Las Vegas Loses Thousands Of Hotel Rooms With Tropicana, Mirage Closings
In 2024, the closing of two longtime Las Vegas Strip resorts—the Tropicana and Mirage—cost the region more than 4,500 hotel rooms.
The bulk of that room loss was at the Mirage, which had more than 3,000 hotel guest rooms.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that some of that overall room loss was regained with a remodeling project at Circa Resort and Casino in downtown Las Vegas, which added 106 rooms. Also, two nongaming hotels opened in 2024, one in Henderson and another in North Las Vegas, adding a combined 213 rooms. These additions put 2024's total hotel room loss at 4,195, according to the newspaper.
The Review-Journal reported that the region expects to make up more of the total 2024 lost room with new construction in 2025 and beyond.
Major League Ballpark Planned For Tropicana Site
The closing of the Tropicana and Mirage not only shuttered thousands of rooms in the popular tourist destination but also highlighted the overall importance of those two hotel-casinos in Southern Nevada history.
The Tropicana, which first opened in 1957, was demolished in October 2024 to make way for a Major League Baseball stadium planned as the new home of the Athletics, beginning in 2028. Until then, the American League’s former Oakland Athletics are set to play in a minor-league ballpark in Sacramento. The team will be known only as the Athletics, without a city designation, until moving to Las Vegas, officials said. A Bally’s Corp. resort is also planned for the site.
The arrival of the A's will add to the area's evolution as a sports destination, joining major pro-sports teams such as the NFL's Raiders, NHL's Golden Knights, and WNBA's Aces.
Because of the Tropicana, the stadium site will be remembered for shaping the history of Las Vegas Valley.
Once known as “The Tiffany of the Strip,” the Tropicana was one of the last of the former Mob-linked properties with original construction on the resort corridor. A few formerly Mob-connected properties with original construction are still in business on the Strip, including Circus-Circus, Slots-A-Fun, and Caesars Palace.
However, most of the Mob-era resorts on the Strip, such as the Desert Inn, Riviera, Sands, Stardust, Dune, and Hacienda, have been demolished. The Flamingo is at the same location on the east side of the Strip as when gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel first opened it in 1946, though the last original building was torn down in 1993.
In downtown Las Vegas, the Fremont and El Cortez are examples of formerly Mob-linked resorts still in operation with original construction.
Former Mirage Site Slated For Hard Rock Resort
The Mirage closed last summer on the west side of the Strip. When casino developer Steve Wynn first opened it in 1989, it sparked a boom in megaresort construction along the highway. It was the first new hotel-casino on the Strip in over 15 years.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida plans to build a Hard Rock hotel-casino at the former Mirage site. A guitar-shaped hotel is planned for the space once occupied by the Mirage volcano, which fired off flames that, in the early days, were piña colada-scented.
The Hard Rock is slated to open in 2027 with 3,640 rooms.
The Review-Journal reported that before that happens, the region is expected to add even more rooms in 2025 from six projects. This new construction includes the largest of that half-dozen, the 384-room tower at M Resort in Henderson, which is expected to be completed this summer.
Las Vegas Area By The Numbers
- Hotel rooms: 154,662
- Average daily room rate: $191.29
- Occupancy rate: 83.4%
- Visitor volume: 40.8 million
Source: Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, 2023 figures
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