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

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

The most recent turnover in Las Vegas marks a recent chapter for the destination city, where sports and entertainment are an even 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 modified not only Las Vegas, however it modified the best way people take a look at gaming. It became a real destination,” Allen said.

The Mirage was the Wynns’ first megaresort, the most important hotel on this planet at that time. This week, Steve Wynn wrote a tribute to the ground-breaking property, as reported within the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“Within the prior 16 years, no completely recent hotel had been inbuilt Las Vegas,” Wynn wrote. “Nevertheless, in the following decade following the 1989 arrival of Mirage, we rushed right into a virtual doubling of the town’s capability and have become the fastest growing city in America. To call The Mirage a catalyst can be an understatement.”

The themed resorts that followed take heed to one other place and time. Excalibur, Luxor and Latest York-Latest York largely now cater to budget-minded visitors and families. 

Paris Las Vegas offers views of a reproduction 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 long run is in luxury touch points, access to high-end dining, boast-worthy entertainment and high-priced sports packages. 

And Hard Rock International has a lot of experience providing it, in Florida; Atlantic City, Latest Jersey; Latest York; – and in 70 countries around the globe. 

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 most important property owner on the Las Vegas Strip, owns The Mirage buildings and land, and says it can partner with Hard Rock to bring the brand 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 recent amenities to draw not only bachelor parties and girls’ weekends, but additionally 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 maximise the advantages of its portfolio positioning that surrounds all of the sports venues.”    

In the identical 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 a lot of them when the brand new resort launches. The corporate is scheduling a spring 2027 reopening.

“I feel the world goes to be shocked at a few 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 recent competition when it reopens, its closure within the meantime could give its neighbors a lift. 

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

The Strip lost one other 400,000 room nights annually when the Tropicana closed in April and is slated for demolition to make way for a recent 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 proceed to set records.