My husband and I just returned home from a 3 night stay over the 4th of July holiday weekend at the Mirage. This is our second stay at the Mirage and our 4th trip to Vegas together so we have a rather decent feel for the Vegas experience. Our first stay at the Mirage was in a penthouse suite last June as part of a special offer my husband received, however this stay was my birthday gift surprise and I was excited to find out that we were returning to the Mirage. In our previous stays we've stayed at MGM and Paris (twice) and we both feel, especially after this latest trip, that the Mirage is the best of the 3 we've patroned.
Since apparently I lose more money gambling at MGM Mirage properties than my husband does, our 3 night stay was comped under my Player's Club account. Not to say that this fact prevented me from applying the tried and true $20 sandwich routine for an upgrade, to which we were granted a higher floor tower room accessed by separate elevators. Our stay last year was in a not-yet renovated penthouse suite, so it was nice to see a newly renovated room with the flat screen HDTV, super comfortable bed and updated bathroom with separate tub and shower stall. Check-in was seamless and we were pleasantly surprised to be able to get checked-in when we arrived at about 11:45 in the morning.
After unpacking, we headed down to the casino for some lunch (CPK), retrieving my $100 in promo chips and some gambling, of course. We really enjoy the casino in the Mirage and we've experience nearly all of the casinos on the strip and rate the Mirage's casino near the top. It does get crowded on the weekends, but that's to be expected and inescapable at any hotel. We ate 2 breakfasts at Cravings which has a great selection of pastries and I enjoy the omelet station. On the morning of the 4th, it appeared that the buffet was offering a special holiday brunch and was opening later so we opted to eat at Caribe Cafe. I ordered the blueberry pancakes which were okay, but they give you 4 dinner-plate-sized pancakes that honestly, 3 or 4 people could split. For dinners, we ate at a different restaurant each of the three nights, but our last night was dinner at Kokomo's in the hotel. This visit was our 4th dining experience there and it never disappoints. The food is excellent and the service is superb. I will say that in all of the 3 previous visits, we never had a flaw in our dinner, but this latest visit had a minor snafu that was rectified immediately in the form of free dessert and coffee. Certainly not a deal breaker in terms of future visits. I typically order the lobster bisque which comes with a puff pastry top. This soup is to die for and is absolutely the best lobster bisque I have ever had, however, I bucked tradition this year and passed it up for the coconut shrimp which was delicious as well. Our other two dinners were off the Mirage property, with one notable dinner at Hugo's Cellar which is in the basement of the 4 Queens in downtown Vegas. While I know this is a review of the Mirage hotel, I cannot pass up an opportunity to rave about Hugo's Cellar. This was our 2nd visit there after experiencing it for the first time last year. Impeccible service, fantastic food and every lady receives a red rose!
When not enjoying delicious food off and on the Mirage property, our trip consisted of mainly gambling and shopping. The Forum Shops are a really quick walk from the Mirage, especially if you walk through the casino to the exit by BLT Burger. The Fashion Show Mall is another quick walk in the other direction by taking the tram from the Mirage to TI and walking through TI to a foot bridge over the street. The Mirage is a great location with great amenities that makes it seem like it has it all!
