Wynn understands that Bellagio's appeal has to cut across income levels for this resort to thrive. Yes, there are villas with private lap pools and personal butlers as well as magnificent suites with soaring ceilings. And though Bellagio courts high-stakes gamblers, there are as many nickel slots here as anywhere in Vegas. Wynn also knows that any Las Vegas resort has to have a theme. If New York, New York has a faux Coney Island and the Luxor a sphinx, Bellagio offers a vision of Euroclass.
Some high spenders come to indulge and some penny-ante folk to gawk.
Both are welcome. Nowhere are these two sides of the experience more apparent than at Le Cirque. Inside, a trio of well-heeled young men wash down 6 ounces of Russian caviar with a 1970 Chateau Lafite Rothschild. While out front, Colleen Deralto, a schoolteacher from Mesa, Ariz., pumps a lucky nickel into a slot machine lit up with the name Filthy Rich. Deralto hits the jackpot.