Bellagio Las Vegas

The Bellagio is an Italian-themed luxury mega-resort and casino located where the Dunes Hotel and Casino originally sat on 3600 S Las Vegas Blvd on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The over 3,000 room hotel is owned by MGM Resorts International and opened in 1998.The Bellagio is home of multiple infamous shows and attractions, such as Cirque du Soleil's O, the Bellagio Conservatory, and of course, the Fountains of Bellagio.

## History

### **After the Implosion of the Duane (1993 - 1998)**

After famous businessman Steve Wynn bought the Dunes, he announced that the hotel would be imploded in favor of both the opening of his newest resort at the time, Treasure Island, and a completely new mega-resort called the Beau Rivage in 1993.

The intent of the Beau Rivage was to be a 3,000-room tropical-themed hotel and casino that was to include a massive man-made lake that surrounded the hotel towers. It was going to be the tallest hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. After Steve Wynn went on a vacation to the city of Bellagio in Italy, he was inspired to change the Beau Rivage into a more Italian themed hotel.

Controversy to the Beau Rivage's lake began, as many people noted how it wasted tons of water from the nearby Lake Mead.

As time went on, changes were made to the rendition of the Beau Rivage. It went from a sky blue-colored glass skyscraper surrounded by a huge body of water, to an Italian-themed hotel and casino that included dancing fountains.

Construction of the Beau Rivage officially began on November 7, 1995. Sometime during construction, the name of the Beau Rivage turned into the Bellagio, named after the city in Italy that Steve Wynn himself once vacationed in before building the hotel and casino. It cost over 1.6 billion US dollars to build, and the hotel and casino officially opened on October 15, 1998. The gala opening included the first ever production of Cirque du Soleil's O, and the Fountains of Bellagio.

The Bellagio's Italian architecture, designed by DeRuyter Butler and Peter Smith costed over $1.6 billion to build, which made it one of the most expensive hotels in the world at the time.

### **Ownership under MGM Resorts International (2000 - Today)**

MGM Mirage, now known as MGM Resorts International, officially bought the Bellagio for $4.4 billion on March 4, 2000.

To remember the victims of the tragic September 11 attacks in New York, New York, the Bellagio made a one-minute of silence by completely halting all casino areas, shows, and other activities at not only the Bellagio, but all other MGM Mirage owned properties at the time.

Groundbreaking of a new tower for the Bellagio started on April 28, 2003. At the time, the Bellagio had 3,022 rooms. After the 928-room Spa Tower, located next to the Bellagio's main hotel tower, was completed, the room number went up to 3,950.

On December 5, 2010, an armed gunman wearing a helmet robbed approximately $1.5 million of the hotel's casino chips. The suspect was later taken to prison in August of 2011 for 9 to 27 years.

On March 25, 2017, a heist took place in the Bellagio's jewelry store involving a group of people wearing pig masks robbing the store. A few months later on November 28, a gambler's poker cage was reportedly robbed by an armed man inside the Bellagio's casino. Officers responded to this at about 3:45 PM.

On March 29, 2018 at 11:00 AM, a water leakage caused a six-hour power outage to the buffet, Cirque theatre, and other parts of the hotel and casino. The power outage ended at 5:00 PM.

#### **2017 Fire**

On April 13, 2017 at 10:45 PM, the roof of a section of the northern end of the Bellagio's Fountain caught on fire, likely due to a faulty exterior lighting system. Luckily, no one was hurt or killed.

## Attractions

### **Cirque du Soleil's O**

O is a water-themed stage show owned by Canadian entertainment company, Cirque du Soleil and has been operating since the Bellagio's gala opening. Named after the pronunciation of "eau" ("water" in French), O takes place in the O theatre, which is designed to resemble a 14th-century European opera house.

### **Fountains of Bellagio**

One of the most famous attractions at Las Vegas, the Fountains of Bellagio, of course, includes dancing fountains that are synced in with popular music from today to the Renaissance Era. These fountains go off every 30 minutes.

### **Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens**

Located in the middle of the Bellagio's casino is their conservatory and botanical gardens, which changes it's theme every time the season changes or when a holiday occurs.

## Restaurants

* *Lago by Julian Serrano*
* *Harvest by Roy Ellamar*
* *Spago (Opening Summer 2018)*
* *Fix*
* *Yellowtail Japanese Restaurant*
* *Prime Steakhouse*
* *Le Cirque*
* *Picasso*
* *Michael Mina*
* *The Buffet*
* *Jasmine*
* *Cafe Bellagio*
* *Noodles*
* *Bellagio Patisserie* (Home to the world's largest chocolate fountain)

* Sadelles

## Legacy

The Bellagio was noted for it's extreme amount of detail within it's Italian theme and the massive water show. this made way for a new chain of resorts that maintained a high amount of detail and luxury within it's theme, such as the Venetian, the Palazzo, Paris, etc.

## Thematic Influence

The resort and casino is themed after the Italian city of "Bellagio" in Italy, with notably luxorious and detailed sculptures and architectures modeled after a lakeside European town. Despite that, the inside of the casino is heavily themed and detailed as modern-esque.

## Additional Information

### **Extra Facts**

* People have noted that the Bellagio's logo could actually have Steve Wynn's name secretly hidden as the massive cursive B in the background. The line on the back of the B is a long S, and the two bumps is actually the W turned sideways.

### **Social Media**

* ***Facebook:*** https://www.facebook.com/bellagiolasvegas/
* ***Twitter:*** https://twitter.com/Bellagio
* ***Yelp:*** https://www.yelp.com/biz/bellagio-hotel-las-vegas