We stayed at the Mirage from 4-6 Jul. This was our first visit to Las Vegas and our experience at the Mirage totally ruined our trip.
Here's why we will NEVER again set foot in the Mirage:
1) We were assigned a room that was already occupied by another guest
Upon opening the door to our room, we discovered that it was already occupied by someone, who, needless to say, was none too pleased to have 2 strangers barging in on him while he was in bed. It was an extremely embarrassing incident for both us and for the poor person we intruded upon.
However, more serious a matter than that of embarrassment was the utter lack of security in the hotel. Had that guest not been in his room, and had we been so inclined, we could have easily walked out of the room with whatever money and valuables he left in the room, thinking that they would be safely locked up in the room.
To compound matters, when we went back down to the front desk, the staff did not appear the least bit alarmed that such a grave mistake had been made, and blithely issued us keys to another room. This encounter led us to conclude that the Mirage must frequently make such errors, given the lack of concern displayed by the staff.
2) We were assigned the wrong room (again)
Upon entering room number 2, we discovered that there was only 1 bed. We found this to be unacceptable, as we had been told when we had tried to check in earlier that afternoon that a room with 2 beds would only be ready in 2-3 hours, and we would have to check in later that day if we still
wanted a 2-bed room. Hence, when we returned later that night to check in, we were fully expecting that the hotel would honour our request and give us the room we wanted.
We called to ask for another room, and were told that someone from security would meet us outside room number 3 to let us in, so that we would not have to make another trip to the front desk to collect new keys. However...
3) We were assigned the wrong room YET AGAIN
We met security at room number 3. He opened the door to reveal a room with 1 bed.
After another angry call, we were eventually given a room with 2 beds, and offered a $75 food and beverage credit. Needless to say, our faith in the Mirage and the level of security proferred to its guests had been severely undermined by then. As such.....
4) We could not enjoy our day trip to the Grand Canyon due to constant fear and worry about the security of our possessions
While on our day trip to the Grand Canyon on the 2nd day of our stay in Las Vegas, our minds were preoccupied with the constant fear that our possessions in our room were not secure and we were unable to fully concentrate on and enjoy our visit to the Grand Canyon.
Our fears were not unfounded, as it seems, because upon returning to our room that night after the trip to the Grand Canyon, we discovered that...
5) Both our key cards didn't work. And there were 2 empty champagne glasses sitting just outside our room
In light of what happened to us the night before, the only conclusion we could come to was that the staff must have assigned our room to another guest or at the very least that someone else could possibly have entered our room with the wrongful authorisation of the hotel.
When we went to the front desk to demand an explanation for being locked out of our own room, we were further agitated because the staff merely offered to have housekeeping clear the glasses and issue us new keys, and did not appear to understand why we were so upset. When we asked why we should believe, after what had happened the previous night, that it was not possible that our room, or access to it, had been erroneously given to someone else, the staff were unable to give us any satisfactory assurance or justification, and could only insist that we were the only guests registered to the room. After our extremely unpleasant experience the night before, we could hardly have been expected to believe that claim.
6) While checking out, we were told that someone named Medina Maribou was also registered to our room and asked to confirm which credit card to charge the bill to
This, after the repeated assurances from the staff the night before that we were the only registered guests. We promptly lost every last little shred of faith we had in the ability of the hotel to get things right. In fact, we can only hope desperately at this stage that our credit card does not remain on the hotel's records and has not been wrongly assigned to someone else's room.
7) Our bill wrongly included charges of $70+ spent at one of the hotel restaurants
This error seems minor in comparison to everything we had been put through, and the front desk removed this item from our bill readily enough after we pointed out that we had been given a $75 F&B credit. However, we would have expected more care to be taken, given our numerous complaints in just 2 nights.
On both nights, because of the Mirage's errors, we went to bed very late and slept very little and badly. We ended up being very tired on the respective days following and were not able to enjoy our visit as much as we had hoped.
We have a right to expect, when we pay for accommodation at a hotel, that we would at least have a pleasant and restful night's sleep, and were deeply disappointed that a reputable hotel like the Mirage could fall so dismally short of such an indisputably reasonable expectation. While we did appreciate the Mirage trying to make up for the rotten experience by giving us a $50 discount, most would agree that this gesture was too little too late.
As fairly frequent travellers, we have stayed at hotels all over the world and we assure you that we have never had such a singularly unpleasant experience. We are not particularly hard to please or exacting and have given rave reviews about exquisite service and facilities in some hotels that would look like huts next to the Mirage. Unfortunately, should anyone ask about our visit to Las Vegas, we will not be able to say anything nice about our stay at the Mirage, which has ruined our impression of Las Vegas and of tourism standards in the United States.
Most critically, in the high-security climate of today's world, especially in the United States, the last thing we would have expected would be such serious breaches of security and such a lax attitude towards security. It most certainly defeats the purpose of having stenuous security measures at higher levels if corresponding actions are not enforced at the ground level. We would most certainly advise all our friends and family to opt for alternative accommodation when visiting Las Vegas, as from our experience, the Mirage is an establishment that could pose a definite danger to their safety and security.
