Bellagio (resort) facts for kids

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Bellagio
Show map of Downtown Las Vegas Show map of Nevada Show map of the United States
Location	Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Address	3600 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Opening date	15 October 1998; 26 years ago (1998-10-15)
Theme	Bellagio, Italy
No. of rooms	3,950
Total gaming space	116,000 sq ft (10,800 m²)
Permanent shows	O
Signature attractions	Bellagio Gallery Of Fine Art Bellagio Conservatory The Fountains of Bellagio Fiori di Como The Bank Nightclub
Notable restaurants	Le Cirque Circo Harvest by Roy Ellamar Picasso Michael Mina Jasmine Jean-Georges' Prime Lago by Julian Serrano Olives Spago Yellowtail
Casino type	Land-based
Owner	The Blackstone Group
Operating license holder	MGM Resorts International
Architect	Jon Jerde, DeRuyter Butler and Atlandia Design
Renovated in	2004, 2006, 2011
Coordinates	36°06′47″N 115°10′35″W / 36.11306°N 115.17639°W / 36.11306; -115.17639

The Bellagio is a famous resort, fancy hotel, and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by The Blackstone Group and run by MGM Resorts International. The Bellagio was built where the old Dunes hotel and casino used to be.

This amazing place was inspired by the beautiful town of Bellagio in Italy, which is on Lake Como. The Bellagio is known for its elegant style. One of its most famous parts is a huge, 8-acre lake between the building and the Strip. This lake is home to the Fountains of Bellagio, which are large dancing water fountains that move to music.

Inside the Bellagio, you can see Fiori di Como by Dale Chihuly. This art piece is made of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers and covers 2,000 square feet of the lobby ceiling. The Bellagio is also where Cirque du Soleil performs its water show called O. The main Bellagio tower has 3,015 rooms, 36 floors, and is 508 feet (151 meters) tall. The Spa Tower, which opened in 2004, has 33 floors, is 392 feet (119 meters) tall, and has 935 rooms.

MGM Resorts International owned the Bellagio until 2019. Then, they sold it to The Blackstone Group for $4.25 billion. MGM still runs the hotel and casino under a special agreement.

History of the Bellagio
- How the Bellagio Was Built
- Bellagio in Recent Years
Gaming at Bellagio
- The Famous Poker Room
Restaurants at Bellagio
Bellagio's Amazing Attractions
Awards and Recognition
Images for kids
See also

History of the Bellagio

How the Bellagio Was Built

The Bellagio Fountains at night

The idea for the Bellagio came from Steve Wynn. His company, Atlandia Design, was in charge of designing, building, and furnishing the resort. This happened after the old Dunes hotel was bought and taken down on October 27, 1993.

Construction on the Bellagio started in May 1996. It cost about $1.6 billion to design and build. The inside of the Bellagio was designed by Roger Thomas, a famous designer.

The Bellagio opened on October 15, 1998, just before 11 PM. The opening party was very fancy and cost about $88 million. Important guests were asked to donate money to a charity. The opening night included a speech by Steve Wynn and the first show of Cirque du Soleil's O. When it first opened, the Bellagio was the most expensive hotel ever built.

Bellagio in Recent Years

In 2000, the Bellagio became part of MGM Mirage when two big companies joined together. In 2010, the company changed its name to MGM Resorts International.

About 8,000 people work at the Bellagio. In 2006, the casino floor was updated, and new uniforms were given out.

In October 2019, MGM Resorts announced they would sell the Bellagio to The Blackstone Group for $4.25 billion. The sale was finished in November 2019. Even though Blackstone owns most of it, MGM Resorts still runs the Bellagio through a lease agreement.

Gaming at Bellagio

The Famous Poker Room

Many professional poker players love to play at the Bellagio poker room. They even call it "The Office" because it has very high table limits. There's a special high-stakes game called the "Big Game" in a room named "Bobby's Room," after Bobby Baldwin. This room was renamed "Legends Room" in November 2020. Famous poker players like Doyle Brunson and Daniel Negreanu often play here. The money in these games can be very large.

The World Poker Tour has held many of its big tournaments at the Bellagio. Many champions have won their titles here, including Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, and Joe Hachem.

Restaurants at Bellagio

The Bellagio has many restaurants, from casual to very fancy. You can also get food delivered to your room or by the pool. Some of the restaurants include:

Lago by Julian Serrano
Harvest by Roy Ellamar
Spago
Fix
Yellowtail Japanese Restaurant
Prime Steakhouse
Le Cirque
Picasso
Michael Mina
The Buffet
Jasmine
Pool Cafe
Noodles
Bellagio Patisserie - home of the world's tallest chocolate fountain
Sadelle's
The Mayfair

Bellagio's Amazing Attractions

The Fountains of Bellagio

The Fountains of Bellagio are a huge, amazing water show with lights and music. These shows happen in front of the Bellagio hotel and can be seen from many places on the Las Vegas Strip. The show plays every 30 minutes in the afternoons and evenings, and every 15 minutes from 8 PM to midnight. Just before a show starts, the lights on the hotel turn purple, or red, white, and blue for certain songs. Sometimes, shows might be canceled if it's too windy.

The fountain show uses different songs, like "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Whitney Houston, "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli, and "Viva Las Vegas" by Elvis Presley.

The fountains are in an 8-acre man-made lake. This lake is filled with fresh water from a well, not recycled water from the hotel. The fountains actually use less water than the golf course that used to be on this spot. They have over 1,200 nozzles and 4,500 lights to create the amazing shows. It cost about $40 million to build the fountains. They were designed by a company called WET.

There are different types of nozzles that create various water effects:

208 Oarsmen – these jets can move in all directions.
798 Shooters – these shoot water straight up.
192 Super Shooters – these can send water as high as 240 feet (73 meters) in the air.
16 Extreme Shooters – these can send water as high as 460 feet (140 meters) in the air (added in 2005).

When they first opened, these fountains were the largest in the world. Later, bigger fountains were built in Dubai and Manila.

Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

A summer display in the Conservatory

The beautiful Conservatory

The Bellagio also has a beautiful indoor Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The displays here change five times a year to match the seasons: Chinese New Year, spring, summer, fall, and winter.

From January to mid-March, the Conservatory celebrates the Chinese New Year with many flowers like bromeliads and orchids. They also feature the animal of that year from the Chinese zodiac. Then, the spring display takes over until May, often with a butterfly house and tropical flowers. For Memorial Day weekend, the Bellagio switches to an all-American summer display, with a large Liberty Bell and American flags.

The summer display uses a lot of red, white, and blue, and features many hydrangeas. From late September until Thanksgiving weekend, the Conservatory shows its Autumn display with chrysanthemum flowers and large pumpkins. After Thanksgiving, it changes to a winter holiday display, with a huge Christmas Tree and many poinsettia flowers. All year, these colorful displays have fragrant flowers and fountains.

The Conservatory is next to the hotel's lobby and anyone can visit it for free.

Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art

Besides the art you can see all over the resort, the Bellagio also has a special art gallery. This gallery shows art pieces borrowed from museums and private collections around the world. It used to show Steve Wynn's own art collection, but now it has changing exhibits.

The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art used to be near the grand staircase in the Conservatory. (This is the staircase that Julia Roberts walked down in the movie Ocean's Eleven!) But it was moved to a bigger spot near the pool promenade to fit more visitors.

Some past art shows at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art include:

Landscapes from Monet to Hockney
Art about the Human Form
Lichtenstein, Warhol, & Friends
Picasso’s Ceramics
Ansel Adams: America
Impressionist Landscapes: From Corot to Van Gogh
Masterworks From the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Treasures from Chatsworth: A British Noble House
Andy Warhol: The Celebrity Portraits
Faberge: Treasures From the Kremlin
Alexander Calder: The Art of Invention
The Private Collection of Steve Martin
Impressionism: Art in Bloom

Awards and Recognition

The Bellagio has won the AAA Five Diamond Award many times, from 2000 to 2015. It was the first hotel on the Strip to get this award ten or more times in a row. Two of its restaurants, Picasso and Le Cirque, have also received this Five Diamond award. The hotel is also part of "The Leading Hotels of the World."

In addition, the Picasso restaurant has received two Michelin stars, which are very high honors for restaurants. Le Cirque and Michael Mina restaurants have each received one Michelin star. The resort is also recognized by Condé Nast Traveller as one of the "Top Hotels in the World."