Casinos Compete with Hard Rock’s Guitar Hotel for Visual Supremacy on the Las Vegas Strip
Hard Rock’s Guitar Hotel Dominates the Las Vegas Skyline
The Hard Rock’s iconic Guitar Hotel, though only partially completed, has already become a towering presence along the Las Vegas Strip. Its striking structure is rising rapidly and overshadowing the traditionally vibrant neon signs, sparking a competitive scramble among nearby casinos to enhance their own light displays.
Construction Progress and Impact on the Strip
The Guitar Hotel is designed to reach an impressive height of 660 feet, surpassing many existing landmarks with its unique silhouette. Construction commenced following the closure of The Mirage in July 2024, with the full resort scheduled to open its doors in 2027. Currently, the building has achieved 28 stories, with plans to complete all 42 stories on schedule.
As the hotel grows, it increasingly outshines surrounding properties not only in height but also in visual appeal. Lighting plays a critical role in establishing presence on the Strip, and the Guitar Hotel’s bold design is prompting neighboring casinos to respond with eye-catching displays of their own.
Rival Casinos Amp Up Their Visual Displays
In 2022, the same year Hard Rock International announced the Guitar Hotel replacing the Mirage volcano, Caesars Entertainment unveiled plans for a massive LED pylon. This three-sided display, spanning 17,000 square feet and towering 180 feet, was installed as part of the Bally’s transformation into Horseshoe and became the Strip’s second largest digital billboard in 2023.
Not resting on their laurels, Caesars continued this effort with a smaller but still impressive LED pylon at Caesars Palace. Standing 85 feet tall with a 6,000-square-foot LED screen, this display has been under construction since late 2025 and is expected to launch by mid-2026, adding to the visual competition on the Strip.
The Battle for Brightness: Who Will Prevail?
For many years, the balance of large digital billboards on the Strip remained steady, with most resort signs competing on relatively equal terms. But the arrival of the Guitar Hotel promises to disrupt this equilibrium completely.
Drawing a parallel to Hard Rock’s guitar-shaped hotel in Florida, which boasts lighting beams that reach over 20,000 feet into the night sky, the Las Vegas Guitar Hotel is anticipated to make an even greater impact, ensuring it is a luminous spectacle hard to match.
