This was our first trip to Vegas so we didn't know which hotel to choose. We took a gamble with the Mirage, and overall we really liked it. There was a snafu with checking in (Travelocity and Mirage didn't communicate with each other) that we had to resolve twice - that was kind of obnoxious. BUT they gave us a $75 food credit for our trouble, so that was satisfying.

The major PROS: we had a non-smoking room and it did NOT smell like smoke. Excellent! GREAT MEAL at BLT inside the Mirage - delicious burgers. Man, it was good. Starbucks was in the hotel, too - nice. Right across the street are McDonalds, Chipotle, Subway, Outback Steakhouse, Panda Express, etc. This saved us a TON of money (every casino's restaurants are expensive) and was SO convenient. There is also a "Tix 4 Tonight" booth (discount show tickets) across the street in the Casino Royale building. Very convenient. Great location overall -- we hung around the Bellagio, Mirage, Caesar's, and the Venetian mostly so it was perfect for us. We took a long walk down to the MGM Grand one night and it was a l-o-n-g walk home. There's a tram but we didn't want to pay for it. The Volcano was cool - we could see it right outside our window but it didn't wake us when had to go to bed early. Casino was fine; nothing amazing but we enjoyed it. Very easy to get cabs outside.

CONS: The room fiasco, which was eventually made right. Doors are really thin and you can hear everything in the hallway. Pool was closed - 72 degrees is perfect swimming weather for an Ohioan, but not so much in Vegas. :) The Buffet wasn't all that great -- wish we had eaten at BLT again instead of trying the buffet, but oh well.