All you can eat buffets are a staple of any Las Vegas trip. Even though I despise them, I figured we had to do it once as part of the "Vegas, Baby" experience. So we picked the Bellagio, which got rave reviews for being a super-luxe version of a typical buffet. I don't know how it got that reputation, as it's a very typical spread, lots and lots of choices all served lukewarm in an offputting cafeteria setting. And you have to stand in line for an hour for the privelege. (Food-7, Decor-5, Service-14). The service rating is a bit weird, but there are people who come around and clean up, serve drinks etc and they had a remarkably good attitude considering the constant crush of hungry people and squalor of the surroundings.

Walked back to the Bellagio, about a 45 minute walk. The neon and bizarre architecture made the walk enjoyable, much more so than during the day. We had a very late dinner at the Bellagio's signature restaurant, Picasso. Its gimmick is that is has some Picasso paintings on the wall, but that adds very little to the overall experience. The room itself, however, is quite elegant, faux rustic beams, handsome pillars and dark, sexy lighting. We enjoyed a well designed tasting menu, including a foie gras preparation that I hadn't had before and really enjoyed. Unfortunately, I didn't write down what it was that made it unique. Another highlight was a black truffle encrusted lamb dish, a lowlight was Somchai's overcooked halibut. (Food-18, Decor-19, Service-18).

It's illegal to take photos of casinos in Las Vegas, for no particular reason, but obviously nobody but us obeys this rule since there are plenty of photos on the internet. This is the Bellagio's casino, which is vast and one of the better looking ones. After our losing experience this morning on the spinning wheel, though, we didn't really spend much time here, usually just dropping some spare cash late at night before bedtime.

Had a disappointing lunch at Circo, the less formal sibling of New York's Le Cirque. It's a pretty room with a colorful circus theme, and nice, airy views over the Bellagio's lake. Food, though, is very standard Italian fare, and was way too salty and cheesy. (Food-11, Decor-16, Service-16)

Woke up around 2 am Sunday, which was a bad omen for my jet lag recovery plan. I kept thinking about that movie where the couple goes to Las Vegas and the wife goes gambling in the middle of the night while the husband is asleep and loses all their money (anyone remember the name?). But I really hate casinos, not in a morally judgmental way, just that I find them so depressing and dull. So I resisted the urge to while away the hours at the casino, and woke Somchai up to have breakfast at 6 am. Selection was enormous, but more isn't always better when you're talking about warmed over buffet selections. We then wasted some time down at the pool, which is really quite nice. There were about six pools, all done up like an Italian villa, and seemed like a good way to work out a pool complex for 6,000 rooms that wouldn't feel like spring break in Fort Lauderdale.

Here's the hotel exterior. As per my previous post, it's really just a huge nondescript hulk of a building, although they've added a very lifelike Tuscan village along an artificial lake outside the hotel that is the only thing that gives it a personality. The lake is hyperactive, with an enormous fountain show going on more or less continuously, accompanied by loud music. It's nice enough during the day, but definitely more impressive when lit up at night, at least for the first fifteen times I saw it. Bellagio: Overall: 7 (Room: 7, Facilities: 10, Service: 4). By way of explanation, no 6,000 room hotel is going to compare favorably with the hotels we usually stay at in the service category, but I gave them extra credit for facilities, since the smaller hotels are unlikely to have dozens of restaurants, a huge casino, shows etc either. And if you're going to stay in Las Vegas, this isn't a bad option, although now that Steve Wynn has opened up his new place, that's supposed to out-glitz the Bellagio. So you may want to try that, or go for something more kitschy and less blandly corporate, like New York, New York or the Venetian.

Here's the view from our room. Directly across the street is the Paris Hotel and its Eiffel Tower replica, as well as the dumpy Bally's Hotel. The view of the Strip is really best at night, when it is a bit special. During the day, most of the hotels look like huge office buildings lining an interstate, with the occassional Eiffel Tower or Sphinx plopped down nearby. What I really liked was the desert view beyond the casinos. I don't really spend much time in the desert, so I found it very interesting to see the barren mountains in the distance, particularly when juxtaposed against the silliness of Vegas.

From reception it was only a five minute walk to the elevators, then up to our room, #33008, which is a good indication of the size of the place, since it's my first zip code sized room number. The hotel's 6,000 rooms are arrayed along three massive hallways that radiate outwards from the central elevator banks. Since you spend a good chunk of the day walking these massive halls, it's nice that they're actually attractive: wide, nice oriental carpeting and well done terracotta patterned walls. The room was quite sizeable, with a great view over the Strip. The materials, fabrics etc were definitely high quality, but luxe definitely won over the Tuscan theme yet again here. Other than using higher quality fabrics, the rooms looked very American business hotel chain, and the beige color scheme never flatters any room. But it was big and comfortable, and with three bathrooms for two people, there's never a wait!

The taxi dropped us off at the main entrance to our hotel, the Bellagio, which of course in Las Vegas means the casino entrance. So we lugged our luggage through endless banks of slot machines and crowds of drunks, but eventually made our way to the wildly discordant lobby.

Since the Las Vegas architectural union seems to insist on a theme for each hotel, the Bellagio has chosen a Tuscan village theme, but the hotel also has to be over the top luxe and massive, and neither of those has anything to do with Tuscany. So it's all a bit of a mess, and the lobby is a good example. There's a beautiful faux Tuscan backdrop behind the lobby, but it's overwhelmed by an extravagant Dale Chihuly glass sculpture covering the whole ceiling like the Blob in technicolor. Then there's the requisite acres of marble and shiny metals to confirm the luxe label, and as an added bonus, our receptionist looked just like Morticia Addams (or Vampira for those of you not familiar with old American TV sitcoms). There' also a huge indoor garden off to the side, with its theme changed seasonally. Since it was fall, we got to see lots of vegetables, and a big wooden mill, just to further obscure the Tuscan theme. Despite the hundreds of people milling about the lobby, Morticia was able to check us in quite quickly.