Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

96
CHAPTER 5 . WHERE TO STAY
The rooms have recently been redone to a strong color palette that is oddly
similar to the rooms’ original tropical decor scheme. Frankly, it’s here most of all
where The Mirage isn’t holding up its end; the rooms are nice, but there are
nicer—and larger—ones all over town now, and the bathrooms are a little too
cramped for a what’s supposed to be a swanky hotel.
Off the casino is a habitat for Siegfried and Roy’s white tigers, a plaster enclosure
that allows for photo-taking and “aaaahhhs.” Behind the pool is the Dolphin
Habitat and Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden, which has a separate
admission (p. 184).
The superb Italian food at Onda and the Mirage Buffet are detailed in chapter
6.
The highly prominent production shows by Siegfried & Roy and Danny
Gans are reviewed in chapter 10, and The Mirage has one of our favorite casinos.
Out back is the pool, one of the nicest in Vegas, with a 1 ⁄4-mile shoreline, a
tropical paradise of waterfalls and trees, water slides, and so forth. It looks inviting,
but truth be told, it’s sometimes on the chilly side and isn’t very deep. But
it’s so pretty you’ll hardly care. Free swimming lessons and water-aerobics classes
take place daily at the pool. The Mirage Day Spa teems with friendly staff anxious
to pamper you, bringing you iced towels to cool you during your workout
and refreshing juices and smoothies afterward. The gym is one of the largest and
best stocked on the Strip.
3400 Las Vegas Blvd. S. (between Flamingo Rd. and Sands Ave.), Las Vegas, NV 89109. & 800/627-6667 or
702/791-7111. Fax 702/791-7446. www.mirage.com. 3,323 units. Sun–Thurs $79–$399 double, Fri–Sat and
holidays $159–$399 double; $250–$3,000 suite. Extra person $30, no discount for children.AE, DC, DISC, MC,
V. Free self- and valet parking. Amenities: Casino; showrooms; 14 restaurants; beautiful outdoor pool; health
club and spa; concierge; tour desk; car-rental desk; business center; shopping arcade; 24-hr. room service;
laundry service; dry cleaning; nonsmoking rooms; executive-level rooms. In room: A/C, TV w/pay movies, dataport,
hair dryer, iron and board, safes.
Palms Resort & Casino The latest Vegas hotel wonder, though maybe
“wonder” is a bit of a stretch. In keeping with the tropical-foliage name, it’s more
or less Miami-themed (but without the pastels), with a strange aversion toward
straight lines (really, check out all those curves). Inside a bland building is a
pretty nice complex—which we say only because it’s a puzzle, but as we write
this, the Palms is hands down the hottest hotel in town. That’s mostly due to the
nightlife options—both Ghost Bar and the nightclub Rain have lines of people
every night the facilities are open, offering to sell their firstborn sons for a chance
to go inside. Why did those two places catch on so? Not really sure (though you
can read our speculations about both in chapter 10), but you need to know that
the entrances to them stand right by the elevators to your hotel room, which
means on a busy weekend night, there can be upwards of 4,000 gorgeous and
antsy (if not angry) people standing between you and access to your hotel room.
If you are a Hilton Sister, or wish to see if one will date you, this could be
heaven, but if encountering the beautifully dressed and coifed, with 0% body fat
and sullen expressions of entitlement, and the 19-year-olds who seek to become
all of that (and usually affect a thuggish demeanor) makes you, like us, itch, this
might not be the most comfortable place to stay.
Impressions
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
—Governor Bob Miller’s reaction upon first visiting The Mirage