My husband and I stayed at The Mirage June 18-June 22 and let me tell you.........this vacation seemed way too long. Please don't get me wrong though. I had a good time but my feelings for this place after a few days were mixed.

We arrived at The Mirage on Wednesday around 11am Las Vegas time. The line at check-in wasn't long at all but oh did it take long. We probably waited 20+ minutes when there were only 2 people in front of us. They really need to work on their check-in procedure. Nothing should take that long. We did however get to enjoy the beautiful tropical 20,000 gallon fish tank while we waited. It had everything from Pufferfish to Clownfish. It seemed especially appealing considering we had just seen "Finding Nemo" the weekend before.

As we walked to our room we were surrounded by a beautiful tropical rainforest. We also were faced with very heavy traffic going in all directions. There were so many people everywhere. To get to the elevator we had to walk through the casino which was huge. In all I would estimate it took about 15 minutes to get from the lobby to our room. This was certainly the largest hotel I had ever stayed at.

ROOM

We stayed in a standard room on the 6th floor facing Caesar's Palace. I found the room to be quite nice. The entryway and bathroom had marble floors which added a nice touch. The rest of the room was decorated tastefully also. I liked the fact that our room seemed very clean which is a major plus for me. It was a little dusty but no bugs or spider webs anywhere.

Our room Wednesday and Thursday night was $89 per night and for Friday and Saturday it was $129 per night. I actually booked the room directly through the hotel. After shopping around it seemed that they actually had the best price.

RESTAURANTS

Restaurants here were so crowded. Everything always seemed to be busy and there were always long lines. They were also not exactly cheap either. Here are some of the restaurants we ate at:

MIRAGE BUFFET

Breakfast $9.95

Lunch $10.95

Dinner $14.95(I'm not quite sure on the exact price)

Saturdays & Sundays Champagne Brunch $17.50

For the most part we enjoyed their food. I have to admit I expected a little better quality but overall it was good. For breakfast they had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, fruit, pastries, basically your average breakfast food. I didn't really see anything exotic or different from any other breakfast buffet. At lunch they had carved ham, prime rib, turkey, grilled chicken, along with side dishes like mashed potatoes and stuffing.

CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN

I usually love The California Pizza Kitchen in other cities. This specific time it didn't taste the greatest. I think their frozen pizzas they sell in grocery stores actually tasted better than this one. Price for a personal size was around $13 which was definitely overpriced.

KOKOMOS

The setting here was absolutely fabulous. It's centered in the Tropical Rainforest. Food was very pricey but wonderful. I ordered the Prime Rib which was huge. I had never seen a piece of meat that large before. The price was also large. For $28 I expected it to come with a salad or something but it didn't. For somewhere around $8 I ordered a side of mashed potatoes which I certainly shouldn't have ordered considering the size of my prime rib. All in all this was by far the best restaurant we ate at here.

PARADISE CAFE

Prices here were fairly reasonable. For around $10 I ordered a burger and fries. It was alright but kind of bland tasting. The setting for this restaurant was outdoors near the pool area. Unfortunately a lady at the table next to us threw up and kind of ruined our appetites. Maybe that's the reason we weren't too impressed with this place.

SECRET GARDEN

Tickets for The Secret Garden & The Dolphin Habitat together were $10 a person. On Wednesday The Dolphin Habitat is only $5 but you can't go into The Secret Garden. I found the Secret Garden slightly boring. It was interesting but almost like going to the zoo. Yawn. I liked The Dolphin Habitat much better. Although they didn't perform a real "show" it was very interesting to watch.

POOL

This was one of my pet peeves on this vacation. The Mirage had an absolutely beautiful pool but limited space. It was big but not big enough considering this hotel had nearly 3000 rooms. It felt like there were about 3000 people either in the pool or around it. Even though we would get up at 7 am it was nearly impossible to get a beach chair near the pool. Beach chairs were basically one on top of the other and they were still all taken. Anywhere there were spaces they would throw a beach chair. I literally was bumping elbows with the person next to me while trying to relax. The pool itself was even worse. It was impossible to "swim" let alone walk around. The pool was beautiful but a slight disappointment.

CASINO

This casino was huge. Even after 5 days there we were still trying to find our way around. We mostly stuck to playing the slot machines and Blackjack. We won some and of course lost some.

SHOPS

The only shops we went into were the gift shops and the DKNY store. The DKNY had a lot to offer. It was a very large store that had a very large and nice selection.

OTHER THINGS TO DO

If you don't like to gamble, lay around the pool, eat, or visit The Secret Garden/The Dolphin Habitat, there's really nothing else to do. They do offer 2 shows that I know of. The Siegfried & Roy show and Danny Gans. I don't know too much about these shows but hear they are supposed to be good.

SUMMARY

Overall, I enjoyed my stay but looked forward to going home by the end. Next time I go on vacation I'm going to chose a hotel with fewer rooms and fewer guests.


CELINE DION CONCERT(sorry I have to add this in even though it has nothing to do with The Mirage)

We went and saw Celine Dion on June 19. Tickets we ordered in advance were around $100 a person. This concert was probably the best part of my vacation. I adore Celine Dion and she is a fabulous performer. She performed everything from old hits to new ones. Her voice was crystal clear and perfect along with all the visual effects. If you go to Vegas this concert is a must.










Recommended: Yes