Hard Rock Guitar Tower Starts To Reshape Las Vegas Strip

Published on Nov 15, 2025, 2:44 pm CST

7 min read

Key points

Hard Rock's guitar-shaped tower is now visibly rising on the former Mirage volcano site
The project targets a late 2027 opening with about 3,600 total rooms once renovations finish
Gaming space will roughly double compared with the Mirage, and meetings space will top 200,000 square feet
The Mirage has been closed since July 2024, leaving a multi-year gap in Strip room and casino capacity
Hard Rock says construction remains on budget and on schedule despite the size of the redevelopment

Impact

Booking Horizons: Leisure travelers and groups cannot stay at this Center Strip site until at least late 2027, so near term Strip plans should focus on neighboring resorts instead
Future Room Supply: An added tower and remodeled legacy rooms will bring roughly 3,600 keys back online, which could modestly ease peak pricing on the north and center Strip once open
Meetings And Events: More than 200,000 square feet of meetings space positions the resort as a future convention and incentives hub, and Hard Rock is already accepting group RFPs for 2028 and beyond
Construction Environment: The frontage that once held the Mirage volcano is now an active work zone, so visitors to nearby properties should expect cranes, noise, and changing pedestrian routes
Brand And Loyalty Shift: When the property reopens it will trade Mirage and MGM programs for Hard Rock branding and the company's own loyalty ecosystem, changing how repeat guests earn and redeem

Visitors walking the Las Vegas Strip are finally seeing a new shape behind the construction walls where the Mirage volcano once drew crowds. Structural work for the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and Guitar Hotel Las Vegas tower is now visible above the frontage, a clear sign that the long planned guitar silhouette is moving from renderings into reality. Hard Rock still targets a late 2027 opening, which will return thousands of rooms and a much larger casino to this stretch of the Strip.

Hard Rock Las Vegas Project Overview

Hard Rock International bought the Mirage's operating assets from MGM Resorts International in a nearly $ 1.1 billion cash deal, then secured Nevada regulatory approval to assume control in December 2022. As part of that transaction, Hard Rock signed a long term lease with VICI Properties, separating the operations from the underlying real estate.

The redevelopment plan replaces the volcano along Las Vegas Boulevard with a guitar shaped hotel tower that planning documents and local reporting describe at roughly 600 to nearly 700 feet tall, with around 600 to 650 suites. Behind it, the existing three tower Mirage structure, about 3,044 rooms at closure, is being fully redesigned, which should bring the combined resort to roughly 3,600 keys when everything reopens.

On the gaming side, Hard Rock is aiming for about 175,000 square feet of casino floor, nearly double the Mirage's roughly 90,000 square feet, alongside significantly expanded food, beverage, and retail at ground level. Meeting planners are a major focus as well, with Hard Rock advertising more than 200,000 square feet of meeting and event space and already accepting requests for proposals for groups arriving in 2028 and later.

The Mirage officially closed to guests on July 17, 2024, after thirty four years of operation, with roughly 3,000 employees receiving severance as the property shifted into full construction mode. Hard Rock and local coverage have consistently pointed to a multi year renovation window, with a reopening as Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and Guitar Hotel Las Vegas targeted for the back half of 2027.

Latest Developments

The latest visible change is on the skyline. Recent images and reporting show the guitar tower's structural frame beginning to rise from the cleared volcano footprint along the Strip, giving a first real sense of how the new silhouette will sit between neighboring properties. Channel 13 and other local outlets have documented piles, supports, and now above ground sections of the tower taking shape where the Mirage's lagoon and rockwork once stood.

Trade coverage notes that Hard Rock executives expect the finished guitar structure to reach nearly 700 feet, roughly comparable to some of the taller resort towers on the Strip such as Aria and the Cosmopolitan. Planning documents suggest the guitar tower will concentrate suites and premium product, while the remodeled legacy towers keep a broad mix of standard rooms and renovated suites.

Hard Rock Las Vegas president Joe Lupo has said in earlier interviews that the project remains on schedule and on budget, and that more detailed public updates are likely once key construction milestones are passed. For now, the guitar's outline emerging above the fencing is the most tangible signal to Strip visitors that the Mirage era has given way to a very different brand and design language.

Analysis

For travelers, the most important short term fact is that there is no hotel or casino to book at this address until at least late 2027. Anyone who previously preferred the Mirage's combination of Center Strip location, mid scale price point, and Cirque du Soleil entertainment now has to look to nearby resorts like Treasure Island, Caesars Palace, or the Venetian complex if they want similar geography before the new Hard Rock opens. The construction zone also affects foot traffic patterns, crowding some Strip sidewalks and changing familiar views, even if most work stays behind tall barricades.

Group and convention planners should consider the project in terms of future capacity. With more than 200,000 square feet of meeting space envisioned and a room count in the mid 3,000s, Hard Rock Las Vegas is positioned to compete with other large integrated resorts for city wide events and corporate gatherings in the late 2020s. Because Hard Rock is already soliciting RFPs for 2028 dates, organizations with long planning cycles can at least pencil the property into their option sets, even if final room product and rate structures are not yet public.

There is also a ripple effect for pricing and availability along the Strip. The closure of the Mirage removed more than 3,000 rooms and a significant casino from inventory, which can tighten supply during peak weekends, major conventions, and large scale events. When the Hard Rock complex eventually returns with a slightly larger room base, a bigger casino, and more dining and retail, it should add some relief, although any rate impact will depend on how aggressively the new resort positions itself in the market.

From a branding perspective, the shift represents a move from MGM Resorts' portfolio and loyalty ecosystem into Hard Rock's global network, which is owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. That change affects repeat guests who built up relationships, tier status, or comp histories with Mirage and MGM, since future stays at this address will earn and redeem through Hard Rock's own program instead. Travelers who spread their Las Vegas nights around different companies will want to think about how a Hard Rock flagship on the Strip fits alongside MGM, Caesars, Wynn, and other operators they already use.

Background

The Mirage opened in 1989 and is widely credited with kicking off the modern megaresort era in Las Vegas, thanks to features like its erupting volcano, large scale shows by Siegfried and Roy, and later the long running Beatles themed Cirque du Soleil production Love. After more than three decades, the property shifted into new hands when Hard Rock International agreed to buy the operations from MGM, making it the first Strip resort run by a Native American tribal enterprise. The 2024 closure marked the end of an era for many longtime fans, but it also cleared the way for an all new design that mirrors the guitar shaped tower Hard Rock already operates in Hollywood, Florida.

For Las Vegas as a destination, the guitar tower is as much a skyline statement as a capacity play. The Strip has steadily moved toward more differentiated architecture and branded experiences, and the Hard Rock's glowing blue guitar fits that pattern. It will likely become one of the most photographed structures in the city once complete, which in turn feeds the constant social media loop that keeps Las Vegas top of mind for leisure travelers.

Travelers planning visits in the second half of this decade should treat Hard Rock Las Vegas as a future option rather than a near term solution. In the short run, the construction site is simply something to navigate around when walking the Strip or booking rooms nearby. In the long run, the added rooms, meeting space, and casino capacity will reinforce the north and center Strip as the core of high density resort activity, with yet another recognizable landmark anchoring that stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard.

Final thoughts

The guitar shaped tower now rising over the former Mirage frontage confirms that Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and Guitar Hotel Las Vegas is firmly on its way from concept art to concrete. With a late 2027 opening still the public target, travelers and travel advisors should plan around a multi year gap in availability at this site, but also keep an eye on how the new resort will reshape room supply, meetings capacity, and loyalty choices once it joins the Las Vegas Strip skyline. As more construction milestones and interior details are released, the Hard Rock Las Vegas guitar tower will move from distant promise to a central part of future trip planning.