The hotel is truly deserving of its 5-star rating. The rooms, even the basic ones, are spacious and the staff courteous (evern the cleaning crew make it a point to acknowledge your presence), which along with the casino's location made our trip quite memorable. HOWEVER, as with all the five-star hotels these days, the Bellagio felt it necessary to nickle and dime you to death. For example, a bottle of Dasani costs $4.00, the LA Times is 2X its regular price, and you must pay $25 each day you want to use their weight room. FORTUNATELY, the shops at the Planet Hollywood hotel accross the street has an ABC store where we found near-normal prices for water and liquor (which we brought to the pool, which is excellent). AND GO GAMBLE SOMEWHERE ELSE (unless you're a high roller, you won't find a table under $25 at night and everyone I spoke to agreed that they didn't win there).
Pros: Venue, courteous staff, pool
Cons: nickle and diming of patrons, and gambling not for players with average $
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