The Bellagio is more than just its famous fountains – much more. Whether you’re staying in one of the 4,000 rooms or just visiting the hotel to see its grand opulence, here are ten things you have to see.

1). Thousands of glass flowers

First things first, make sure you look up when you arrive around 2,000 hand blown glass flowers decorate the ceiling in the lobby if youre a fan of glass flowers or not, this is definitely worth a look as its typical of the amazing attention to detail throughout this hotel.

2). Superb swimming pools

Relax the day away with a few hours by one of the 5 gorgeous swimming pools. Private cabanas are available on request for groups of up to 8 people and a poolside massage will convince you you’ve landed in Vegas Heaven. If you’re a fan of cocktails make sure you try the signature Bellagio Mojito from the Pool Bar, infused with fresh blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and mint.

3). The famous fountain (no, not that one!)

If you like your chocolate and pastries, no visit to the Bellagio is complete without a visit to Jean Phillippe’s patisserie. Even if you can resist trying some of his amazing chocolate or cakes, you’ll be drooling over his chocolate fountain which stretches from the floor to the ceiling and has been verified by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in the world.

4). Afternoon tea – how very civilised!

Enjoy the finer things in life with a traditional English afternoon tea in the Petrossian Bar and Lounge. Available every afternoon between 2-5pm, afternoon tea includes open sandwiches, freshly baked scones (served with clotted cream and jam, obviously), delicate pastries and an assortment of teas. Relax and enjoy your pot of Earl Grey while watching the world go by in the casino below.

Bellagio really doesn’t do Vegas like the rest of Vegas does, which is perfect if you don’t either!

5). The Bellagio Botanical Gardens – a real hidden gem

Continuing the theme of doing things differently, take a wander through the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and immerse yourself an amazing display of the best Mother Nature has to offer (combined with some Vegas showmanship, obviously!)

Flowers are replaced fortnightly to ensure they look at their absolute best and the whole area is re-landscaped five times a year. A vast array of flowers, plants, water features, bridges and gazebos make this a welcome haven of peaceful beauty in contrast to the madness of the strip outside.

6). Cirque de Soleil

See the world-reknowned Cirque du Soleil performing “O”. In residence at the Bellagio since 1998, this is a spectacular show that is set in and above water and includes high diving, contortionists, trapeze and synchronised swimming.

There are two shows nightly and it’s not cheap, but if you’re a fan of Cirque du Soleil itis well worth a visit.

7). Glorious Food in Glorious Las Vegas

Whatever your tastes you’ll find a food place to suit you in the Bellagio – from the Italian Circo to the French Le Cirque, there’s a variety of high-end restaurants to choose from, as well as some more relaxed choices, such as the Cafe Bellagio.

8). Shop till you drop

Of course, in a hotel of opulence and luxury, you’d iimagine the shops would be a bit special, and you’d be right! Like most hotels on the Strip, the Bellagio has its own shops called Via Bellagio, but unlike many others, they’re all upmarket designer stores.

So do some top class window shopping (or spend your winnings!), with boutiques including Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Dior, Fendi, Prada, Tiffany & Co and Gucci.

Dahling!

9). Dance with the stars at The Bank nightclub

Luxury pervades the Bellagio, so of course it extends to its nightclub as well. Called The Bank, it opened recently, with Leonardo DiCaprio seeing in the New Year there (which may or may not attract you to the club, depending on your views of the pixie-faced actor!)

The Bank has light gold and glass accents and has three tiers of VIP seating. At the bottom is the dance floor where you can bust your moves to Hip Hop, House and “Top 40″ (is there a top 40 in these days of the download?!)

10). Of course, the fountains!

One of the best free shows in Vegas, the Fountains of Bellagio are a truly stunning visual spectacle. Spanning an 8 acre lake in front of the hotel, the regular shows (every 15 or 30 minutes depending on time of day) combine water, music and light to create a really unique and uplifting experience.

I’d recommend watching the show two or three times as it’s different each time – and it’s definitely worth watching from different vantage points and at different times of the day. Directly in front of the hotel gives you a great view, but it’s also worth watching them from the Bellagio’s lake-side bar patio the Fontana – and from a front-facing hotel room if you’re lucky enough to have one.

And if you want the best setting for taking pics, make sure you stand immediately in front of the hotel looking out towards the Strip – Paris Hotel is directly behind, so you get some superb shots of the fountains with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Absolutely stunning!

The Aladdin was rescued and so continued trading, but since 2007, it’s been turned into Planet Hollywood. It’s still the same building underneath, but it looks completely different from the outside.

So if you go to Vegas now, you’ll see barely a trace of the Arab-themed splendour that was the Aladdin, which was possibly the Strip’s biggest white elephant. To give you a taste of what it was like, I’ve added a few new photos of the Aladdin as it was to the Gallery, courtesy of Susan Jancso, a prolific writer, photographer and lover of Las Vegas. Susan will shortly be publishing a book on Las Vegas, and can be reached at mailto://amhirlap@sbcglobal.net if you want to find out more.

The pictures of The Aladdin can be found under a new section of the gallery called Old Vegas, which I’ll be adding to over the coming weeks.

I also have tonnes of new reviews to add, as I’ve just returned from yet another Vegas visit, so stay tuned!

Looking at the video of the fire, it had the potential of being a catastrophe, as it really seemed to take hold of the roof. This must have been a nightmare for the Monte Carlo’s owners, MGM Mirage, not only in terms of bad publicity, but also because it was their MGM Grand hotel that caught fire back in 1980. That time, the fire killed 80 people and injured over 700 – this time, however, nobody was even injured.

The automatic sprinklers did their job, confining the fire to the outside of the building and preventing it from taking hold. This, combined with the smooth evacuation of the building (which is no mean feat, given it has over 3,000 rooms, most of which were occupied), helped ensure there were no injuries, and MGM Mirage deserve recognition for their fire policies, which clearly work.

The Palazzo, one of the new Las Vegas hotels currently reaching skywards, has confirmed its set to open on December 20th 2007. Some people are surprised by this given its current state of construction (see pic above, taken on 7th July 2007 and courtesy of Mark Adams), but the Las Vegas Sands Corp., owners of the Palazzo, are confident they can make this date.

When it’s complete, the Palazzo, when combined with its sister hotel the Venetian, will be “the largest integrated destination resort in the world” with 7,128 hotel rooms and 2.3 million square feet of meeting space on the Las Vegas Strip.

It should also be a good little earner, given that the Venetian has just posted revenue of $235.5 million for the quarter for the Venetian.

[Source: Forbes, LasVegasTodayAndTomorrow]

So in just a month’s time, gone will be the legendary sign boasting “cold beer, dirty girls”, and in its place will rise the swanky $5 billion 3,500 room Plaza hotel and casino. Quite a contrast! Another legendary Vegas icon will have been imploded and another mega-hotel will rise from its ashes.

It also seems that the Plaza development is being expanded, with a lot more retail space planned for the hotel, and maybe some more condo units.

[Source: Las Vegas Review Journal, SkyscraperPage]

The Wynn is currently one of the more impressive hotels on the strip, and certainly outshines its current neighbours. Clad entirely in bronzed glass, the Wynn eschews the themes of other Vegas mega-resorts further south, and focuses instead on pure upmarket luxury.

One of the great things about The Wynn is the beautiful landscaping and waterfalls (not to mention the huge glass structure itself!). Not only is this beautiful in its own right, it makes taking great pictures of Treasure Island and the Fashion Show extremely easy!

See for yourself, with the new Wynn photo gallery that’s now online.

This is the New Frontier Hotel on the north side of the Vegas Strip. The photo was taken in 2005 on my first visit to Vegas, and was one of the first hotels I saw. I was staying in Circus Circus (as ever), and was walking up the strip, and had no idea what to expect. The Frontier, with Gilley’s bar and its giant sign proudly proclaiming “Cold Beer, Dirty Girls!” was exactly what I was expecting of Vegas – tacky on a gigantic scale!

Which was part of the reason why I was so amazed as I carried on walking up the strip and saw that the real Vegas is nothing like the impression that the Frontier gives.

And that’s exactly why The New Frontier’s days are numbered…

The fading New Frontier

The top photo was taken in 2005, when The Wynn hadn’t quite opened, and the surrounding hotels were The Stardust and Circus Circus. Compared with the mega-casinos further south, this was hardly the most salubrious end of the strip, and so the Frontier fitted in rather well.

Since then, though, The Wynn has been completed, the new Wynn Encore is being built, The Stardust has been demolished to make way for the new $4 billion Echelon Place, and Donald Trump has built a billion-dollar tower full of condos just behind the Frontier. The New Frontier is therefore looking decidedly out of place, and is exactly the type of hotel that its new neighbours no longer wish to be associated with. You don’t want to emerge from your million dollar condo in Trump Towers only to be greeted by mud-wrestling girls in bikinis (well, you might, but I’m sure you’d never admit that!)

In other words, The Frontier’s days are numbered.

Goodbye Frontier, Hello Montreux

And numbered they are, as owner Phil Ruffin (who also owns half of the new Trump Tower Las Vegas) has grand designs to tear down the New Frontier and replace it with a huge Swiss-themed hotel and casino called The Montreux (now there’s a name no-one’s ever going to spell correctly!).

Ruffin, who apparently is the 717th richest person in the world, has owned The Frontier since 1998, when he paid just $165 million for a hotel whose land alone is now estimated be worth more than $1 billion (certainly the building isn’t!)

Ever since he bought it, Ruffin has had plans to demolish it. He originally planned to implode it back in 2000 and build a San Francisco-themed mega-resort in its place, but the events of 9/11 put paid to that.

And so, the Frontier has been limping along, with no new money spent on it, simply because its existence hung in the balance.

History of the Las Vegas Frontier Hotel

The Frontier wasn’t always the hideous place it is now, though. Indeed, it has an illustrious history, being the second resort ever to open on the main Las Vegas strip, and has been operating continuously since 1942, when it was named the Hotel Last Frontier.

Since then, it’s had a number of famous owners, including Howard Hughes and Steve Wynn (he of the famous Wynn hotels, obviously!), and hosted Elvis’s first ever Vegas appearance back in 1956. If it’s old-time Vegas you want, The Frontier is the place to be!

The sad sight of a dying hotel

Or, perhaps not. Go there for the nostalgia, sure, but stay for only a minute or two. The place is dark and depressing, and looks simply moth-eaten. It’s full of cowboys (no, really!), and Gilley’s is pretty much the worst club on the strip.

It looks out of place, too, with all the new multi-billion dollar mega-casinos and hotels surrounding it (above), not to mention the gigantic and futuristic-looking Fashion Show shopping mall next to it. The only thing that brings a smile to the face is the famous Frontier road sign, which, when I went to Vegas back in 2005, was showing proudly “Anne Magaret live!” which I think was more confirmation of her physical status than an advertisement for her show!

Oh, and the fact that of all the different types of gambling that can be done in Vegas, the Frontier specializes in Bingo of all things!

In a matter of two short years the Frontier has been surrounded in a pincer movement by billion-dollar giants, and is set to be imploded some time in 2007/early 2008. If it’s old Vegas you want, get it while you still can!

The New Las Vegas Montreux

Don’t cry for The Frontier too much, though. It’s not a pleasant place, and what’s replacing it should help make the north side of the strip as popular as the south side. The Montreux will be a giant $2.6 billion resort containing 2,750 rooms, and featuring a Swiss theme and jazz throughout. It’ll even come with a huge 450 foot tall observation wheel, currently called the Las Vegas Eye as it’s based on the London Eye, and giving fantastic views across the strip.

The Montreux will tie in with the new Trump Towers that are being built (one is expected to be completed New Year’s Eve 2007, the other will be going up shortly after that), and will also link directly to the Fashion Show shopping mall directly opposite. It really is the perfect location, as visitors will have the Las Vegas Eye, four new mega-resorts to check out in the immediate area (The Wynn, Wynn Encore, Palazzo and Echelon Place), Trump Towers to stay in if they want luxury, and wall to wall shopping.

Indeed, shopping will be something of an attraction in its right at the new resort. Some 9% of it is currently planned to be retail space, with only 2% reserved for casinos. In addition, the retail area will open right onto the strip, encouraging people to walk in, and with the casinos located strategically,maybe do a bit of gambling as well. This is in stark contrast to the old Aladdin (now Planet Hollywood), whose Miracle Mile shops are completely separate from its casino.

Other plans for the Montreux include a transformable ballroom that can be used for fashion shows, poker tournaments or even boxing matches.

The implosion of The New Frontier and the construction of The Montreux will be the final piece of the jigsaw of the south side of the Strip. As new billion-dollar projects have circled The Frontier, it was inevitable that its days were numbered.

And with The Stardust gone, all eyes now turn to the last of the old-school Vegas hotels – Circus Circus and The Sahara, the two old hotels that stand between the remains of The Stardust and The Stratosphere, the last of the new(er) hotels on the north of the strip. Surely it’s only a matter of time before these ancient relics fall prey to the rise of the new Las Vegas mega-resorts?

[Sources: Wikipedia, Forbes, Wired]

Using what appears to be intricate choreography, an uncanny attention to detail, and way, way too much time, this video shows just what you can do with the humble Coke and mint combo. If all you can say about the Bellagio’s fountains is “they’re great”, and more words are failing you, then set this little lot up and share the experience with your friends and family!

[Source: TechEBlog, via NewLaunches]