Bellagio has features unlike anyplace else

CARSON CITY -- The $1.6 billion Bellagio hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, which intends to give "people something they have not seen anywhere else," won preliminary approval Wednesday from the state Gaming Control Board.

The board was given a verbal tour through the 36-story, 7 million-square-foot resort by President Bobby Baldwin, who said owner Steve Wynn wanted to create something that's apart from anything else in the world.

Here are some highlights of Baldwin's presentation:

Inside will be a conservatory decked with flowers and plants that will be changed every month. It will cost $6 million a year just to buy the flowers and $2 million for the labor.

In the showroom will be a 1.5 million-gallon water tank, with the acts performing above, on or below the water. The tank will be able to be moved up and down to accommodate stage acts. There had to be special wiring because of the danger of shocks and humidity controls because a cloud could be created without them. Rehearsals have been going on for six months, and when Wynn recently saw a run-through "he loved it," Baldwin said.

The casino will feature the first $1,000 slot machine and, if that's successful, a $5,000 slot will follow. There will be 2,700 slot machines, 139 table games, 30 poker tables and a 170-seat race and sports book.

The resort, to have 9,500 employees, will feature an outdoor water show on its nine-acre lake and will have 3,000 rooms, of which there will be 400 suites ranging in size up to 8,000 square feet.

Of the 16 restaurants, five to six will be four-star establishments. The quality of the food will be higher than at the Mirage. Wynn will lease seven retail shops to high-end operators and the Bellagio will run another 17 retail stores.

Wynn wanted something "distinctly above" other resorts to attract new customers. Response has been strong; the resort already has booked 10,000 room-nights for its first 100 days.

About 25 percent of the resort's business will come from travel and tour operations, 22 percent from conventions and 25 percent from high-roller customers specifically targeted by the Bellagio, with the rest resulting from unsolicited customers. About 85 percent of the planned convention business has already been signed.

Gaming revenue for the first year is expected at $550 million, compared to the $472 million recorded by the Mirage in 1997. The resort's $1.6 billion cost excludes the art collection Wynn will display; its value is nearly $300 million.

Baldwin conceded, "We're competing with ourselves but with a different product," referring to the Mirage, also owned by Wynn. Wynn will attend the Aug. 20 meeting of the Nevada Gaming Commission, which will have final say.

The prime market for foreign high-rollers is Taiwan and Hong Kong. Japan is not what it used to be in this regard, and the Wynn properties get little business from Singapore. Business from South America is "marginal," and there's been no effort to attract tourists from Africa because it's too far away to be a practical source of business.

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