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Bellagio Receives Five Diamond Award from AAA

LAS VEGAS -- Bellagio on Monday became the first hotel-casino in the country and Las Vegas' second hotel to receive AAA's Five-Diamond Award, a move property executives anticipate will broaden the appeal of the high-end megaresort to a wealthy clientele that routinely bypasses Las Vegas for nongambling getaways.

A small but free-spending number of travelers use the automobile association's top rating to determine where they'll seek lodging, said AAA spokesman Atle Erlingsson after the award was announced.

"A Five-Diamond property is the ultimate in luxury and sophistication," Erlingsson explained. "We've heard that a Five-Diamond rating can boost a property's business by as much as 20 percent."

The Five-Diamond Award is given to hotels and bed and breakfasts that provide impeccable customer service, noted the AAA spokesman.

"What makes Bellagio impressive is achieving the rating with more than 3,000 rooms. There's something special at Bellagio."

With 3,005 rooms, Bellagio dwarfs all other Five-Diamond hotels, with the next biggest being the 896-room New York Palace.

Bellagio’s vice president of hotel operations, Randy Morton, said the rating will boost awareness of the Bellagio with the well-heeled clientele able to afford the megaresort’s pricey restaurants and stores.

"When the top travelers travel, they look at these ratings," Morton said. "This will create additional interest, and the Five-Diamond traveler is not a budget-conscious traveler."

Morton credited the property's 7,800 workers with the award, noting that top Bellagio executives plan to visit each employee to thank them for their work.

"The Five-Diamond Award is an incredible honor because it's an employee award," Morton said. "Our employees will be so proud."

The Five-Diamond Award is held by 69 hotels in the United States, including the 424-room Four Seasons at Mandalay Bay, which in 1999 became the first Las Vegas hotel to receive the designation. It was also run by Morton, who last year left the Four Seasons to run Bellagio. although the Four Seasons lacks a casino.

About that time Four Seasons Hotel founder Isadore Sharp said he thought it would be impossible for Bellagio to attain Five-Diamond status because of the megaresort's size.

In 1998, then-Desert Inn owner ITT Corp. pushed to gain the status for the newly remodeled north Strip property, but the costly and time-consuming effort failed as ITT sold its casino holdings to Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which later sold the property to developer Steve Wynn.

Morton said Bellagio was designed to be a AAA Five-Diamond, Mobil Five-Star resort.

"That was the plan from day one," Morton said.

The $1.6 billion megaresort opened in October 1998. The property generated cash flow of $294.6 million last year, the most ever created by a hotel-casino.

Bellagio restaurant Picasso and The Mirage restaurant Renoir also received AAA Five-Diamond Awards. The pair already hold Mobil Five-Star Awards, and join four venues as new additions to the 51-restaurant group of award recipients.

"Las Vegas hotels and restaurants have improved over the past few years, and Bellagio led the way with luxury," said Lisa Gill, a Condé Nast Traveler editor. "The dining is very high-end, as good as the dining at the best American hotels."

Bellagio, recently pegged as the 15th best property in Condé Nast Traveler's ratings of North American hotels, should parlay its new ratings into additional business, Gill predicted.

AAA officials were expected to issue the awards at a Naples, Fla., ceremony to Mirage Resorts President Bobby Baldwin and Morton. Bellagio is to be one of 12 new Five-Diamond hotels.

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