Mirage in the pool area - but this is such a large Hotel that it just stays crazy busy anyway.


ACTIVITIES/SHOPS:
In addition to the Pool - there's a couple of other activities available at this Hotel. I visited the "Secret Garden" which is a Habitat area featuring Dolphins, Tigers, Lions, Panther and some other various animals. It is a small area and at $15 pp may be a little too expensive for it's worth - but they do let you see these animals quite close up and I enjoyed it a lot. They will give you a park overview at the beginning but then you're on your own to walk around at your pace. It takes about an hour. As others have posted, the famous Volcano in front of the Hotel is closed for renovations right now. Disappointing to miss - but it certainly looks like they are doing a lot of work on it and seems that it will be spectacular when it's finished. They said it should be re-opened by late fall of this year. I didn't really shop at this property, but I saw about 10 nice boutique type shops featuring everything from clothing to jewelry to knick-knacks. The main "gift shop" offered gifts and sundries of all types and had everything you might need last-minute.

CASINO:
Nice and good sized. Seems like most of them are about the same in every Hotel and this one was just like the rest. It has all of the different slots and different kinds of tables. It does spread out all over the main floor of the Hotel so you can pick an area that is quieter or one right next to the clubs/restaurants to hear the music.

Overall, we had a great stay at The Mirage. I would recommend it to anyone visiting Vegas and we would definitely stay there again. Enjoy your trip if you go!!