LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Our FOX5 drone has been watching the Hard Rock Las Vegas guitar-shaped hotel tower rise since work began in the summer of 2024. The latest aerial video shows it nearly built, with just one corner still needing its blue glass panels.
We’ve flown over the site again and again, capturing the tower’s transformation from an empty lot into a 660-foot guitar-shaped skyline landmark.
Watch it rise: from Mirage to empty lot
Drone video from July 17, 2024, captured the Mirage on the day it closed to make way for the Hard Rock Las Vegas Hotel Casino.
A month later, on August 14, 2024, drone footage showed the property still largely intact. By November 19, 2024, aerial video showed the site further cleared.
Drone video from April 30, 2025, showed enough space cleared to begin laying the tower’s foundation.
Watch it rise: the tower takes shape
Drone shots from July 12, 2025, showed the tower climbing higher. By October 8, 2025, aerial footage showed the structure on its way toward its full 660-foot height, 42 stories holding about 3,700 hotel rooms and suites.
Footage from December 15, 2025, showed the guitar’s neck under construction. Once finished, it will feature six beams of light shooting 20,000 feet into the sky to resemble guitar strings.
Drone video from January 20, 2026, showed the tower continuing to take shape.
Watch it rise: the guitar comes into view
By February 25, 2026, drone footage showed progress on the area that will house a 174,000-square-foot casino.
Aerial video from April 12, 2026, and June 12, 2026, showed the spaces for the property’s two performance venues — the 5,000-seat Hard Rock Live and the 2,000-seat, five-story West Theater.
The tower will be a twin to the one at the Seminole Hard Rock outside Orlando, Florida.
Watch it rise: nearly finished today
Today’s drone flight, captured August 20, 2026, shows the guitar-shaped tower nearly complete, with just one corner still bare of its signature blue glass.
The full casino complex is expected to open in late 2027, at a cost of about $5 billion.
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