Bellagio - The heart of Las Vegas (Part I)

Bellagio - The heart of Las Vegas (Part I)

If you had to choose only 1 hotel to visit in Las Vegas, I would recommend the Bellagio. Bellagio is the heart of Las Vegas. From the quality of the hotel itself, to the staff, the restaurants, to the fountains, Bellagio sets the standard for a Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

For the older people that know what the Dunes hotel is, yes that is correct. Bellagio currently sits where the Dunes hotel used to be. Steve Wynn actually played a major role in the design, construction, and the furninshing of Bellagio. The hotel itself was inspired by the Lake Como town of Bellagio in Italy. Demolition and planning started in October of 1993, and was completed in October of 1998 for a special opening for VIP's that costed a whopping $88 Million dollars. Since 2000, MGM now owns and runs Bellagio.

Of course the first thing that you are greeted with is the Fountains of Bellagio. When the Fountains of Bellagio was built, it was the largest fountain in the world, although now the Dubai Bay Fountain and Okada Manila are larger. The Fountains of Bellagio costed between $40 Million to $75 Million dollars to build, and costs about $300,000 to $400,000 a month to operate. You can actually control the fountains yourself for $250,000! At club Hyde, they have a patio right by the fountains. For $250,000, you get a 30 liter bottle of Ace of Spades which is actually equivalent to 40 bottles of champagne, and a gold plated box with a red button so that you can launch the fountain show with the spot light on you at your VIP table. Recently, there was a special Game of Thrones themed fountain show for the kickoff of season 8. This was the first time I saw the fountain show with laser and fire effects.

As soon as you walk in the main entrance you can see a Valentino boutique to your left, and a Hermes to your right. Straight ahead is Dale Chihuly's Fiori di Como, composed of over 2,000 hand blown glass flowers which covers 2000 sq ft of the lobby ceiling. From here, Hotel registration is to the left of you, the main gaming floor to the right of you, and you can walk further forward to see the famous conservatory and botanical gardens.

The conservatory and botanical gardens changes about 5 times a year. The themes are based on Chinese New Year, spring, summer, fall, winter. And of course they change slightly over the years too. As someone who loves fish and aquariums, I particularly loved when they had a Summer display with Tanked (TV Show) and made a walkway of actual Saltwater aquariums. Chinese New Years are themed based on the Chinese zodiac animal for that year. Aside from the main themes, you will also see holiday themes when available. Over the years the conservatory and botanical gardens have become a photo hot spot for tourists (And locals alike). Like the fountains of Bellagio, the conservatory and botanical gardens is free and open to the public.

The gaming. Let's face it. As much as people come to Vegas for the food and the shows, the main reason most people come to Las Vegas is to gamble. The Bellagio does have higher limits and higher minimums than other properties, so there is a little bit more seriousness in the atmosphere. Of course there are lower limit tables in towards the back, where it is a little more loud and filled with people getting drunk at the $10 black jack tables.

A lot of gamblers come to Bellagio for their high stakes poker, and their famous high limit slots area. The Baccarat bar at Bellagio is however second to none when it comes to high limit gaming. Just a quick tip - if you do not know how to play Baccarat, do not go in here. there are lower limite Baccarat tables or Mini-Baccarat tables on the main floor that you can gain some experience on. Of course you are not allowed to touch the cards unless you are playing in high limit, but other than that all the same rules apply.

High Limit Baccarat is the type of game where you can be winning a substantial amount of money for a few hours and then lose it all plus some more within minutes.  Of course that can go both ways.  When I used to gamble years ago, I remember losing all my money during a 3 day trip.  On the last day I only had like $300 left in chips.  I walked in the high limit Baccarat room at Bellagio, started leading the whole table, ending up walking back out with about $12,000.  Now keep in mind I was so hot with my streaks that everybody at the table was just waiting for me to bet so that they can follow.  Funnily enough, I was the smallest better at that table.  The middle eastern person sitting next to me was only playing with $1000 chips, and he was winning so much money because of me, when it was time for me to leave, he kept giving me chips so that I would stay a little longer.  

To be continued on the next post.