Bellagio Las Vegas
Located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Bellagio is owned by MGM Mirage.
Inspired by the Lake Como resort of Bellagio in Italy, Bellagio is famed for its elegance. One of its most notable features is the huge artificial lake between the building and the Strip. The fountain shows on the lake are a major free attraction. They begin at xx in the afternoon and continue until xxx at night. The fountain shows are coreographed to music and large speakers send the songs out over the Strip in front of the Lake.
Inside the Bellagio, the decor theme is elegant contemporary. Dale Chihuly's Fiori di Como, composed of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, covers the lobby ceiling. The hotel also contains the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens that are changed according to the seasons.
Bellagio was conceived by Steve Wynn and built by his company, Mirage Resorts, Inc. following the purchase and demolition of the legendary Dunes hotel and casino in 1993. Bellagio was designed by Marnell Corrao Associates and Jon Jerde.
Bellagio is home to Cirque du Soleil's production of "O", the second permanent production show for the troupe.
When it opened on October 15, 1998, it was the most expensive hotel ever built, having cost over $1.5 billion.
In 2000 it became a MGM Mirage property when Mirage Resorts merged with MGM Grand Inc. to create MGM Mirage.
Bellagio was featured prominently in the film Ocean's Eleven (2001). The safe for the three casinos that were robbed was located at the Bellagio.
The Fountains of Bellagio were created by Wet Design, a company specializing in creating intricate water shows. They designed an array of underwater pipes with over 1,000 nozzles that makes it possible to stage fountain displays coordinated with over 4,000 lights and music.
The Fountains of Bellagio, as the attraction is called, was made using three types of nozzles: "oarsman", which can swing back and forth to create dancing water; "shooters", which can shoot water upwards; and "super shooters", which can send a water blast as high as 250 ft (76 m) in the air. After the success that Wet Design had with the Fountains, Steve Wynn asked them to improve and modify the volcano attraction at sister casino The Mirage.
