"I returned recently from one of my visits to Las Vegas, and it being my birthday, I decided to splurge a little on the room. My regular reservation is at the West Wing at the MGM, but I decided on this trip to do it up and go for a lake view room at the former reigning king of the high-class set, The Bellagio Hotel.\n\nThe hotel is nice, I'll give it that. The lobby is open and the conservatory is bright and interestingly conceived. There are terrific shops and world-class restaurants. The dealers are all very friendly and helpful when you get confused about the details of whatever sucker bet you are extending. I also like the scale of the place... it's big enough to seem spectacular, but not unmanageably so, like, say, Caesar's Palace next-door.\n\nThere is an interesting trade-off I have noticed regarding the accommodations, though. On one trip I stayed in the spa tower. Nice room, lousy view. Twin sinks. Lots of marble. DVD player. On this trip, though, I was in the main tower overlooking the fountains and though I was already paying more for that privilege, I noticed that the room wasn't as nicely appointed as the spa tower room, and was definitely much smaller. Not just that, but it seemed, and I might be nitpicking here, that the window in my view room might have been a little wider. It wasn't like looking out a porthole, but it felt like it wasn't far from it. I definitely enjoyed several helpings of the famous Bellagio Fountains display from the comfort of my room, but I was expecting a view that was a little more panoramic.\n\nI think in the future I will stick with the West Wing. Bellagio was nice, but not sufficiently so to merit the premium."^^ . "1"^^ . "1"^^ . . "3"^^ . . "2008-03-11T00:00:00"^^ . "5"^^ . .