This is a hard place to land good deals, although it never hurts to check the hotel's Web site for specials: rates average $250 to $300 much of the year, but during slower weeks you can usually snag a room for around $170 to $180 (competitive in comparison with other high-end Strip properties). If it's pampering you're after, stay in the Spa Tower, which has impressive rooms and suites as well as an expanded full-service spa and salon -- suites have steam showers and soaking tubs. Rooms in the original hotel tower are super snazzy, with luxurious fabrics and Italian marble. Elegant Italian provincial furniture surrounds either a single king-size bed or two queen-size beds. Bellagio has one of the higher staff-to-guest ratios in town, which results in visibly more solicitous service than you might expect at such an enormous property. Because this is an adult-oriented resort, few of its amenities are geared toward kids.

The Casino. The casino proper is roomy, luxurious, and filled with a big-money international elite surrounded by gawking tourists. Under its hushed orange canopies you can easily spot a high roller betting $5,000 a hand as if it were pennies. But don't worry; there are games throughout the floor for the more average budget. Low-denomination slots are tucked in the back corners for low rollers (if you can find them) and excellent blackjack games are offered for mid- to high-level players.

The casino's epicenter remains its now-famous poker room, which rose to national notoriety as a key element of the TV poker fad. The race and sports book are super high-tech; each seductive leather seat is equipped with its own TV monitor. Things are a bit crowded with gawkers in the conservatory on the south end.

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