Taking my husband to LV Feb 20 for a 3-day weekend to celebrate his 40th birthday. Based on all of your comments, I'd like to stay at Bellagio for 3 nights. Any suggestions on how to avoid their rack rates and possibly get a discount, seeing as it is off-peak? Expedia is offering a slightly lower rate for one night but offsets it with a high rate for next night! I'll pay full rate if I have to but would love to get a break if possible!!

I'd check travelworm- www.travelworm.com
Sometimes they offer discount rates. Also Venitian is a very nice hotel. All rooms are suites. You can bid on priceline for cheaper rates for Venetian. I think it's under resort room. Just another idea.

I'm not sure what you mean by "off peak". So far as I know all weekends of the year are "peak". I will say that we booked on their website for a rather high price, but about two weeks before we went (we kept checking) there was a substantial savings on their website -- apparently they weren't as booked as planned, so we rebooked and cancelled our original booking. That's my only suggestion. I haven't heard of very many "specials" at Bellagio other than what they offer, and I've never really heard of the discounters offering any real savings either. If you want The Bellagio, you're probably going to have to pay for it.

Janny and Patrick, thanks for your advice. Venetian was my next choice! I thought I'd read Feb in general is "off-season" in LV but it does appear that all weekends are considered peak! I will try and check Bellagio's website closer to the date to see if they offer a discount!

Try ratestogo.com, esp. as the date approaches,,,they do best 20 days before the required date.

Are you serious, Judyrem. I wasn't familiar with ratestogo, so just went to their website. I checked about six or seven date combinations spread out over the next three weeks to see what kinds of offers they had. The only four hotels that ever came up were:
Lady Luck, Bourbon Street, Days Inn Town Hall, and Rodway Inn.

Are you suggesting that somehow they might someday have a special for the Bellagio??

I have never used Expedia or any of the online travel sites, so I can only suggest calling the hotel directly and talking to reservations. Tell them you are planning on a birthday trip for your husband and that the Bellagio would be your first choice..then ask for any special rates they might have.
Easy, even if you get a standard room at a standard rate, ask to be upgraded. If it is a slow time, they will upgrade you.
Good luck~

Seems you just missed the promotion dates, Bellagio was offering a rate of $139 per night for lakeview rooms, from 2/8 through 2/19 but not on Friday or Saturday nights.

neeraj--they never discount weekend rates at the Bellagio..
Best bet is to book lowest room and take some cash as check-in...Ask to speak to a res. mgr at check in to see if you can be bumped up to a room with views of the dancing waters...$20 normally goes a long ways to a bump up, if available..

It is an awesome hotel and my favorite in Vegas...

Patrick, I used RTG for NICE in May. I got the 4* Hotel West End for 95$ a night, a good deal, have not tried them yet for our Jan 28th date to Vegas. You never know! The hotel game is such a crapshoot IMO.

Sorry, correction...110 euros a night.

Overall I like the Cote d'Azur, but Nice (and in particular Nice's hotels) didn't impress me much. That is, if you're looking for a hotel in the range of a Bellagio or similar, it doesn't exist in Nice. The only reason I mention this (not trying to rain on your parade) is that those star rating systems are next to useless---ESPECIALLY in Europe.
As for Bellagio, they do discount weekend rates at times when it's slow (early Decemeber for example).
And don't ask to speak with a reservation manager to try to upgrade. Simply work with the desk clerk, and try to select a clerk who looks amiable and not stressed. The $20 tip trick works at times. Sometimes it doesn't matter what you do, you're not going to get an upgrade without paying for it. This tends to be true particularly at hotels like Bellagio which are 1) heavily booked most of the time and 2) caters more to people who are used to paying more in the first place and willing to do so to get the room they want.
Never hurts to try, though.

Great feedback everyone, I will carry some extra $20 bills with me! Appreciate it!

Just thought I'd mention to you that travel dates for President's Week falls between the days of February 20-29. I have been trying for months for a reduced price airline ticket during this time, and it seems near impossible. Good luck to you!
Paul