In a presentation to the Nevada Gaming Control Board earlier this week, Hard Rock International chairman Jim Allen unveiled new details on the company’s plans to redevelop the Las Vegas Strip’s Mirage hotel-casino and turn it into the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas.

Hard Rock, which agreed to acquire the 3,044-room Mirage in 2021 for close to $1.1 billion, is awaiting the board’s final approval of the transaction. 

Hard Rock’s proposed project is set to comprise a top-to-bottom renovation of the Mirage and the addition of a guitar-shaped hotel tower. 

According to Allen, the effort involves “not just a rebranding of the Mirage, by putting the sign and putting in some new carpet.”

“We anticipate spending billions of dollars, completely creating a new destination resort on the Las Vegas Strip,” he said. 

Gutting and expansion planned

Under Hard Rock’s proposal, much of the existing Mirage structure will gutted down to “a concrete shell” and rebuilt, while the property’s convention and meetings space will be expanded. 

The building’s casino facilities will similarly be renovated and expanded, with the refreshed property on track to house roughly 2,000 slot machines and more than 200 gaming tables.

Also getting a major revamp will be the hotel-casino’s pool area and surrounding landscaping, which is set to be leveled and transformed into what Allen described as an “entertainment and pool destination.” The pool area will go from spanning around 2 acres to 5 acres.

Guitar tower will house suites

The guitar-shaped tower, meanwhile, will be an all-suite offering and is expected to add between 800 to 1,000 new rooms to the complex. The tower will be located where the Mirage’s volcano is currently situated.

Additionally, Allen announced that a pool deck with an infinity-edge pool, which will draw inspiration from the Marina Bay Sands’ rooftop infinity-edge pool in Singapore, will be positioned directly in front of the guitar-shaped structure.

“People thought I was completely crazy when we said we’re going to design a building in the shape of a guitar, and now it has become an international icon,” said Allen, citing the success of Hard Rock’s first guitar-shaped hotel at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. 

Upon completion, the project will also incorporate a new Hard Rock Live entertainment venue and at least 21 food and beverage concepts, with that number slated to potentially grow. 

No date for closing of the Mirage

In a statement released Thursday, Hard Rock said that the company has yet to release updates on when the Mirage may shutter, however.

“We do not have definitive plans to close the property at this time, but for full transparency, that could be an option a year-and-a-half down the road,” Allen said.

Hard Rock added that it expects to release additional details on the group’s plans for the Mirage in late 2023.

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