Bellagio

Bellagio Celebrates Chinese New Year With Garden Exhibit

February 3 marks Chinese New Year. This year is the Year of the Rabbit and Las Vegas' Bellagio hotel is getting in on the celebration. Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens has been turned into a serene sanctuary guided by the ancient practice of Feng Shui that is on display now through March 5.

The centerpiece of this exhibit is a 35-foot Chinese junk boat with a 38-foot mast inspired by traditional 15th century fishing vessels. The boat was created using teak, mahogany and cedar by Daniels Wood Land, Inc. – which is best known for building full-scale replicas of The Black Pearl for Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie franchise. The boat is surrounded by a zig-zag bridge and leads to a wing-tipped Ming Dynasty-styled gazebo.

A 12-foot rabbit with a coat comprised of more than 4,500 live sedge plants, watches over eight babies at play within a forest of bamboo trees and Taihu rocks. An 18-foot-tall Chinese God of Prosperity is found amidst gold leafed I-Ching coins and is flanked by two Ming Dynasty-styled dings, ancestral vessels that protect against bad fortunes. There are also seven replica Terracotta Warriors, covered in crushed walnuts and ground carrot seeds, accompanied by a horse-drawn carriage. The original Terracotta Army was buried with the First Emperor Qin in 210-209 BC in the Shaanxi Province and later discovered in 1974 by a group of farmers digging a well. Oversized red silk Chinese lanterns throughout the Conservatory add to the auspicious nature of the exhibit.

The rabbit serves as a symbol of fortune and longevity. Those born in the Year of the Rabbit tend to be lucky, articulate and ambitious.

Tags: bellagio, bellagio hotel and casino, Chinese New Year, Las Vegas, las vegas strip, year of the rabbit

Bellagio Offers 10/10/10 Wedding Package

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

There are just three years left in order to have a wedding date in which the day, month and year are all the same number. Ever since 2001, many couples have been opting to get married on these memorable days and October 10 this year (10/10/10) should be no exception. The Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas is offering an all-inclusive 10/10/10 Wedding Package. Before exchanging vows, the couple will spend the afternoon at the Spa & Salon Bellagio with a $500 gift certificate. On the big day, couples can marry at one of Bellagio's chapels and then spend the wedding night in deluxe lakeview accommodations overlooking The Fountains of Bellagio. The newly-wedded couple can also enjoy dinner at Sensi or Circo, toast their love with a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne and attend a performance of "O" by Cirque du Soleil. The package is priced at $10,000 and includes an album filled with memories to take home. Spaces are still available but will likely sell out before the day itself. Las Vegas chapels in general tend to be packed on these days. Those who need a little more planning time can also opt for 1/1/11 or even 11/11/11 wedding packages. Contact the Bellagio for more details.

Tags: bellagio, hotel deals, las vegas hotels, las vegas wedding

Banking On The Bellagio Brand

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

Like many other brands, MGM Mirage has decided to make money by selling its name. The brand, which has been struggling all year, particularly with the battle to get the huge $8.5 billion Las Vegas CityCenter project completed, is in need of some cash. MGM Mirage has inked 10 franchise deals with hotels carrying the Bellagio and MGM Grand name deals that will let the brand expand in a way that it could not on its own seeing as it is already $12 billion in debt.

The deals are a first for MGM Mirage. Two MGM Grand casino resorts are planned for Ho Tram, Vietnam and Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Other plans include Bellagios in Cairo, Mumbai and four in China. Bellagio, MGM Grand and Skyloft hotels will also be franchised in Dubai. These deals will give MGM Mirage two to three percent of gross sales with an additional 10 precent if a property achieves its profit goals. MGM Mirage is hoping that branded resorts will attract visitors even without gambling which means they will have to position themselves as a distinctive hotel brand that doesn't rely on a casino as a main atraction. What MGM Mirage and Bellagio do have that some other hotels don't is experience at maintaining full service complexes with restaurants, nightclubs, shops and entertainment all designed to make the guest so happy that they never want to step outside.

Source

Tags: bellagio, citycenter, las vegas, LasVegas, mgm grand, mgm mirage, MgmGrand, MgmMirage