For the people who throw the words "5 star" "five diamond" ect...Get your facts straight. Mobile gives the star ratings. They gave the Bellagio 4 stars not 5. There are no "5 star" hotels in Las Vegas. There are only a handful of 5 star hotels in the country. AAA gives out the diamond awards and they tend to be less strict so more hotels get "5 diamonds" than "5 stars". Go to Exxonmobiltravel.com to see how many stars a hotel or resort truly recieved.

Sorry to inconvenience you. Bellagio is a FIVE DIAMOND HOTEL!

Weighing in here with the star thing-looking at the Bellagio site, they have 5 Diamonds.<BR>The Palace Hotel in NYC belongs to a Leading Hotels in the World Catagory, no hotel in Las Vegas is on that list.<BR>The Bellagio is definitely better than the Mirage, Ceasars, and on par with the Four Seasons.<BR> Although the 5 pools at the Bellagio and the Spa make it a Top Hotel.<BR>

X, the Leading Hotels of the World is a marketing program that the hotels pay thousands of dollars a year to join. LHotW also handles some reservations for the hotels. Depending on the size of the property, it is anywhere from $17,000 to $25,000 per year. Yes, they have to meet criteria but its not too tough.

I've stayed at Treasure Island for $59 midweek. Its a great deal and its connected to the Mirage and across the street from the Venetian.

To weigh in on the five dollar cup of coffee thing, I think that is ridiculous. Of course, if I want a cup of coffee and I'm staying at the Bellagio, I would pay it, but one has every reason to feel that is out of line. I would probably say something. How much is too much, people? All you high rollers who pay through the nose regardless, would you pay $10 for a cup of coffee? $20?

Well surprise, surprise, this post is still alive. I thought it would die and disappear.<BR><BR>I stand by my original statement.<BR><BR>If a hotel's prices bother you, why would you stay there then complain about it? If you don't know the price structure going in, whose fault is that? If you do know it, then you are to blame for not respecting your own budgetary inclinations. <BR><BR>As for incomes, that has less to do with this than personal taste...but is not irrelevant. Many wealthy people will not spend big bucks on travel or homes or cars. Warren Buffet lives in a very modest home and drives old station wagons. That's his thing. More power to him.<BR><BR>Know you own tastes, know what makes you uncomfortable, and act accordingly.<BR>Readers of this forum should rarely be negatively surprised in their travels if they've researched ahead of time.<BR>BTW, Roe, my net worth will reach 8 figures within 5 years, all from my own business. And I don't mind $5 coffees and such. I came from nothing, I enjoy the blessings I've been given, I've carefully planned for the future, and who knows how long any of us will live.

If you're paying big bucks for a hotel room, why do you have to BUY coffee. Shouldn't the hotel have FREE coffee for the guests? If the Fairfield Inn can have all you can drink free coffee 24/7 why can't the high end resorts?<BR><BR>Why do you have to pay for breakfast. The Embassy Suites has a wonderful breakfast, even cooked to order omlets.

Good question, Sue. The answer is that the overhead at a luxury hotel (large number of staff, expensive furnishings, guests who expect everything to be perfect and new looking all the time, etc) are barely covered by the room rates in most cases.<BR>These hotels often NEED to make extra money on room service, expensive spa rates, expensive food and such in order to generate the kinds of profits the owners/investors demand.<BR><BR>A Fairfield has relatively low overhead compared to a Hyatt, and can offer little perks without hurting itself.<BR><BR>Part of what you're paying for in your room rate at a Ritz is the bellman's salary, the presence of and salary for an excellent chef in the kitchen, someone in housekeeping who will iron a dress for you for a meeting on a moment's notice, etc.<BR>All that costs money.

See what I started...whats the record of replys to anyone post?...lol<BR>Anyway like I said before Bellagio is beautiful, but some things were a little outragous, By the way I did buy approx 2 cups of coffee per day for my 5 day stay so that equaled to about $50bucks on coffee, but hey we were on vacation...............LOL<BR>

Example of staying in a good hotel and not paying attention to the prices.<BR>We stayed at the Bellagio for 4 nights in the Spring.We had breakfast in bed every morning.I have no idea how much it cost.<BR>If I had to think about it, I guess we would have stayed somewhere cheaper.

People who stay at 5-star hotels KNOW that food is very expensive at these establishments and really just don't think about it, as far as I'm concerned. It's just part of the "price" for staying there. If you've got your head in the sand and are NOT prepared to pay $40 entree prices at the Ritz or 4 Seasons on Maui, etc., then you shouldn't go! (And most people know that a fresh glass of orange juice is going to run $7 or $8--so no surprises there!)<BR><BR>Two other points: To the poster above, the term "5-star" has become a GENERIC term for a top-of-the-line hotel/resort and has NOTHING to do with Mobil anymore!<BR><BR>I also agree with the poster who said that the standard rooms at the Bellagio are not that impressive (except the bathroom). I, too, moved to a very nice, larger "Salon Suite" because of that as well! I do hope that the standard rooms at Wynn's new property, Le Reve, will have larger, more luxurious STANDARD rooms!

TOM-<BR>speaking of Le Reve, when do they expect to open, do you know?

Wynn doesn't own Bellagio anymore and little by little it is disintegrating into just another high-end Vegas hotel. <BR><BR>The reason they charge 5 bucks for a cup of coffee is that people are dumb enough to pay it. Coffee used to be a buck until Starbucks decided to charge $3.50 and people stood in line to pay it. Supply and demand. <BR><BR>Whatever happened to the term "nickel and dime you to death"?. Nowadays the hotels "five and ten" you to death. <BR><BR>Vegas used to be a place for some great deals because the hotel/casinos wanted to lure people in - to gamble. Then they found out people would come in and throw their money away even without incentives, so they smartly stopped the incentives. The casinos admit that over the past few years they have slowly cut back on the amount of winnings that they pay out, why shouldn't they? People don't care if they lose, they're on vacation, whoopie!!!<BR><BR>According to Lorrie's idiotic theory, the hotel could have charged her $200 a day for breakfast and she wouldn't have blinked because she was on vacation! She didn't even look at the prices. Just the perfect customer.

Topping a gem of mtsod for PLM

I love the "NOT TYPICAL TACKY LV" comment, ok sure, dancing waters outside my window (in a desert no less) is not tacky. Las Vegas is tacky, period. you can put all the fake eiffel towers, venetian gondolas, pyramids, glamorous dancing waters, artificially snooty people pretending to be rich at bellagio, you want out there but LV is still #1 when it comes to tacky. It is still fun, just don't try to sell people on the not tacky thing.

The same people who find the "dancing water" elegant, not tacky, put flashing coloured lights on their rotating Christmas trees. LOL It's tacky folks. LV is the queen of kitsch and she loves it. And I've gotta agree with mtsod. There are plenty of people who are clueless as to what a 5* hotel is. It isn't Bellagio! Bellagio is 4*, as is Caesar's Palace AND, hotel snobs, 4 Seasons.

If the Four Seasons isn't a 5 star hotel, then what is? Or are we still stuck on 'Exxon-Mobile should decide which are the best places to stay, after all, they do put gas in your car . . . . '

Roe just posted an opinion for goodness sakes. <BR><BR>Why do so many people seem to have to seek out the posts where they can brag about how much money they have?. Or even worse, how much money they blow on their vacation. <BR><BR>If you have a different opinion of a place, fine. But just to pop on and say "well some of us can afford it and some of us can't"? Get a life!

There are no 5* in Vegas, "Huh". You takes your pick, the guys that make the triptiks and/or bring you road service, or the guys who gas you up. One or t'other.