Bellagio Review 2010: Penthouse Suite on the 35th Floor

Welcome to my Penthouse Suite review of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, NV. This part will discuss everything about the room and the next portion which will be online soon will talk about the Tower Deluxe room that we received as a connecting room.

Want to read more about our trip? Well, you can go to the index (link HERE) and see all the posts that are about this trip. And now, to the review.
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If you haven't read the VIP Lounge and the Check In parts of the review yet, it is a helpful transition to come towards this post. Plus you learn more information.

For us, we stayed at a Penthouse Suite about five years ago here at the Bellagio. Back then, everything was quite nice. There was a Italian feel to the rooms and it certainly was worth its price: it was beautiful and full of features. After the renovations, things appeared to become even better according to Tripadvisor photos and Bellagio's own website. Since it was the cheapest option compared to Wynn and other hotels for a similar suite, we decided to book the Bellagio.

After we booked the room though, I looked more at Tripadvisor photos and they looked UGLY. Might have been the overdose of flash usage but the suite did not look as good as it was! It really did not matter though, as it was too late to change anything and the rest of my group had trust in the suite. After snacking a bit on some foods and taking plenty of bottles of water, we left the VIP lounge area to go to our room. The truth...what will it be?

Now, we went up using the VIP elevators. However, there is another way to go to the rooms: the main elevator lobbies.

To get to the main elevator lobbies, you would have to walk inwards to the casino for several minutes. This equates to walking from the side of the main tower to the middle of the main tower, as the parking entrance and the regular entrance are to the left of the hotel, closer to the Spa Tower.

(sorry for the tilt)

And then you would walk into a hallway similar to this one to get to your room. As with most Las Vegas hotels, there are different elevators for different levels. This one is for floors 29-36.

Inside the elevator, the buttons were large and required a key in order to work, unless if we were going back down to the casino in which it does not require a key. This photo was taken in the VIP elevators, if it makes any difference. (I think there is none)

Upstairs, there are also two different elevator lobbies, one for VIP and one in the middle. Here's the VIP one.

Seeing the intersection with the round table made us happy as it was a signal that we were halfway there to our room from the VIP elevators! Our room was actually at the end of the hallway, as we found out later. Could that mean a better view?

Walking down and glancing at the room numbers and direction we were going at, I noticed our room number would bring us a view with the fountains. Score! However, we also noticed that the hallways were darker compared to last time. Dim lighting and darker colored wallpaper. Why would the designers want this when the rooms inside are brightly colored?

After finding the right card to open the Penthouse Suite and not the Tower Deluxe Room we also booked next door, the doors opened. This was my first glance into the room after I went to a corner so that I could get full view of the main living/dining area. Overall, pretty nice! Nicely lit and a great design that was not too dark nor too bright.

(TV nearby the sofa)

But right away I found out this was a smoking room (see the ashtrays). That was because we forgot to specify what type of room we wanted over the phone. Luckily however, there was no stench of smoke to be found anywhere. Maybe it is because I got used to the casino smell? Anyway, the only plus of a smoking room, especially for a suite, is that we had lots of matchbooks to take home. Nice for a souvenir or lighting birthday candles or lighting a stove when there is no electricity.

At first I was thinking Bellagio copied Pelican Hill with their succulents, but no! These were imitation. Or in other words, not the real thing.

As for the dining area, there was a round table fit for at least four, and then a long rectangular table which was perfect for electronics and work. That's mainly because the plugs were on the table! But if you need more plugs, there are plenty on the walls too.

In addition, a powder room was located off the entrance. Here you have a bar of soap, a sink, another book of matches, napkins, towels, and the toilet hidden in the back. Probably a telephone too.

On the other side would be the bar, which is great for the room size. There's plenty of things on the other side, like:

A sink, a mini bar fridge, a personal fridge, glasses, and the minibar stock of items. Sorry, no minibar photo like I did with the Mirage last time! Besides= sick person taking photos= painful!

Chihuly Glass


Paintings, which are by:

Before I talk about the bedroom here are some art pictures, all found in the living area. I took these later in the evening, but it works for better continuity. Do you like the art? I do. Definitely very nice, and all of these are limited editions (photos are out of 200, if I remember).

Grand or not? Here's the master bedroom. It never ended up having a special cover, it was just a simple white- unlike the Tower Deluxe. It is a nicely sized bedroom (approximately Pelican Hill size for their master bedroom in the villa, but smaller), then splitting up into two bathrooms. The bed was cushy and soft. However, we all ended up with backaches the next day! That's because the beds have been weakened by lots of use. Too old! Need new beds.

In addition there are lamps, an iHome, writing pad with pen (not as good as my favorite LV hotel pens: Palazzo/Wynn), and plenty of seating and cabinets in the bedroom.

The other end of the bedrooms houses the bathrooms. There are two sides, a men side and a ladies side. Above you see part of the mes bathroom. In comparison to the ladies bathroom it is slightly smaller. The main difference between these two bathrooms is that the the men bathroom has a shower, but the ladies bathroom has a jacuzzi tub.

Here are the toiletries in detail. I was surprised that Bellagio changed the design of their toiletries from a modern oval shape to this, but actually what has really changed is just the bottle. The scents of the toiletries are still the same as before and have a mix of scents from orange (shower gel) to other ranges of flavors. Unlike before, these are branded by Olive Rich and are also available in the shops downstairs like at the Mirage with their Aqua Lime toiletries by Gilchrist and Soames.

Unlike your typical hotel room where the closet is in the bedroom, Bellagio puts their closets in the Penthouse Suite in side each bathroom. One bathroom houses the safe for the room too- just a normal safe, nothing as special as Palazzo.

To the right is the shower which even has a bench, and the toilet with phone.

Like expected, there are the standard shampoo, conditioner, and bath gel in the shower as seen in almost every AAA 5 Diamond rated hotel. Again, all made by Olive Rich.

Here's a detailed view, if you needed one, of the men's toilet. Unlike Palazzo, this one is at least bright and not dim like crazy!

Moving on to the ladies bathroom, the first main difference is at the entrance. There is a small makeup area with plenty of make up necessities.

The second difference is that there is a jacuzzi tub with multiple jets! With bath salts, soap, shower gel, and a luffa.

And the last difference is that the toilet also has a bidet. Fancy, yes!


Conclusion

(badly made panoramic)

So what did we think about the Bellagio's penthouse suite? Overall, it was nice for our discounted AAA rate of 359 dollars but there were a few flaws. The main positive was the space and the features of the rooms, including the fact that everything was maintained well (except for the bed) and new. (Furniture is made by Cheng Meng) I liked the room design and the extra pluses of the VIP lounge and the line passes. Those were excellent additions! Besides, buying water and not having snacks anytime is an extra burden while vacationing.

As for negatives, there was the fact that the floors were dirty, as seen in our slippers- they were dark grey on the bottom, not white like they used to be. That means they were lazy on housekeeping. Housekeeping itself had a few problems. They did not give all the toiletries as supposed to, which we saw through the lady who came into our suite who added toiletries even though the housekeeper in the morning added toiletries already. In addition, when we brought the slippers home, they smelled like chemicals even after we had washed them. This means there is a BIG problem with their slippers and their air! And lastly, the bad beds and dark hallways.

In addition, this room showed us how big of a difference there could be between hotels that are part of the Leading Hotels of the World. This room was definitely not on par compared to Pelican Hill, but yet both of them were part of this group. Makes me wonder why Wynn isn't part of this group when we never experienced these problems that the Bellagio had this time around.

So, will we ever stay at the Bellagio again? Maybe, but not until they renovate again and state they have new beds! The Penthouse was a pretty good deal in this case, but our Tower Suite room which is up on the next post? Not so.

Bellagio Las Vegas
3600 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Tel: (702) 693-7111

This trip series posts are listed in order below:
Driving Scenes: CA-Las Vegas, Spring 2010
VIP Lounge at Bellagio Las Vegas and Check In
Bellagio Review 2010: Penthouse Suite on the 35th Floor
Bellagio Review 2010: Tower Deluxe Queen Room on the 35th Floor (Room Connector)
Walkaround: Bellagio, CityCenter (Aria, Jean Philippe Patisserie)- Las Vegas
Noodles (Bellagio)- Las Vegas
Fountains of Bellagio- Las Vegas
Pho Vietnam & Capital Seafood- Las Vegas
Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (Spring)/ Check In Area- Las Vegas
Aureole- Las Vegas (Mandalay Bay)
The Buffet (Bellagio)- Las Vegas
Las Vegas Spring 2010 Trip Day 3: Caesars Palace Forum Shops and Driving Scenes: Las Vegas to LA