My recent holiday took me to many places but my stay in Vegas was unique and one of the most fun parts of the trip. We stayed at the Mirage, right int eh heart of the Las Vegas 'strip' and Im very pleased we chose it.
Vegas
hotels are completely over the top, thats the whole point of Vegas, and the Mirage in no exception.
Some facts about this mega hotel before I begin:
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It has 30 floors
There are 3,049 rooms
There is a tiger sanctuary, dolphin habitat and a 20,000-gallon aquarium with sharks and sting rays
It employs 7,500 people
It has a 1,500 capacity theatre
All mind boggling, and there is a whole lot more which ill try to cover (a difficult feat!)
Location Location Location
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Before arriving in the city of tack and imoral dealingsm, I didnt really appreciate is how long 'the strip' is. If you are in Vegas for a holiday (people also live in Vegas!) you will definately want to be on the strip. Part of the fun is going from hotel to hotel so you want to be near the good ones. The Mirage is centrally located, and close to all the best hotels such as the Venetian (across the road)
Paris and
Bellagio (next door). The last thing you want is to be at one of the distant hotels and be tackling the strip with the
Nevada sun beating on your back! Its a ten minute cab ride from the
airport ($20). I dont think you can beat the mirage for location.Arrival
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We arrived by car and drove into the opulent valet parking area. A porter took our bags and someone else parked our car. Completely stress free!
Check In
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The check in area which just has to be seen to be appreciated. It is huge (and it has to be to serve 3000 rooms!) and behind the desks is a massive aquarium with thousands of beautiful tropical fish. I saw sharks and sting rays. I just wanted to stare at it for hours but we were quickly checked in and it was time to move on! We were offered an upgrade to one of the 4 bedroom penthouse apartments on the 30th floor for 100 dollars a night, but we declined the offer!
Going Up... and Up.. and Up!
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We were on the 26th floor! Fortunately there are banks of lifts (or elevators as they call them) serving different floors so the lifts were pretty quick. When people get in the lifts speakers start blurting out adverts for the countless restaurants and bars in the hotel.
Our room
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Our room was very nice. It was big with two double beds (we only needed one!) and a fantastic view. The style is a bit twee, but I quite liked it. There was a massive TV (switched onto the Mirage's own TV station!), a well stocked mini bar and a fantastic view of the Vegas strip, the rest of the huge dusty city and the beautiful mountains behind. It was spotlessly clean, and had (overly) effective airconditioning. I felt a bit like Nikki from big brother! (sorry)
The bathroom was pretty small which was a shame, but it was clean and had some great brnaded soaps and lotions to use.
Anyway, you dont want to be spending your time in your room in Vegas.. there is so much else to do!
The Pool
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The pool is huge! In fact it is probably the largest Ive ever seen. It has a huge waterfall, floats, a spa area, a bar and a smaller separate pool area. The theme of the pool is French Polynesia - I have never been there and couldnt tell you if it recreated the scene well but it looked very tropical indeed! Unfortunately the pool was very crowded indeed and it was hard to get a sunlounger. However, if you go later in the day it is much quieter. You get a towel to use on the way in, and there is a shop selling food and papers, and plenty of people serving drinks etc... It certainly isnt relaxing, as they continually play pop music, which we didnt mind, but some people would deifnately find it annoying.
The pool hours were 8.00AM to 8.00PM.
The Tigers!
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It didnt surprise me when we came across a tiger sanctuary in the hotel! We didnt know there was one but after what we had already discovered nothing was going to shock us! The hotel has 2 very rare white tigers and it claims to have them there as part of a breeding programme. I trust they are kept well, but ethics aside, they are beautiful animals. There is a daily show where they feed and talk about the animals. We didnt catch it, but it is supposed to be interesting.
The Volcano!
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Of course the hotel has its own erupting volcano (I mean why not??). In fact it was a bit lame.. its a slight and water show which erupts hourly from 7pm hourly until midnight. It is supposed to look like a volcano, and is worth watching once. But it certainly isnt a highlight of the hotel!
Food!
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No shortage of this!
The Mirage had so many restaurants it was unbelievable!
HIGH END PLACES TO EAT
- Japonais (Japanese
restaurant .. only opening late 2006)
- STACK
- Fin (Chinese)
- Kokomo's
-
Onda Ristorante &
Wine Lounge (italian)
- Samba Brazilian Steakhouse
LOWER END PLACES TO EAT (still excellent quality in our experience!)
- Caribe Café
- California
Pizza Kitchen
- Cravings - The Ultimate Buffet Dining Experience
(more about this below!)
- Carnegie Delicatessen (
NYC style deli)
-
Paradise Cafe (by the pool)
- Coconuts
Ice Cream Shop
- The Roasted Bean (coffee shop)
- Dolphin Snack Bar (in the dolphin habitat!)
THE BUFFET
Buffets are a bit of a
Las Vegas institution and every self respecting hotel offers one. We didnt have much time so opted to go to the Mirage's own one called 'Cravings.' We went for lunch, but they offer brekky and dinner buffets as well. The experience was amazing. You pay a very reasonable entrance fee (approx £13 pounds each) and get an unlimited buffet, including as much (
non alcoholic) drink as you want and coffee.
The buffet counters were:
Salad Bar
Sushi
Pizza
Seafood
Latin
Pasta
Pizza
Noodle Bar
Mediterranian
Carvery
Chinese
Cakes
Ice Cream
Fruit
Each counter had a huge spread and would have been enough on their own! There were probably more which I have forgotten.
CASINO TIME
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These days there is so much else to do in Vegas you dont have to gamble but it is what Vegas is all about. We found all the
casino's to b much the same as each other, but the Mirage one is, like the rest, huge! Im sure we didnt see it all. There are use usual
slot machines ranging from 1c to $100, blackjack, craps, roulette,
sports betting etc.. You have to be over 18 to gamble.
SHOWS!
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The Mirage hosts 'The Beatles' - one of the 4 Crique De Soleil Shows which runs in Vegas. It si supposed to be fantastic, but we opted for another one (I am not the hugest Beatles fan - to be honest!) . There are loads of shows in Vegas and the hotel you are staying in doesnt, of course, restrict which shows you end up going to.
TRAM
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There is a useful tram which runs to the neighbouring hotel '
Treasure Island'. It runs every few minutes and is free.
HOTEL SERVICES
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Despite the size, the hotel seemed to run very efficiently and smoothly for us. The consierge was excellent, and you can check out by phone, leaving your key in the room. There is a full room service, laundry, salon, spa (with gym, hot tubs and massage - for $20 extra). The staff were very attentive and friendly. Im not sure how they pull it off with so many guests passing through.
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IN CONCLUSION
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To conclude we had a fantastic stay at the Mirage. Yes Vegas is tacky and OTT but that is the point. It isnt the smartest of the hotels, try the Venetian or Bellagio if you want that, but it certainly was one of the nicer hotels. It is much cheaper than the Ballagio as well. Rates vary but we paid an extrememly reasonable £40 per night! Crazy. I guess they expect you to spend more at the casino and restaurants. Weekend prices are much more expensive though.
Beacuse I know you will ask:
1) We broke even on gambling (we think we spent about 1 pound in total - as we won lots back!)
2) I didnt get married whilst there!
Below: A pic I took of the mirage at night
Totally Vegas! 
Thanks for the review! We are off to Vegas and staying in the Mirage in a few weeks. We love Vegas and can't wait!