Las Vegas recommendations? Anyone stayed at the Bellagio?

It looks like most of these are closed right now, so I’d call and see if they’ll be open. We are all about the dining experiences and shows so if a lot of them weren’t open we’d postpone our trip. We were at these places in December 2019, and March 2003. Will note 2003 because of potential changes. If you’d like specifics or have questions just let me know! 

FINE DINING RECOMMENDATIONS

Robuchon’s @ MGM. ~ Best meal and service we’ve ever had, by far, and we like nice restaurants. Dessert was a work of art. I could have lived my life eating off the bread cart. And my DH still announces my food when he’s serving it like one of the staff did. “This is your butter made from the very best cows in the upper region of whereverstan.” Very comfortable seating, quiet environment with plenty of space for private conversations. Very expensive but sort of a once in a lifetime thing. Is in the back of the casino right next to Ka, which I also highly recommend. We don’t drink so didn’t have the wine pairings but my cousin did and really enjoyed them.

Craftsteak @ MGM. ~ This is Tom Coliccio’s restaurant. The food was really good, but we were expecting excellent. The service was amazing though.

Le Cirque @ the Bellagio. ~ Delicious, amazing service. Our server was so good. There was a piece of flatware I was unfamiliar with and so asked, and he was lovely in explaining it to us. We have encountered snobs as these restaurants so it was nice. He even escorted us partially across the casino to the show we were attending (“O” by Cirque de Soleil) because we were cutting it close and he wanted to make sure we didn’t get lost and made it in time. The tables were super close together though.

Picasso’s @ the Bellagio ~ (2003) Until we ate at Robuchon’s this was the best meal we ever had, food and service. Just excellent. The atmosphere is fairly quiet, the art (13 Picasso paintings) was lovely and some of the tables have a view of the fountains.

Joe’s Seafood @ Caesar’s ~ This came highly recommended and reviewed but we went here our first evening and were underwhelmed. The was good, but not not excellent, and the service was just okay.

CASUAL DINING

Hexx @ Paris ~ We had brunch there on Christmas. The food was excellent and great service. We ate on the patio and it was the perfect spot to people watch with amazing views of the strip. You have to have a sticky bun.

Bouchon @ The Venetian ~ This is Thomas Keller’s bistro. We went there for lunch and enjoyed ourselves. The food was good, but we weren’t blown away. It was super crowded (and loud) and you sit on top of each other. But it was bright and lively.  It’s off the beaten path and you have to search to find it. We wouldn’t go out of our way to go here again, but would happily pop in for lunch if we stayed at the hotel.

SHOWS

I can’t imagine a Las Vegas trip without a Cirque show. Here is a link to their 5 Las Vegas shows. We didn’t go see the Michael Jackson show so can’t guide you there. I highly recommend watching the videos to see which one might interest you more. The theme the music...see what fits your tastes and interests.

’O’ Cirque de Soleil @ Bellagio ~ The stage itself is amazing, a full set of water one minute, the next it’s solid ground, we liked it so much saw it both times. It was my favorite Cirque show for about 16 years Before we saw Ka. 

’Love’ Cirque de Soleil ~ If you want a happy, lively show this is it. Pure chaos, in a good way. We didn’t stop smiling. It looked like some of the upper seating might have made you feel a little cut off from the production as opposed to even the highest lower seating. Maybe some peas can weigh in.

Le Reve ~ This is a Cirque type show, I believe one of the men involved broke off on his own. Wow. Loved it, one of my favorite shows of all time! It’s in the round, a water based show. Very small venue comparatively speaking. The best seats are actually the top row. Huge comfy seats, spacious seating room (can not over emphasize this), a table for your beverages, and the TV in front of your seats shows what is going on underwater. 

’Mystere’ Cirque de Soleil ~ (2003) This was DH’s favorite show until Ka as well. It was our first Cirque experience so of course the physical feats, costumes, set amazed us; but it was the emotional response that still stands out. For whatever reason we felt more involved with the characters.

‘Ka’ Cirque de Soleil ~ Just go. The stage pieces themselves are worth it. Beware, this is a HUGE venue and what seems like might be a mid-range seat isn’t. I’d go close, but not too close because there is a lot to see. Simply amazing show. Sidenote: 2 seats down from us was a woman who sat next to us and spoke a bit with at a restaurant in Aria a few days prior. Given the size of the venue it was quite the coincidence.

Mat Franco ~ We had Penn & Teller tickets but found out last minute that one of them wasn’t performing. So we were scrambling to find a replacement and this is what we chose with the peas help. LOVED him. Small show, kind of a cheap set up by Las Vegas standards, but roomy. And we didn’t care. He really got everyone involved.

Blue Man Group  ~ They were awesome, loved every minute! But if I had to choose between this and some of the other shows I would do those. Simply because they don’t travel, but Blue Man does and they have other permanent locations. We’ve seen them in LV and a couple of other cities in Texas and the shows were very similar. But if you don’t live where a lot of shows travel then I highly recommend seeing them!

OTHER ENTERTAINMENT

Shelby Museum ~ DH loved this, I enjoyed it. Very informative, the guide/docent/whatever was really great and got those listening involved, lots of fine cars to ogle.

Golden Knights ~ If you change your dates and like hockey, go catch a game. The fans are amazing! We’ve been to countless professional sporting events out of town and these fans were by far the most welcoming. We loved it anyway, but they took our enjoyment up a notch.



(Having a problem with webpage reloading so I am going to save as I update so more information to come)

If you’re not set on September, I would recommend going at Christmas. Rooms were super cheap, the weather was really nice, and from what I understand it was less crowded.

Our first trip (2003) we stayed in a Presidential Suite at the Bellagio. It was huge with lots of amenities and high quality everything, though our decor was not to our tastes. The master bath was a thing of beauty.

But this time we wanted to save money on the room and use it for shows and dining. So we chose The Delano @ Mandalay Bay. Each room is a small suite with a good size bathroom. It’s decor is simple, modern, and good quality. But it’s not luxurious like you’re thinking, but not cheap either. But we loved the set up, having a separate living room and also a powder room available to us. The bed was very comfortable and I loved the bathroom. The tub was huge and I brought nice bath things with me and enjoyed several long soaks in the dark. Actually I should call them floats because it was big enough I floated on my back comfortably. Also, there are glass shelves on each side of the sinks which worked out perfectly. We stayed almost a week so it was nice to be able to set up our things and have a clear countertop. However, due to my back and other pain issues we drove everywhere. It’s at one end of the strip so quite a walk. There is a team with a station at the property, but not the main tram. So you’d have to ride it as far as it goes, get off and cross the street (to MGM I believe) and climb on the main tram to go further. But we loved using the car, lots of fancy shows and dinners and I didn’t want to have to walk anywhere after being on my feet for so long.