Bellagio is a luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in the Paradise area of unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, USA. It is owned by MGM Mirage 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 (32,000 m2) artificial 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".
HistoryBellagio 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 Marnell Corrao Associates and Jon Jerde. Bellagio had an original construction cost of US$1.6 billion.
The Bellagio opened October 15, 1998, just before 11 p.m. in a ceremony that cost a reported 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 at around US$1.6 billion.
In 2000 it became an MGM Mirage property when Mirage Resorts merged with MGM Grand Inc. to create MGM Mirage.
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.
GamblingPoker roomMany 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. Poker professionals refer to the high-limit table as The Big Game[1] which is often played in Bobby's Room, the high stakes room at Bellagio.
Bellagio has also partnered with the World Poker Tour to host several of their tournaments.
AttractionsFountains of BellagioThe 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, a gong sounds to warn people that the show is about to start. Exceptions: a single or string of shows may be withheld when winds prevail; a single show may be skipped to avoid interference with a planned event. The fountain display is choreographed to various pieces of music.
The fountains are set in a 9-acre (36,000 m2) manmade lake. Contrary to a common urban myth that the lake is filled with treated greywater from the hotel, it is actually serviced by a fresh water 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.[3] 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 US$75 million to build.
Three types of nozzles are used for the various effects:
Oarsmen - Jets with a full range of spherical motion
Shooters - Shoot water upwards
Super Shooters - Send a water blast as high as 240 ft (73 m) in the air.
Extreme Shooters - Send a water blast as high as 460 ft (140 m)
The fountains were created by WET a design firm specializing in inventive fountains and architectural water features.[4] Following the success of the fountains, Steve Wynn asked WET to improve and modify the volcano attraction at sister casino The Mirage.
