Bellagio and other Las Vegas, NV Things to Do Tips

Built in 1998, at an estimated building cost of $1.6 billion, Bellagio was the most expensive hotel in the world. Steve Wynn’s goal was to create the most luxurious hotel in Las Vegas and maybe the world. We saw this hotel for the first time early in 1999, and if there was a more impressive hotel I’ve never seen it.

It is a stunning building, with over 3,000 rooms, towering above a faux Italian Village, and an eight-acre lake. This lake contains more than 1,000 fountains that erupt in a choreographed water ballet to the tunes of classical and whimsical music while white and colored lights dance on it.

The lobby area is magnificent with a giant, multi-colored glass mural overhead hat is made up of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, each valued at about $20,000.
Past the lobby you’ll find the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens is filled with flowers that are changed seasonally. It’s a magnificent garden setting filling the room with fragrance and color, and making for a great photo opportunity. It even houses a 100-year-old fountain.

At the end of the Gardens you come to the Gallery of Fine Art which brings in exhibitions of world class artists. My only problem was not with the quality or the quantity of the art, but rather with the entrance fee. Currently the fee is $15 which seems very steep to me, but it always seems to have a waiting line for entrance.

Even the casino is richly appointed with thick, colorful canopies above all the gaming areas and special wooden casings on all the slot machines. I’m too cheap to have ever been a guest, but if you sneak into the pool area you will be amazed. The Italianesque pool area is reminiscent of luxurious European getaways and one of the most luxurious pool areas in town. It is surrounded with lush foliage in a classical setting. The lounge chairs even have little flags on the back that you can put up to draw the attention of the cocktail servers running around. Private cabanas are available that have everything from TVs to your own attendant

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Phone: (888) 987-3456
Address: 3600 S. Las Vegas Blvd
Directions: Center Strip, across from Barbary Coast/Flamingo
Website: http://www.Bellagio.com

When it opened in 1990 at the corner of The Strip and Tropicana there was no New York-New York, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, or MGM Grand. With more than 4,000 rooms divided into four towers, the Excalibur became one of the largest hotels in the world and set a new direction for Vegas hotels. It spawned a number of theme resorts with the direction to make Vegas Children Friendly and provide a place to bring your entire family.

Ignore the fancier neighbors and from the outside Excalibur is pretty cool - giant colorful turrets, a moat, and even a non-functioning drawbridge. Looks like something you’d find a bit west in Disneyland. The overall atmosphere is meant to transport guests back to the days of King Arthur and gets a lot of help from the remodeled Round Table Buffet and the Tournament of Kings, a spectacular production show featuring jousting knights and a feast. With all the pomp and grandeur of medieval England the Excalibur hotel really knows how to put on a tournament and feast. This million dollar production features wizards, jousts, invading armies, dancing girls, tumbling acrobats, and more. The supper, served up in traditional style, starts with Dragon’s blood soup, then moves to the next course of Cornish game hens, before finishing up with an apple dessert. Seated in the King of Austria’s support section, we cheered our knight to victory!

On the second floor you can find the Medieval Village. This is where Excalibur's restaurants and shops are peppered along winding streets and alleyways, a sort of permanent Renaissance Faire. On the Village's "Jester's Stage," jugglers, puppeteers, and magicians amuse guests with free 20-minute performances throughout the day.

In the past few years, Vegas turned away from the “family” feel and went back to its roots …catering to adults. The fire-breathing dragon out front of the Excalibur is gone and there's a male strip show in one of the theaters so it's not quite the family Camelot it was when it first opened

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Phone: (702) 597-7600
Address: 3850 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Directions: Between Luxor & New York, New York.
Website: http://www.excalibur-casino.com

When The Stratosphere opened in 1996 it seemed like a good idea. They built a 1,149 foot Tower (the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States and the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.) and surrounded it by a hotel and casino. But despite being on the Strip, it's a healthy walk from most of the other popular hotels. The nearest casino is the Sahara, which are 5 very long blocks away. This, the hefty price charged for the privilege of going up to the top of the tower kept the crowds away, and heavy competition caused the hotel to sink into bankruptcy.

A new owner bought the hotel several years ago and immediately started pumping money into. First on their list was the completion of the half-built room tower that had been held up. Then the casino was remodeled with new carpeting, wall treatments, and a revised layout helped the traffic flow and the general feeling of the place. Now it has a midway area with kiddie-oriented rides, a pool with a view, and some of the friendliest, most accommodating staff in town.

And then of course there's the Tower. The outdoor observation deck hovers at the 869-foot level, while the indoor deck, at 857-feet-high, has one of the most amazing views in Vegas. The indoor deck is also the loading area for the thrill rides, Big Shot, X-Scream and High Roller. Reaching a maximum height of 1,049 feet, Big Shot launches passengers 160 feet in 2.5 seconds at 45 mph. X-Scream functions like a giant see-saw that propels riders 30 feet over the tower's edge and leaves them dangling over the Las Vegas Strip. The High Roller (the world's highest roller coaster) speeds around the edge of the tower 909 feet above ground -- truly exhilarating.

Now for viewing pleasure it doesn’t compare with many of the other hotels, but it does offer some of the best rates, and it’s kid friendly.

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Phone: (800) 998-6937
Address: 2000 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Website: http://www.stratospherehotel.com/

I’m a history and Archeology buff, but I am too chicken to take my American face to Egypt. So the idea of a 36-story black pyramid in the middle of the desert decorated in an Egyptian theme was just too cool to me.

The hotel was opened in 1992 but had a major remodel in 2000 and that’s the time we stayed there for the first time. We were not disappointed. When you approach the pyramid you have the recreation of the Sphinx guarding the pyramid, just like the one is Giza. The pyramid is made with 13 acres of black glass and topped with a beam that burns brighter than any other in the world. It's composed of 45 xenon lights, and it projects enough light to be visible from space.

Walking through the entryway you are flanked by two huge statues of Rhamses. Just to the right of the front doors is the beautiful lobby done in rich marble and cherry wood with a vaguely art-deco theme.

As you walk around you find yourself in the Casino where you will find gambling surrounded by statues, obelisks, cartouches, and other ancient Egyptian recreations. In place you will be able to see all the way up the inside of the pyramid Stumble around enough and you will even find the museum. The treasures there were reproduced by artisans using the same gold leaf and linens, precious pigments, tools and original 3,300-year-old methods, and each is meticulously positioned according to the records maintained by the Carter expedition.

Located one level above the Casino is The Pharaoh's Pavilion; it is the gateway to The World's Largest Atrium with 29 million cubic feet of open space soaring to the building's apex. Looking up leaves you in amazed when as you realize this is all within the pyramid. This floor also contains the bazaar where you can buy your souvenirs.

Even if you don’t stay at one of the 2,000 room inside the pyramid, be sure to take a ride on the 39-degree high-speed inclinator, that’s what an elevator is when it works inside a pyramid and goes on an angle. They are part conveyance, part thrill ride and are great fun.

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Phone: (800) 288-1000
Address: 3900 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Directions: South end of the strip between Excalibur and Mandalay Bay
Website: http://www.luxor.com

When Caesars opened in the 1966 it was place to be in Las Vegas. It was built to reflect Roman decadence complete with Roman temples, heroic arches, golden charioteers and 50-foot Italian cypresses at the entrance. It was so much more opulent than anything the Las Vegas had ever seen, it had taken the Casino and Hotel theme to an all new level.

Caesars ruled for the next 20 years but was then was deposed by its more opulent neighbors. But unlike Rome, Caesars Palace evolved to stay competitive and, in 1997, spent $300 million to renovate its facilities. Never fear, the Roman statues still remain, as do the toga-clad cocktail waitresses. But the renovation didn’t end there and Caesars has continued to remodel and add-ons to keep up with it competition.

Also remodeled in '97 at the cost of $100 million was the Garden of the Gods pool area. Lush gardens surround the three pools, totaling 22,000 square feet, one of which has a covered colonnade in the center for cooling off. These pool were Inspired by the healing Baths of Caracalla in Rome, each of the pools is adorned with griffins or sea horses and inlaid with classic granite-and-marble mosaics

More recently was the creation of the $95-million Coliseum which features Celine Dion singing and more. Her show started in March of 2003 and goes five nights a week, 40 weeks a year until 2006. There are also nightclubs, the adjacent Roman Themed "shopping experience" The Forum Shops, and about a ton of restaurants. The Forum Shops are in the grandest mall you can imagine. With fountains and a ceiling painted as the sky, it’s like walking in one of Italy’s finest shopping areas.

But also be warned, this place has a sprawl to it that is unlike any other resort in town so it is easy to get turned around. Especially since they keep remodeling and moving things all the time. The haphazard layout has become ever more confusing and hard to negotiate with the Forums expansion, and it takes forever to get anywhere especially out to the Strip.

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Phone: 1-(800) 634-6661
Address: 3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Directions: Center Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage

There is one thought when describing the MGM Grand… Enormous. In terms of rooms, over 5,000, it is the biggest hotel in the world. Its casino is also the biggest in Las Vegas at 171,500 square feet. It is made up of four emerald-green towers, three of them 30 stories high, set on 112 acres and housing more than 5,000 guest rooms, including 700-plus Hollywood-inspired suites. Each tower offers different flavors of room from a motel 6 type to the Bungalow suites in the Grand Tower that have plush fabrics, polished wood, and black-and-white Italian-marble bathrooms. These Suites range from around 675-square-feet all the way up to the Penthouse Suites, which are probably bigger than most California houses.

The MGM Grand was originally designed as a family destination with a "Wizard of Oz" theme from its emerald green exterior to the animatronics’ of Dorothy in the front rotunda. While everything is still green, most of the family-friendly stuff is gone, replaced by the same kind of upscale image that all the other hotels in this town seem to be going after (there are striptease shows and a lounge called Tabú). What draws me here is that you are still able to take a stroll through the magnificently landscaped three-story Lion Habitat, a glass tunnel meandering through a pride of lions and cubs. The swimming pool area is like everything else here ENORMOUS. The 6.6 acres of landscaped grounds feature five pools, including the longest lazy river in town.

The hotel contains 20 different restaurants, among them the Wolfgang Puck Cafe and Emeril Lagasse's New Orleans Fish House, and the Rainforest Café. It also has several bars and nightclubs including Studio 54 and the ultra trendy Tabu; three performance venues including the 15,000 seat MGM Grand Garden; a topless review called La Femme; a comedy club; an enormous arcade featuring video and arcade style games; a health club; and Cirque du Soleil; It is the last stop on the Vegas Monorail station which can get you to the other end of the Strip in about 15 minutes.

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Phone: 702-891-1111
Address: 3799 S. Las Vegas Boulevard
Website: http://www.mgmgrand.com/

Probably about the best thing about the Vegas Hotels is that they have something for everybody. No matter what your likes or dislike as you can find a hotel to suit you. For myself I love most of the different styles of hotels and appreciate them for what they are. I find NY-NY great. It is something to look at both visually and artistically but that wasn’t enough so they threw in a roller coaster that winds in and around the buildings.

NY-NY opened in 1997 as a recreation of the New York City skyline with 1/3 scale replicas, some as high as 45 stories. The most famous of these replicas are the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the New York Public Library, and Ellis Island to name a few. There's also a Statue of Liberty complete with fake rust stains; the Brooklyn Bridge and miniature scale fireboat that sprays water.

Inside are a few streets that’s represents Greenwich Village, complete with graffiti covered mailboxes and steam coming out of the manhole covers in the cobblestones. Here you’ll find a variety of eateries (including ESPN Sports Zone restaurant), small shops, two theaters, and a sexy Cirque du Soleil production.

The main casino is done up to look like Central Park with trees, gazebos, foot bridges, and babbling brooks. You’ll see change carts painted to look like miniature yellow cabs; and a recreation of Times Square complete with a ball that drops every night at midnight. The only thing you might miss from a real Central Park visit is a mugging.

The second floor houses the Coney Island-themed arcade. The line for the roller coaster starts here. There are many restaurants, all housed in buildings that fit the theme of whatever New York neighborhood is represented in that particular part of the hotel.

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Phone: (800) 693-6763
Address: 3790 Las Vegas Blvd
Website: http://www.nynyhotelcasino.com

Treasure Island debuted in 1993 and for roughly the next decade it brought memories of Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean. I thought it was pretty entertaining to see the pirate theme on everything from the eye-patched pirate on the giant marquee to the chests of gold in the casino walls to the sailing ships artwork in the rooms. It may have been silly and childish with it was a lot of fun, kind of like Halloween for adults.

Now most of the pirate theme has been removed by a remodel designed to make the hotel appeal to young adults. Even the name has changed, from Treasure Island to “The T.I.”.

The result is certainly more “grown-up” in a way but their attempts to make the place sexy and alluring has taken away its uniqueness and replaced it with just another hotel. To be honest what remains, after they stripped the pirate gilt, is such a nice place to stay that if all you are looking for is a hotel, this may be the place for you.

Out in front of the hotel is pirate village alongside a small lagoon that used to be called Buccaneer Bay. It was home to one of the best free entertainment spectacles in Vegas, a live action stunt show featuring two full-size sailing ships and a battle between the British Navy and some scurvy pirates.
Now the area is called “Siren Cove,” home to an all new “Sirens of TI. It’s a pretty bad show with bad dialogue; choreography and sound, replacing the action of the old show with sexy women dressed as pirates. The show is four times a night, sexy sirens lure pirates into the cove and taunt them until the pyrotechnics take over. Now how can that be bad? Don’t know but they managed.

Inside of the casino most of the chests of gold, skulls, daggers, cannons, and assorted pirate paraphernalia are gone as well, replaced by bland sameness which is becoming more popular in some of the hotels. It may look ok to the gamblers but it isn’t the kind of thing you want to take pictures of and talk about when you get home to jealous neighbors.

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Phone: (702) 894-7111
Address: 3300 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Directions: It is found on the west side of Las Vegas Blvd., between the Mirage and Fashion Show Mall.
Website: http://www.treasureisland.com

Since it’s opening 1999, the Venetian has become one of the most elaborate hotel spectacles in town. It Started with the opening of the Venetian Hotel, followed by the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in 2001; and then the Venetian hotel tower in 2003 for a total cost of over $2 billion. The Venetian falls squarely between an outright adult Disneyland experience and the luxury resort experience that many of the other recently renovated Vegas hotels offer. The exterior of this Venice, Italy themed resort contains faithful reproduction of St. Mark's Square, the Clock Tower, the Bridge of Sighs, and a canal with gondolas. Be sure to catch this area at night when lit up.

There are several entrances, one from the street takes you directly into the casino, another on the second level take you to the Grand Canal Shoppes; and another from the main drive to the lobby. From the lobby you enter into a huge rotunda decorated with murals that were hand-painted by artists from all over the world. Ornate marble columns with carved, gold leaf tops encircle the large gold fountain that front the main desk. Past the rotunda is the Grand Colonnade, a three-story marble hallway that leads to the casino. The Colonnade is several stories high and line with painting and sculptures. The ceilings covered with hand-painted re-creations of Venetian art.

At the end of the Colonnade is the 120,000 square foot casino that continues the same theme. Look around and you will notice that the security guards wear Venetian police uniforms. One level above the casino is the Grand Canal Shoppes mall, a recreation of a Venice street scene complete with a canal and gondolas running down the center. Many celebrity chefs and high-profile restaurants are in residence including Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Thomas Keller, Joachim Splichal, and Gian Paolo Belloni. You can also find two museums, the Guggenheim Hermitage and the Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. There are also several lounges, nightclubs, and bars plus a smaller showroom.

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Address: 3355 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Website: www.venetian.com

When I was a kid, the Aladdin was one of the big name hotels in Vegas, but it fell from the Vegas heavens to the Vegas dirt when it was destroyed in 1998. It was built in 1967 and had the Wedding of Elvis and Priscilla to its credit but found itself being passed by the new line of Casino’s. They kept the original Arabian Night theme when they spent $1 Billion dollars to build a new Mega-Resort.

The problem was that there wasn’t anything about the Aladdin that made it stand out amongst its competitors. It had no lake with a water show, no pyramid, no immediately recognizable landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or New York City skyline. With its 1001 Tales of the Arabian Nights motif, when you walked around you were confused if you were still in the Sahara or maybe even in the Venetian.

The hotel opened in 2000, but within the year fell into bankruptcy, but it wasn’t till June of 2003 that the Aladdin was purchased out of bankruptcy by Planet Hollywood and Starwood Resorts for $635 million. Planet Hollywood intends to rename, remodel, and restyle the casino. They will have a movie and celebrity theme with plans to use celebrities and their extensive memorabilia collection to remodel the top two floors of suites. The top floor's units will be themed after top celebrities, including movie, music and sports stars with each celebrity helping to decorate their suite. The next-to-top floor suites will each be decorated in movie themes. Plans also call for major headline acts to rotate through the Theatre for Performing Arts.

The trademark Planet Hollywood blue globe is planned to anchor a giant new entry someplace on the property's Strip front. Aladdin's Stripfront access is a large problem with pedestrians having to climb stairs or an escalator to enter, fixing this will take up a significant part of the $90 million that Planet Hollywood expects to spend on the remodel. The renovation to Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino is supposed to be completed by mid 2006

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Phone: (877) 333-WISH
Address: 3667 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Directions: Center Strip next to Paris-Las Vegas and across from the Bellagio