Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

So this year our semi-annual prilgrimage to poker mecca took us to the Mirage a couple weeks before Xmas. First time staying there. What a disappointment.

Background - have stayed at MGM, NYNY, Monte Carlo, Bellagio, TI, Ballys, Hilton, Orleans. Basically I stay where I can get a great deal for the property, this time Mirage had very good prices so I decided to give it a shot.

Std. rooms are very mediocre, this place can't keep up with the newer places. I even find the re-done rooms at TI and Ballys nicer than the Mirage room and usually cheaper. Regular rooms at Monte Carlo are about the same, but much cheaper almost any time of the year.

As many have said here, the poker room is not what it used to be either, but I knew that going in.

Pool is impressive though(had been before with a friend), but who needs a pool in December.

As always the California pizza kitchen is great. Had the buffet for the first time, breakfast and brunch, not great, especially compared to the B or even the Aladdin(don't know if its changed since Planet H).

All in all the Mirage has seen better days. And for the premium they charge over other lesser know places like Ballys, MC or TI, not even close to worth it.

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

Mirage is one of the few hotels I really like.

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

I stayed there about a year ago, and yeah, they need a re-model badly. The rooms are really getting run down. I figured corporate is pouring all it's money into the City Center and not anxious to spend big bucks for a makeover.

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

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All in all the Mirage has seen better days. And for the premium they charge over other lesser know places like Ballys, MC or TI, not even close to worth it.

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Can't agree more. Went there last July during the wsop, the hotel was under renovation, and from any point at ground level you could hear the sound of jackhammers. The whole place looked very rundown and infested with the ugliest breed of white trash. The poker room was particularly ugly. They had a daily tournament with less starting chips and shorter clock than the comparables tourneys at Caesar's and Venetian, yet the on duty manager insisted it was great value. The room itself was an noisy open corner near rows of slot machines, the waiting list a crumpled sheet of paper, the furniture old and worn down, the chips discolored and so dirty you could make them stick by pressing them together. Most of the dealers were grumpy old pensioners, throwing cards at a bunch of sad middle aged men that looked like they had just been stacked in the game of life. Not to mention that they must be the last casino in the whole US that charges withholding tax on tournament winnings to non-US residents.

I've read a few times that when it opened, the Mirage was regarded as one of the world's wonders and some put it in the same league as the Bellagio, the Venetian and the Wynn. Imho that defies comprehension.

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

I still like Mirage but it obviously isn't as nice as the newer ones and it is starting to show its age. As an overall hotel, it's great; for playing poker, meh.

There are more escort options and of lower quality there late at night than there used to be.

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

Regarding needing the remodel - they spent a couple million on Mirage over the summer doing just that. See the other post where he said sound of jackhammers...

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

I still love the mirage stayed last september and the room was fine best poool in vegas good food wynn is better for food and rooms but for poker and casino games I will take the mirage over the Wynn never liked the poker room at the Wynn just didnt feel right and I play mostly limit which on the weekends at the mirage they always had a 40-80 which was great but I heard it has moved to the venetian does anyone know if this is true?

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

Um, I used to like the Mirage but... MGM Players Club members were just offered 3 nights free + 2 tickets to Don Henley (Eagles) in concert 1/27 weekend. See you THERE, not at the Mirage.

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

Maybe if you have a ton of points or something, because I got SQUADOOSH.

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

Based on the PBS American Experince show about Vegas this week: Dont get attached to any of these hotels. Even the new Wynn is gonna come down some day.

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

Excellent post it is good to hear your review of the casinos in vegas I tend to agree with your assessment the nicest room I have ever stayed at in Vegas was a Penthouse suite that was absolutely amazing but very expensive I have not seen the 40 - 80 going at the Ventetian call there and ask for Dan he is the best Do you think we should use any more punctuation?

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

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I still love the mirage stayed last september and the room was fine best poool in vegas good food wynn is better for food and rooms but for poker and casino games I will take the mirage over the Wynn never liked the poker room at the Wynn just didnt feel right and I play mostly limit which on the weekends at the mirage they always had a 40-80 which was great but I heard it has moved to the venetian does anyone know if this is true?

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It did move for a while....then moved back to the mirage now I think...

Matt

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I've read a few times that when it opened, the Mirage was regarded as one of the world's wonders and some put it in the same league as the Bellagio, the Venetian and the Wynn. Imho that defies comprehension.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you could see what the rest of Las Vegas looked like in 1989 you'd know why...

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

I was just there on a 3 night comp after Christmas based on Players Club membership. There's nothing like getting around $600 worth of a free room, plus a couple hundred in perks, but I don't really like what the Mirage has been doing lately.

We usually walk across to the Venetian, or over to TI to eat easily, way too many expensive asian restaurants now in the Mirage, and most times nowhere to eat fast.

I do however very much like that the poker room runs nearly constant sit-n-go tourneys at 3 levels ($70, $115, $175) since their regular multi-table tourneys are paifully SLOW. Their 7PM multi with only 49 entrants was still running going on 1AM, and 4th place was paying slightly less than winning an SNG. Much better return on investment (dollars and time) in the SNG's.

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

I spent 5 days in Vegas two weeks before Christmas, and I very different experiece at the Mirage. I've stayed there about once a year for the last 4 or 5 years, so maybe I'm used to some of the things you didn't like. I have always been treated well at Mirage, just like at Bellagio.

Most of the rennovation is complete and they now have their lists on video displays, just like the new poker rooms. I've never seen bad chips at Mirage, and I've always found their dealers to be above average for Las Vegas.

This last trip, we got their $79 weekday rate for the pre-holiday lull and also got a free upgrade to Spa rooms from the kind girl at the front desk. Even without this deal, I've had great luck with their poker rate. I've stayed for $129 during premium times where the normal room rate was over $200 from any other outlet.

If you like to play $10-$20 or $20-$40, this would be my reccomendation for a room to play. I don't play live tournaments, so I have no idea if theirs is a good deal. My experience with the floormen at Mirage has been very good; they've never steered me to a bad game when making suggestions.

If the cost were the same, I'd probably stay at Bellagio. Since it is closer to half as much to stay at Mirage, I stay there. It certainly isn't the top casino on the strip any more, but your comments make it sound like Harrahs about 7 years ago. During our trip a friend and I walked through all of the poker rooms on the strip and after seeing the lack of medium stakes action in most of the new rooms, we were happy with our choice of hotels.

Doug

Re: Mirage...going, going...gone?
 

i was just there for the past weekend during new years. i stay there everytime cause of free rooms.

the poker action there is getting kinda dry. i wanted to grind the 10/20 the entire trip but that game would only go for a couple hours at night and then it would break early. that game wasnt even that good, occasionally u would get some gamblers sitting down but for the most part its filled with locals and regulars.

the 6/12 barely ever runs. and the next limit down is 3/6.

since i couldnt get any action at the mirage poker tables, i ended up getting felted at their blackjack tables, ughh.