| Bellagio | |
|---|---|
| Bellagio | |
| Address | 3600 Las Vegas Boulevard South Las Vegas, Nevada 89109 |
| Opening date | October 15, 1998 |
| Theme | Bellagio, Italy |
| No. of rooms | 3,933 |
| Total gaming space | 116,000 sq ft (10,800 m2) |
| Permanent shows | "O" |
| Signature attractions | Bellagio Gallery Of Fine Art Conservatory The Fountains of Bellagio The Bank Nightclub |
| Notable restaurants | Le Cirque Circo Picasso Michael Mina Jasmine Jean-Georges' Prime Olives Sensi |
| Casino type | Land |
| Owner | Bellagio LLC (subsidiary of MGM Resorts International) |
| Architect | DeRuyter Butler and Atlandia Design |
| Years renovated | Bellagio Spa Tower, 2004, 2006, 2011 |
| Coordinates | |
| Website | bellagio.com |
Bellagio is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in the Paradise area of unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, USA and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. It is owned by MGM Resorts International and was built on the site of the demolished Dunes hotel and casino.
Inspired by the Lake Como resort of Bellagio in Italy, Bellagio is famed for its elegance. One of its most notable features is an 8-acre (3.2 ha) lake between the building and the Strip, which houses the Fountains of Bellagio, a large dancing water fountain synchronized to music.
Inside Bellagio, Dale Chihuly's Fiori di Como, composed of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, covers 2,000 sq ft (190 m2) of the lobby ceiling. Bellagio is home to Cirque du Soleil's aquatic production "O".
The main (original) tower of the Bellagio, with 3,015 rooms, has 36 floors and a height of 508 ft (151 m). The Spa Tower, which stands to the south of the main tower, has 33 floors, a height of 392 ft (119 m), and contains 935 rooms.
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Bellagio was conceived by Steve Wynn and built by his company, Mirage Resorts, Inc. following the purchase and demolition of the legendary Dunes hotel and casino in 1993. Bellagio was designed by DeRuyter Butler and Atlandia Design.[1][2] Bellagio had an original construction cost of US$1.6 billion.[3]
The Bellagio opened October 15, 1998, just before 11 p.m. in a ceremony that was reported to cost US$88 million. The VIPs invited to the grand opening were expected to donate to The Foundation Fighting Blindness US$1,000 a person or US$3,500 a couple, which entitled them to an overnight stay at Bellagio's suite rooms.
Opening night's entertainment began with Steve Wynn giving a 40-minute welcome speech followed by the opening of the Cirque du Soleil production "O." Performing in Bellagio lounges that night were New York cabaret and recording artist Michael Feinstein, George Bugatti and John Pizarrelli. When it opened, it was the most expensive hotel ever built.
In 2000 it became an MGM Mirage property when Mirage Resorts merged with MGM Grand Inc. to create MGM Mirage. In 2010 the company was renamed MGM Resorts International in a move to go worldwide with its brands.
The Bellagio employs approximately 10,000 people. In the fall of 2006, the casino floor was remodeled and new uniforms were issued, changing the original color scheme to a more elegant type.
On December 15, 2010, a helmet-wearing gunman robbed the casino of $1.5 million in chips.[4] In August, 2011 he was convicted to a prison term of 9–27 years.[5]
The Bellagio has won the prestigious AAA Five Diamond Award (the highest level of the AAA Diamond Ratings System for restaurants and lodgings) 11 times.
The Bellagio's main tower is currently undergoing a $70 million upgrade. By December 2011, all of the main tower's 2,500 rooms will be remodeled.
On July 15, 2009. The Hotel and part of the casino lost power due to electrical work. The hotel remained that way for two days. All guests were taken to a different location as it was too hot to be in the hotel.
Many professional poker players prefer to play at the Bellagio poker room, calling it their home base (or more commonly "The Office") due to the high table limits, including the high stakes Big Game located in "Bobby's Room", named after Bobby Baldwin.
Bellagio has also partnered with the World Poker Tour to host several of their tournaments.
The Fountains of Bellagio is a vast, choreographed water feature with performances set to light and music. (See musical fountain.) The performances take place in front of the Bellagio hotel and are visible from numerous vantage points on the Strip, both from the street and neighboring structures. The show takes place every 30 minutes in the afternoons and early evenings, and every 15 minutes from 8 p.m. to midnight. Before a water show starts, the nozzles break the water surface and the lights illuminating the hotel tower turn to a purple hue (usually), or red-white-and-blue for certain music. Shows may be cancelled without warning because of wind, although shows usually run with less power in face of wind. A single show may be skipped to avoid interference with a planned event. The fountain display is choreographed to various pieces of music, including songs by Andrea Bocelli, Frank Sinatra, and Gene Kelly.[6]
The fountains are set in a 9-acre (3.6 ha) manmade lake. Contrary to urban myth, the lake is not filled with treated greywater from the hotel. The lake is actually serviced by a freshwater well that was drilled decades prior to irrigate a golf course that previously existed on the site. The fountains actually use less water than irrigating the golf course did.[7] They incorporate a network of pipes with more than 1,200 nozzles that make it possible to stage fountain displays coordinated with more than 4,500 lights. It is estimated that the fountains cost $40 million to build. The fountains were created by WET, a design firm specializing in inventive fountains and architectural water features.[8]
Four types of nozzles are used for the various effects:
Songs featured:
The hotel also contains a Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. In total, there are five seasonal themes that the Conservatory undergoes: Chinese New Year, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.[9] From January to mid-March, the Conservatory celebrates the Chinese New Year with a display dominated by flowers bromeliads and Orchids, as well as the animal of that particular year that the Chinese zodiac celebrates. The theme then changes over to the Spring display, which lasts until May, and usually features a butterfly house as well as many varieties of tropical flowers. During Memorial Day weekend, the Bellagio then switches over to its All-American Summer display, featuring a large recreation of the Liberty Bell, as well as several American flags throughout the Conservatory. The Summer display is usually very patriotic featuring a lot of red, white, and blue, and is dominated by hydrangeas. From late September until Thanksgiving weekend, the Conservatory then puts on it Fall display featuring several varieties of chrysanthemum and several large pumpkins throughout the display. Finally, the Conservatory then switches over to its winter holiday display after Thanksgiving, which is dominated by its large centerpiece Christmas Tree and several varieties of poinsettia. Whatever the season, colorful displays are decorated with many real fragrant flowers, and fountains may also be present. The Conservatory is located next to the lobby of the hotel and is open to the public.
In addition to the numerous works of art found throughout the public areas of the resort, the Bellagio also houses a special exhibition space displaying art work on loan from various museums and private collections from around the world. Originally the space that displayed the personal art collection of Steve Wynn, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art has since become a rotating exhibition space after he sold his hotels in 2000. In the past, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art was located atop the grand staircase in the Conservatory that Julia Roberts descended in the movie Ocean's Eleven, but was then moved to its larger current location along the pool promenade eight months after Bellagio opened to better accommodate larger crowds.[10]
Currently, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is hosting a landscape exhibit titled, A Sense of Place: Landscapes from Monet to Hockney.[11] It features over 30 different landscape works ranging from the mid-1800s to present day, culled from the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and the private collection of MGM Resorts International. The current exhibit will be on display until January 2012 and features works by Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Alex Katz, Helen Frankenthaler, Roy Lichtenstein, and Vik Muniz, among several other artists.
Past exhibits at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art include:
The Bellagio was awarded its 12th AAA Five Diamond award in 2011 for the year 2012, making it the first hotel on the Las Vegas Strip and one of a select few in the world to reach this milestone. It is the only hotel in the world to house two Five Diamond award winning restaurants under the same roof. Because of its distinctions, it has a reputation as one of the finest hotels worldwide and is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World.[12]
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