Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

Interesting discussion of Bellagio room redesign. Maybe I was wishy-washy in my comment at VegasTripping. Here's my two cents:
*The corridor carpeting looks great and is appropriate for Bellagio, The corridor wallcoverings close in the hallway space and don't look good with the carpet; too busy, imo.
*The mahogany dresser/closet with the glass doors doesn't look luxurious, it looks too heavy and, like the sheer draperies, reminds me of what my grandmother would buy if she had had any money,
*The room carpet is striking.
*The headboard just looks cheap and totally out of place in a luxury hotel.
*The mural wall behind the bed doesn't look bad to me; I sort of like it, but it doesn't convey 5-star luxury.

My two conclusions:
1) MGM has no one on board with design ability or taste to pull off a cohesive redesign effort.
2) MGM has an ulterior motive. They are so committed to CityCenter and Aria that they will deliberately move Bellagio down the pecking order to help Aria succeed as the flagship property. As I believe someone said on Vegasgang,MGM will be happy to have Bellagio be a slightly upgraded Mandalay Bay.

Posted by mike_ch

The biggest problem with listening to Vegas Gang is that I find myself talking at my phone and trying to be a part of the conversation.

I've probably spent as much time as anyone else here except maybe Hunter just wandering around Bellagio and looking at things. The tile floor pattern in the conservatory is one of the best pieces of art on the property IMO and I wouldn't be opposed to bringing some of that aesthetic to the room. Depending on the lighting and position of the sun, it can sometimes be more washed out, but it has a warm beige background with a rich, almost maroon red and deep greens. The pattern in the new rooms is a cold white, with a mint green and the reds went all the way to violet.

I think I referred to Bellagio once on VT as "Buckingham Palace meets a circus" and I mean that in the kindest way. Everything outside going up to the lobby feels like driving up to the state mansion of some European country, and inside you have the cremes and yellows associated with an old hotel in Italy or France, but the architectural flairs are embellished to almost cartoonish proportions, to with much larger spaces. The subtle vertical stripes in places like the original room hallways to me seemed intended to provoke the unconscious thought of a carnival or circus tent (albeit a classy one, like the big carnival and water circus downstairs) and thus lighten the mood without going totally into Circus Circus cheese.

It's sad to see the old stuff go (except that armoire) but it's just part of a slow and steady change of direction. Though I doubt they'll do much immediately around the fountains, the place no longer has to identify itself as a place where Americans pretend to go to Europe, but instead has an identity as, well, itself. The special attractions are a part of that identity and will remain, but the motif won't always.

I found Chucks's "grandmother" comment to be funny, though, because the Wynn era Bellagio casino reminded me way too much of a grandma's attic with it's huge hand carved wooden chandeliers hanging all over. I saw them at one of those casino furniture warehouses in 2005 and they just looked even more like somebody's old heirloom cloned a few dozen times.

It sure does sound like someone is rolling the dice while the show is being recorded. I think that is the sound during Dr. Dave's section regarding Atlantic City. Can anyone confirm this?

Regarding George Maloof; one point that I thought he kept mentioning when he was interviewed by Johnny Kats was "building the brand" or something to that effect. I'm guessing that Maloof got to keep the Palms brand outside of Las Vegas and he has long term plans to expand it. It sure has worked with the Hard Rock brand.