Adding 928 rooms and suites to Bellagio means more than just building a 33-story tower. With Bellagio recognized by AAA as the hotel’s top-rated five-diamond building, the hotel’s casino’s management said the same level of expectation needed for the resort’s newest building, which is open to customers this morning.
The $375 million spa tower expansion also includes a new luxury restaurant, four specialty retailers, 70,000 square feet of additional conference space, and a large renovation of the property’s spa and salon components. In addition, Bellagio’s parent company, MGM Mirage, has spent an additional $110 million to refurbish the property’s existing rooms and suites to match the offerings of the new tower.
“If we ask our guests to put someone in one of the new hotel rooms, it won’t matter where they are,” said Randy Morton, Bellagio’s vice president of hotel operations, during a tour of the expansion Wednesday. “The idea is that all our hotel rooms, regardless of which tower you’re staying in, are renovated and have all the amenities you’d expect from this hotel.”
The property’s first expansion since it opened in 1999 has not added casino space. Morton said the current 125,000-square-foot gaming configuration is enough to meet Bellagio’s needs.
Hotel executives and employees spent the last few nights in their spa tower rooms, serving as quality control before guests arrived.
Located southwest of the resort’s conservative gardens, the spa tower includes 819 rooms and 109 suites on the top seven floors, including two 4,500 square feet of presidential suites that Morton said he was renting for $5,000 a night.
Bellagio’s average room rate is $250 per night, and Mr. Morton added that the property was sold out through this weekend and the end of the year, with an average stay of $599 per night. He estimated that the property added 1,100 full-time and 300 part-time workers, bringing the total number of employees to 10,000.
In addition to rooms and suites, much of the expansion focused on the accommodation’s spas and beauty salons. The resort doubled the size of its spa to 55,000 square feet, increased workout space, renovated drawing rooms, and upgraded its offerings while increasing the number of massage and treatment rooms. The salon has grown to 10,000 square feet and now has 61 stations for hair, makeup, and beauty treatments.
The cost of using the exercise facility is still $25 a day for guests, and additional services such as massage, body care, and unique world therapy have prices ranging from hundreds of dollars per session.
“Some of the treatments offered at Spa can’t be found anywhere else on the strip,” Morton said, “and facilities like this are a revenue stream for Bellagio and an aspect of the characteristics that customers are looking forward to.”
Morton said Bellagio Spa earns 35% over similar facilities.
A new restaurant, Sensi, doubles as a “cooking theater” by offering a variety of menus with tables surrounding the kitchen. Shopping along the Spa Tower’s trails includes a luxury men’s store, Regali, a remodeled garden center, a Bellagio logo shop, and a stand. The luxury bakery is still under construction. The expanded convention area provides Bellagio with a total of 200,000 square feet of meeting space with three large ballrooms, 45,000 square feet, 35,000 square feet, and 25,000 square feet.
With more convention space, resorts can focus on other-scale gatherings, such as corporate meetings. Future convention bookings have increased by 35 percent overall, Morton said. One professional room in the new convention area is dedicated to a show kitchen, where celebrity chefs can entertain up to 60 guests and offer cooking demonstrations. The room can also be rented out for group activities related to meetings or conventions. 슬롯머신