"We're staying at the Bellagio...." say those words and people immediately oooh and ahhhh. "That's so nice" and "Wow, lucky you" is the reaction we got from people when I told them our Vegas accommodations. But honestly - once we were there, we were very disappointed in the Bellagio. Our reasons? (1) The staff are snooty. Upon check-in I asked if a fountain view room was available since we were celebrating our anniversary, and he replied "Ma'am, let me get this straight - you are asking for a free upgrade? I cannot do that but I can check to see if one is available FOR SALE for you." He made me embarrassed to ask for a free upgrade, which I found offensive. On our last day, we asked the concierge for a breakfast spot where we could get a simple omlettte and pancakes - "nothing fancy" we said, we were in a rush and really just wanted a quick, easy breakfast. Her reply "Well, many of the Bellagio guests prefer our cafe, but if you don't have high-end tastes then I suppose you COULD go somewhere like Denny's...." - very snobby, and this is what service we receive at $300+ per night? Ridiculous. (2) The casino is in the middle of everything and is unbelievably smoky, so no matter where you are on the first floor, the smell of smoke is unbearable and enough to make you sick. (3) Buffet is simply average. The food at the Bellagio was just average - nothing special. And the dining room is tacky. For a much nicer breakfast buffet, try the Paris across the street. (4) How they handled the "O" cancellation. We had Sat 7:30pm tickets to see "O". They ushered in 1800 people to the theatre, then at 7:50, brought out a clown and an "O" company representative to say the show had technical problems and could not be performed. While technical problems are legitimate, the fact that they knew of the cancellation HOURS before and chose to wait until almost 8pm to tell the audience is unacceptable. I told this to management, and their answer was "It's easier to manage 1800 people when they are sitting in their seats." That's ridiculous - they should have notified people by posting signs around the hotel earlier in the day so we could have made alternate show arrangements. As it stood, we found out too late to get tickets for anything else - and that wasn't fair. Not to mention that we stood in line for 2 HOURS the next day to get our ticket money back! (5) Maintenance cannot read the "Privacy Please" sign on our door! We hung the sign and then THREE TIMES we had maintenance try and come in to give us turndown service. This is simply unacceptable to wake up 3 times in one night because maintenance didn't/couldn't/refused to honor our privacy request (6) Loud loud loud......the doors are not soundproof, so every time drunk and loud people walk down your hallway at all hours of the evening and early morning, you hear every word. We also heard almost everything happening in our neighbor's room which was disruptive to say the least since they were WILD and up ALL night every night.
The one thing I will say for the Bellagio management is that upon check-out they tried to make amends. I told them honestly about our experience and how disappointed I was, and a kind manager named Ahmed came up and did his best to make accommodations for the Bellagio's shortcomings. While I appreciate his efforts, it doesn't change our experience there.
My advice? Try another one of the hotels on the strip that isn't too big for its britches and is still trying hard to please its customers and not resting on its (arrogant) laurels.....
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