The Mirage closes in Las Vegas to make way for Hard Rock Guitar Hotel

It’s the end of an era. The Mirage is closing its doors after 35 years to make way for Hard Rock’s new Guitar hotel. 

The latest turnover in Las Vegas marks a new chapter for the destination city, where sports and entertainment are a bigger draw than the gambling for tourists.

Hard Rock International Chairman Jim Allen told CNBC he’s humbled and feels fortunate to be remaking the legendary integrated resort. 

“When Steve and Elaine Wynn opened the Mirage in December of 1989, it changed not just Las Vegas, but it changed the way people look at gaming. It became a true destination,” Allen said.

The Mirage was the Wynns’ first megaresort, the largest hotel in the world at that point. This week, Steve Wynn wrote a tribute to the ground-breaking property, as reported in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“In the prior 16 years, no completely new hotel had been built in Las Vegas,” Wynn wrote. “However, in the next decade following the 1989 arrival of Mirage, we rushed into a virtual doubling of the town’s capacity and became the fastest growing city in America. To call The Mirage a catalyst would be an understatement.”

The themed resorts that followed hearken to another place and time. Excalibur, Luxor and New York-New York largely now cater to budget-minded visitors and families. 

Paris Las Vegas offers views of a replica Eiffel Tower. The Venetian attracts tourists with replica canals and gondolas. Caesars Palace with its replica of Michelangelo’s David set the early standard for themed resorts when it opened in 1966. 

But the future is in luxury touch points, access to high-end dining, boast-worthy entertainment and high-priced sports packages. 

And Hard Rock International has lots of experience providing it, in Florida; Atlantic City, New Jersey; New York; – and in 70 countries around the world. 

The gambling and entertainment company, owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, bought The Mirage from MGM Resorts in December 2022.

VICI Properties, a gaming real estate investment trust and the largest property owner on the Las Vegas Strip, owns The Mirage buildings and land, and says it will partner with Hard Rock to bring the new resort to life.

Hard Rock will model its Las Vegas renovation on its highly successful Guitar Hotel at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood in South Florida. Throughout the Sunshine State, Hard Rock enjoys a near monopoly on gambling. 

But in Las Vegas, competition is fierce. Staying relevant on the Strip requires frequent room renovations, facilities upgrades, and new amenities to attract not only bachelor parties and girls’ weekends, but also the midweek bread-and-butter convention crowd.   

On Monday Susquehanna gaming analyst Joe Stauff wrote, “It seems to us that MGM is stepping up its investment in Las Vegas to maximize the benefits of its portfolio positioning that surrounds all the sports venues.”    

In the same note, Stauff criticized Caesars for being stingy with its investments in Strip properties and downgraded Caesars stock from a neutral rating to negative.

Caesars is scheduled to post second-quarter earnings on July 30. MGM Resorts International reports a day later.

When the Mirage ceases operations Wednesday, 3,000 employees will lose their jobs.

Allen told CNBC he hopes to rehire many of them when the new resort launches. The company is scheduling a spring 2027 reopening.

“I think the world is going to be shocked at some of the artists that we’re already talking to for long-term residency,” Allen said.

While Hard Rock’s entry to the Las Vegas Strip may provide stiff new competition when it reopens, its closure in the meantime could give its neighbors a boost. 

CBRE analyst John DeCree estimates the Mirage closure will take nearly a million room nights out of circulation annually.

The Strip lost another 400,000 room nights annually when the Tropicana closed in April and is slated for demolition to make way for a new integrated resort and baseball stadium to host the A’s of Major League Baseball.

In total, 4.9% of the available rooms temporarily disappear at a time when room rates and visitation continue to set records.