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.

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 has a main tower, which consists of 2,586 guest rooms; a Spa tower, with 928 rooms and suites, and nine villas, which are available on invite-only basis.

• Main tower rooms were renovated in 2011, while Spa tower rooms and suites were renovated in 2012
• Rooms start at 510 square feet, and come with one King size or two Queen size beds.
• 27-inch flat-panel TVs in main tower guest rooms, 40-inch flat-screen TVs in Spa tower guest rooms, and 42-inch flat-screens in suites
• iHome docking station
• In-room safe, large enough for a laptop
• Remote controlled drapes
• Cashmere pillow-top Serta mattresses, exclusively made for the Bellagio
• Marble soaking tubs and glass showers
• Suites start at 853 square feet with the standard-level Salone suite
• Suite bathrooms have 18-inch HDTVs, double sinks, and Jacuzzi bathtubs
• In-room Wi-Fi covered in resort fee
• Bellagio-brand toiletries

The botanical garden

• Spa with 56 treatment rooms, a salon, a barbershop, a sauna, and four whirlpools
• The massive fitness center is covered in the resort fee, but fitness classes are avialble for extra charges
• The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art houses works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Frank Stella, for admission cost
• Bellagio Conservatory and Botanic Gardens, open 24 hours a day and free of charge
• A smattering of lobby and casino shops, including its own Cirque du Soleil gift shop and Omega watch boutique
• Two luxury mini-malls: The Via Bellagio boasts high-end luxury boutiques like Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Prada, and Fred Leighton; and Via Fiore includes the swanky garden store Giardini.
• Business center
• Bellagio guests, along with guets of all the other MGM resorts, have access to the private Shadow Creek Golf Course, about a 20-minute drive from the Strp. The greens are only open to resort guests, and have personal limo and caddie service available. Several other partner courses are open to guests, iuncluding Bali Hai Golf Club right on the Strip. Reservations for partner courses are available six months in advance, and varying seasonal and time rates apply.

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.

Along with several 24-hour bars, the Bellagio boasts one lounge (Lily, 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).

There is a huge video-game arcade near the pool area, 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.

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

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).

• Le Cirque, Picasso, and Michael Mina are all Michelin-starred, upscale dinner-only restuarants
• Palio, Snacks, and Cafe Gelato are all informal informal sandwich and pastry shops
• 24-hour Cafe Bellagio
• 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.
• The Pool Cafe is open for breakfast and lunch
• Upscale restaurants Jasime (Chinese) and Prime (steakhouse) are dinner-only
• Circo (Italian), Sensi (fusion cusine for "five-senses"), Yellowstone (Japanese), Olives (Mediterranean), Noodles (pan-Asian), and Fix (America) are all mid-range on-site restaurants
• Jean Philippe Patisserie serves sweets from the World Pastry Champion, as well as salads and sandwiches. The Patisserie is also home to the largest chocolate fountain in the world.
• The Bellagio also has eight bars, including the noted Petrossian