Mirage Resort to Close for Rebrand to Hard Rock Las Vegas

By Scott Roeben, on May 15 2024
3 min read 10 comments
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Some long-standing questions have been answered by Mirage: The resort will close July 17, 2024 (at 1:00 p.m.) as it gets a major overhaul and rebrand to Hard Rock Las Vegas. Technically, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Guitar Hotel Las Vegas, but nobody’s going to call it that.

The news was first shared an an employee all-hands meeting on May 15, 2024.

Hard Rock Las Vegas will reopen in May of 2027.

In 2027, the Las Vegas Strip gets some new eye candy.

Following the announcement of the purchase of Mirage by the Seminole tribe in 2021 (the deal closed in 2022), rumors and speculation was rampant about how the massive renovation of the resort would happen, especially since casino leadership said early on they might keep Mirage open during construction. That seemed unlikely, and now we know.

Mirage will take a much-deserved vacation as the resort is stripped to its bones and given a make-over, including the addition of a new guitar-shaped hotel tower.

While unfortunate for the employees of Mirage, this seems the only practical way of doing such an extensive overhaul. It’s really more like a ground-up build, but cheaper.

Why did Mirage play the closure so close to the vest? Because the company didn’t want employees to bail.

Let’s go.

On the bright side, we suspect there will be some generous severance checks (typically done by seniority). Mirage will need employees when it reopens, and no sense burning more bridges than necessary. The company will pay about $80 million packages to eligible employees. About 3,300 employees will be affected by the closure.

Mirage says it’s “expected to double the current number of jobs at The Mirage for the Las Vegas community, while the renovation of the property will generate over 2,500 construction jobs.”

Joe Lupo, President of Mirage, said, “While we pause for the incredible transformation of this iconic property, I’d like to thank all team members at The Mirage for their incredible commitment and helping us provide memorable experiences for our guests. We are planning to host collaborative hiring events with other employers in the Las Vegas community over the coming months. Connecting the thousands of talented Mirage team members who provide outstanding service with new employment opportunities is a top priority.”

Here’s more about the top-to-bottom reconstruction of Mirage.

There are a lot of details yet to be hammered out, but hotel reservations and show tickets for dates after July 14, 2024 will be canceled and refunded. Here’s an FAQ, but it wasn’t working when we tried it, as we assume the Mirage site is overwhelmed.

Yes, Shin Lim’s show is closing on that date. It was previously announced “Love” will close July 7. For anyone paying attention, the closure of Mirage isn’t a surprise, as we noted Cirque’s inadvertent leak of the timeline in an April 9 memo.

Yes, the volcano is done. Stop by to say goodbye before July 17.

The Mirage opened in 1989, and was pretty much the template for the Las Vegas we know today. We’re going to need a much bigger sad trombone.

Update (5/15/24): Here’s the internal memo to employees about the closure of Mirage.

Cue that Sinatra song about him facing the final curtain or whatnot.

Mirage chips can be redeemed at Mirage through July 17, 2024. Chips can be redeemed at Treasure Island up to 120 days after July 17, 2024.

As for Mirage slot vouchers, “All slot vouchers can be redeemed at The Mirage by July 17, 2024. After July 17, 2024, slot vouchers can be redeemed by the expiration date printed on the slot voucher via mail to 3400 S Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89109. Guests must provide a copy of their identification card if the guest does not have a Unity account with The Mirage. All mail must be postmarked by the expiration date of the voucher.”