Bellagio Rating: 5.0 Pearls

The Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada

The lobby

Since it opened in 1998, the Bellagio has been scooping up awards -- Travel + Leisure, for example, voted it one of the 500 best hotels in the world. What do you expect from a 3,933-room Italian "villa" bordering an 8.5-acre lake that magically rises up in the middle of the desert. Its attractions -- the 1,200+ dancing water fountains, the butterflies in the botanical garden, the on-site Chanel and Prada boutiques -- have become a must-see for anyone visiting Vegas.

Along with the Wynn, Encore, Venetian, and Palazzo, the Bellagio is among the priciest and most luxurious hotels along the Vegas Strip. But unlike the nightly parade of twentysomething clubbers in thigh-high dresses at the Wynn or the Venetian, the Bellagio is a bit more conservative, drawing moneyed middle-agers for a dinner at Jean Georges' steakhouse or afternoon tea at the Petrossian.

With thousands of guests staying at the hotel on any given day, the service at the Bellagio is impressively attentive and efficient. Housekeeping comes twice a day, and unlike at the Rio or Bally's, there was little or no wait to check in.

The Bellagio upholds a level of formal service on par with the Four Seasons, rather than the open-the-door-yourself casualness of the Wynn. Upon arrival, a porter had unloaded my bags before I even stepped out of the cab. While turndown service doesn't include slippers by the bed like at the Four Seasons, you do get the classic mint on the nightstand.

Like at the Plaza in New York, the 24-hour room service involves a waiter coming to your door, rolling in your individual white tableclothed table, and then serving you from it in the room. Even after knocking, they'll ask for permission to enter (like a courteous vampire, they need to be formally invited inside). Even better, room-service rates are fairly cheap -- $2.50, plus gratuity at the diner's discretion.

Expect pool service to be pretty standard here -- pool waitresses are usually outnumbered by the throngs of guests, so you'll have to wait a little while for your cocktail.

Concierges (available from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.) typically go above and beyond. When I asked the Bellagio's concierge about getting discount tickets to see Jubilee!, a burlesque show at the Bally's hotel, he contacted Bally's on my behalf to learn more about how I could use a coupon for the show. The hotel does charge a $22.40 per day resort fee. Included in this fee are in-room high speed and wireless Internet, in-room local and toll-free calls, fitness Center access, and airline boarding pass printing.

View on a Larger Map

The Bellagio is in the center of the densely packed three-and-a-half mile long stretch of hotel-casinos known as the Strip. On one side of the hotel is Caesars, and on the other side is the gargantuan CityCenter, which opened in late 2009. Across the street is Bally's and Paris. With such a prime location, most guests just prefer to walk to some of the most famous attractions.

To get to other attractions along the Strip, cabs are easy to find at virtually any time of day or night. A generally less expensive option is the Deuce, a double-decker bus that runs up and down the strip 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and costs $3 to ride. There's also a monorail system, which stops at Bally's, Caesars Palace, Harrah's, the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Hilton, and the Sahara. A single-ride ticket is $5; a one-day pass is $13. If you're traveling along the Strip with at least one other person, a cab is often the least expensive option.

Virtually every hotel on the Las Vegas Strip is a 10- to 15-minute cab ride from McCarran International Airport; the ride typically costs about $15 to $25.

The Bellagio King Room

While the standard 510-square-foot Bellagio room does boast an unbelievably comfortable bed with baby-soft sheets and a stately marble foyer and bath, it doesn't match the base-level rooms at the Palazzo (lavish, Art Deco-inspired quarters starting at 720 square feet) or at the Encore (modern rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows that range from 700 to 745 square feet). Unlike at the Bellagio, suites are the standard at both these hotels, as is a flat-screen bathroom TV. The Bellagio began renovating its rooms in 2011, so perhaps the hotel will soon achieve a more competitive level of luxury.

Until then, the Bellagio's outdated 27-inch flat-panel TV (not flat-screen) offers limited basic cable stations (no MTV or VH1) and the same exact pay-per-view selection as the more budget-priced Paris and Bally's, with expansive adult-entertainment options ($14 to $18) but less-than-impressive TV episodes ($8) and film releases ($12).

Though the paddings on the Serta pillow-top mattress (specially designed for the Bellagio) aren't as thick as the ones at Trump hotel, the super-soft triple-sheeted bed linens did more than make up for it. Four thick poly-fill pillows rest up against the blue padded headboard. Like the Wynn and Encore hotels, the lights and automatic drapes can be controlled from switches on either side of the bed -- making it easy for Vegas party warriors to just collapse into bed.

The fantastic Italian marble bathroom, with black granite countertops and a deep soaking tub, remains a highlight. The hotel-brand toiletries were not the sad watered-down offering you come to expect with hotel-brand supplies -- but rich, creamy moisturizers. Thick, oversized towels are everywhere -- around the shower, the tub, even folded into the sheet drawers. The robe, however, was a bit disappointing -- just a flimsy, thin waffle knit that paled in comparison to Trump's plush spa number.

If the standard room doesn't satisfy, you can upgrade to the larger Tower Deluxe King for a panoramic view of Vegas and an additional Jacuzzi. After that the Bellagio busts out with nine different suites, which move up in increasing luxury and size until you hit the Mother Superior, the 4,075-square-foot Presidential suite with 24-hour butlered service and your own indoor garden to gaze idly upon.

The botanical garden

Vegas spa prices are uniformly high, whether it's a basic Harrah's hotel spa or the Bellagio's luxe 55,000-square-foot one, with 56 treatment rooms and a separate candlelit meditation room. I'd recommend coughing up an additional $30 or so for a treatment at the latter. Male clients enjoy equal attention here, from the separate barber room where straight-razor shaves are performed to a private treatment room for the underserved "shy man."

The 6,000-square-foot fitness center is among the best in Vegas. Part of the $22.40 per day resort fee includes access to the spa's four whirlpools, the eucalyptus steam room, and sauna. For an extra $40, you can take one of the Pilates, cardio, and body-sculpting classes at the bamboo-floored, 1,000-square-foot exercise studio. A more than ample supply of excellent-condition Cybex strength-training and cardio equipment (20 treadmills!) assures that there's little to no wait for machines. Exercise bikes come with their own individual TVs, or guests can watch one of the nine flat-screens seamlessly embedded in the center's mirrored wall.

The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art houses works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Frank Stella, but admission costs $15.

A more money-saving (and popular) attraction is the free Bellagio Conservatory and Botanic Gardens, open 24 hours a day. The hotel employs an astounding 140 horticulturalists to arrange the seasonally changing floral displays, housed in a 13,500-square-foot glass greenhouse just past the lobby.

In addition to a smattering of lobby and casino shops (including its own Cirque du Soleil gift shop), the Bellagio features two luxury mini-malls: The 42,000-square-foot Via Bellagio boasts high-end luxury boutiques like Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Prada, and Fred Leighton. The smaller, five-store Via Fiore includes the swanky garden store Giardini.

Guests can print out their boarding pass at the Bellagio business center -- a service included in the resort fee -- but after that it's a pricey $15 to use the computers for 15 minutes and $8 to fax a single page.

Pool at the Bellagio

The Bellagio's main building wraps around its exclusive guest-only inner sanctum -- a manicured Italian courtyard with 52 cabanas, four whirlpools, and five clear-blue pools. Empty lounge chairs can be difficult to come across, as the pools are packed daily from noon to five. The poolside cafe serves full meals, and poolside drink service is available. But as is typical of many big Vegas hotels, pool waitresses are outnumbered by the throngs of guests. Expect a bit of a wait.

The Bellagio's sizable 100,000-square-feet casino offers all the popular betting games, plus a 150-screen Race & Sports Book and approximately 2,400 slot and video-poker machines. A stop on the World Poker Tour, the 7,000-square-foot poker room here sees some high-stakes action at its 40 tables -- as does the tony high-limit Club Prive, which offers its own exclusive menu of fine Scotches.

Fountain view from Olives Bar

Tourists flock nightly to Bellagio's 8.5-acre lake and its over 1,200 dancing water fountains, musically timed to shoot water as high as 460 feet in the air to the tune of over 25 songs. Every 15 to 30 minutes throughout the day, the Fountains of Bellagio can be seen dancing along to anything from Elton John to the Hallelujah Chorus.

The former Fontana Bar will be turned into the swanky Hyde Lounge Bellagio; the opening is scheduled for New Years Eve 2011. Along with its four 24-hour bars, the Bellagio boasts one lounge (Caramel, easy enough to walk right into), and one nightclub (The Bank, where lines are impossible if you're not on the list).

Cirque du Soleil's award-winning aquatic performance "O" has taken up permanent residence at the Bellagio; Cirque du Soleil enthusiasts can see it five nights a week at the "O" Theater on the casino floor.

The arcade

The Bellagio is home to the Guinness World Record holder for the largest chocolate fountain in the world, at a mighty 26 feet and 3 and 3/16 inches. The Willy Wonka fantasy is the work of French pastry chef Jean Phillipe-Maury, whose shop in the lobby provides purchasable sweets for kids after they stare up at the mesmerizing dripping chocolate for an hour or ten.

Kid-friendly eats can be had at the Pool Cafe, the buffet, Cafe Bellagio, or room service -- but none, alas, have a kid's menu or even child discounts (the closest you get is that kids 4 and under eat free at the Buffet).

A huge video-game arcade near the pool area is open 12 hours a day, with a gelateria next door.

Safety is a priority. Lifeguards supervise the pools at all hours, and guests cannot go up to their rooms without showing their keys to a guard. One mother I spoke with said the area felt a lot safer for her kids than further up near the Mirage, which she regarded as somewhat seedier and grungier.

The family-sized Bellagio Queen comes with two queen size beds and accommodates four. Cribs and rollaways are $35 a night each. Connecting rooms are available and can be requested upon booking, but none of the rooms or suites contain pullout sleeper sofas.

The rooms, pools, and restaurants at the Bellagio were squeaky clean. In the room, I could find no signs of mildew or mold in the bathroom or dust and debris in the bedroom. Dishes were cleared quickly at all the restaurants, and the buffet was very well-maintained -- no food lying about.

A meal at Le Cirque

Of Bellagio's twenty or so restaurants, Todd English's Olives, Cafe Bellagio, and the Buffet at Bellagio typically pull in the most guests. This is because Olives is the most affordable restaurant with a view of the fountains, and Cafe Bellagio and the Buffet are among the few that serve breakfast (and also among the cheapest). While there's no end to the hyper-designed restaurants (Sensi, Fix), or the Michelin-starred (Le Cirque, Picasso, Michael Mina), dining options for the first meal of the day are pretty lacking -- as are cheap restaurants. At fine-dining establishments like Michael Mina, entrees can be around $40-$80 -- if there's not a $100 prix-fixe menu. At the mid-range Olives and Sensi, dinner entrees still run around the $20-$40 mark; at Fix, $30-$60. To spend under $20, the best you can do at Bellagio will be informal sandwich shop Palio. Even entrees at the casual pan-Asian Noodles and 24-hour Cafe Bellagio run in the $15-$25 range.

The buffet at Bellagio is by far one of the best in Vegas, with a carving station that goes past the usual prime rib to include St. Louis barbecue ribs and Chicken Wellington. If you have to do the buffet, buffet here over the overrated Paris' Le Village buffet or even the Carnival World buffet at the Rio. You'll have to pay more for this buffet than others -- $15 breakfast, $20 lunch, $28 dinner -- but it's worth it.

Cafe Bellagio pulls in not just Bellagio guests but tourists who've just finished checking out the botanical gardens right beside. Expect a 10- to 15-minute wait both here and at the buffet. But the hefty portion of Huevos Rancheros with two perfectly done eggs, topped with a lightly charred jalapeno, was worth it.

While Olives' inventive chestnut-and-mascarpone ravioli is probably just as savory at the Bellagio as it is at its other location at the W Union Square hotel in New York City (the actual city, not the Vegas hotel) -- lingering over it on Bellagio's outdoor deck, with a view of the fountains, cannot be beat.