We checked into the Mirage this past weekend and I chose a check-in person who was smiling. We asked for a non-smoking room with a view of the pool on a higher floor. She was searching the computer to see what was available and came up with one that was not yet ready. I tipped her $20 and gave her my credit card while she was searching the computer. She called up to have the room prepared and gave us our keys and told us we could put our luggage there while they finished the room. We went upstairs and housekeeping was cleaning the room. Maria (the housekeeper for our room) was full of smiles and was friendly when we dropped off our luggage.

Maria did a wonderful job of keeping our room spotless during our visit (I tipped her $5 per day, although I don't know if that is the going rate or too cheap?), but she was always very nice and quick at cleaning the room.

There was never a wait longer than a minute or two for the elevator, and there was a store right by the elevators for miscellaneous sundries, etc. that also cut thru to other shoppes (like coffee for first thing in morning!).

One thing I noticed was there was only one coffee shop in a hotel that huge - so there was a long line every single morning for coffee, as there are not coffee pots in the rooms. At least the line went quickly. The coffee shop also had pastries (bagels, danish, etc) for breakfast so it was one-stop shopping. And it was close to the pool.

Oh! The pool! How wonderful! We rented rafts ($5/hour or $20/day) and floated around the pool for hours. Laying on the raft, looking up, as you move around the pool, there are a few different views: Palm trees with a backdrop of Caesar's Palace, palm trees, more palm trees, waterfalls and flowing flowers with palm trees, I think you get my point. Pool area crowded. Fills up quickly so get to the pool at 7 am to get a seat. Some people get towels (complimentary) and put them on chaises that they want to lounge in and then leave. It's rude. But hotel now has a policy where towels are removed and chairs become vacant if someone has left their towel there unattended for more than an hour. Good policy - and it was enforced, but not rigidly.

Casino: Smoky. Some people chain smoke while doing slots. It would be nice to have a non-smoking area. Loud. Some machines give tickets, others give coins. Coin ones sound cooler because it sounds like people are winning. We only paid slots and some card game "Deuces wild?" on a machine and had a great time. No big wins, but then again, we didn't expect to win. We went there with the idea that the gambling was a fun diversion only.

Have to walk thru the casino to get anywhere, so if you have asthma like I do, or hate smoke, then be prepared and forewarned.

Valet: I can't say enough about their valet service. Fastest of any of the hotels we saw. And super-friendly. Everyone should use valet service there. Great experience.

Rooms: We had a king room on the 9th floor and the bed was huge and extremely comfy. Pillows were an assortment. Compare to Goldilocks story: One pillow hard, one medium, and one soft. I got two of them!!! ha ha The rooms were large and the entryway was marble (marble tile, not real marble). The bathrooms were not huge, but then how much time do you spend in them anyway? The important thing was that they were very clean. Towels huge and soft. Bed linen was nice - felt at least 400 thread count - so it was soft. A/C was cold and view of pool was great.

In room safe: You pick your own combination - in the closet and works great! Good peace of mind when traveling with wads of cash (yeah right!)

Refrigerator: Beware. If you touch anything in it, you will be charged. You can't put the item back. And items are very overpriced. Go downstairs or to a drugstore for snackies and drinks. Bottled watter expensive so we went to Walgreens and bought two gallons and refilled bottles and carried them everywhere.

Restaurants: Not very impressed, although the Caribe Cafe was cheap and had good food. Mirage Buffet was good (and had awesome desserts!) The rest we did not try. California Pizza had a line that was HUGE and we didn't want to wait for it.

Recommended: Yes