Bellagio, Vegas.

Stepping off the plane the sticky heat hit me; I slid on my Ray Bans and headed off to deal with the typical airport malarkey.  Finally, sat in the back of a stretched limo, we were our way to our home for the next five days, The Bellagio, home of the world famous dancing fountains. Having seen those tremendous fountains in films such as The Hangover and Oceans 11, I had high expectations, and these were certainly fulfilled.  When it opened, almost fifteen years ago now, it was the most expensive hotel ever built and you can certainly see why as we pulled up out front.

The lobby,  Fiori di Como, composed of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers was quite simply marvellous,  with its bright décor and such a hub bub of excitement all round.   The remodelling all of the main tower’s 2,500 rooms was completed last December and it’s truly incredible.

There was no reason to ever leave the hotel, but of course we did for plenty of sightseeing, there were shops within of all calibres, night clubs, over 116,000 square feet of gaming space and a huge variety of dining options.  I was more than ready to swan around pretending to be Tess Ocean, and was greatly hoping to bump into the likes of Justin Timberlake, and George Clooney who often stay at The Bellagio.  There’s even a theatre dedicated solely to The Bellagios’ very own Cirque du Soliel, O, and boy was that out of this world.

Venturing out into the heat, it was only a few minutes until we had to cross the road and into the air conditioned Mile Long Mall to spend our hard earned cash, and to try out GameWorks, on the south strip which has the largest selection of arcade games, plus you can buy all-you-can-play gaming cards.  After a long hard day shopping, and dealing with jet lag we thought it best to retire to our AAA Five Diamond award winning Villa, and snack on the delights we found on the wander t.  Snacks, the aptly named snack bar, filled us with delicious sandwiches, snacks, and an assortment of drinks, which were just perfect to tide us over until breakfast the next day which our delightful butler had arranged for us.

There was plenty of exploring that we got stuck right into, Via Bellagio satisfied our designer needs up until lunch, when we ventured into Noodles, where Executive Chef Patrick Lee offers authentic dishes from the likes of Thailand, China, Japan and Vietnam.  After being filled to the brim with the most amazing Dim Sum we headed into the casino to start having some real Vegas style fun. There was a small amount of time before dinning at the divine Prime Steakhouse left to check out the stunning swimming pool with time for a Bellini at the pool bar and to check out the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, which was proudly showing off the Spring display, which lasts until May, and featured a butterfly house as well as many varieties of tropical flowers.

We spent our last few days checking out local hotels along the main strip and none of them quite had the same sensation as staying in The Bellagio.  It has a homely feeling despite being so large, and spacious. We had certainly picked the right hotel out of the selection the travel agent placed in front of us.  Our Villa was simply divine with its own steam shower, 40 inch plasma TV, private salon, barber and massage room, and garden complete with pool; we had everything we needed in the palm of our hand.  Absolute luxury.