TONY, WITH SOME TWINKLE: Anybody who has observed the hospitality industry, especially in a big, competitive market like Las Vegas, can absolutely understand why hotels would want to go the swanky route. People on vacation are seeking a bit of fantasy, some escapism, and perhaps the luxury they don't see as often as they'd like in their day-to-day lives. But the Bellagio in Las Vegas, while absolutely swankified, has a bit of twinkle to its tony ways. Any visitor who has ever strolled the massive property's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, regardless of the season, understands that the giant animals and storybook touches fit right in with all that fancy, and pretty darn well. Oh, and come every autumn? Designers erect a talking tree, which, at first glance, seems like it might be something more akin to a children's theme park. But it is pure Bellagio, beautifully imagined and full of fictional fizz, and it only makes one wish that more hotels would take that whimsical plunge, rather than keeping only to the elegant side of things, far more often.
BELLAGIO, YOU'RE DOING IT RIGHT... with your 40-foot-tall windmill and your mega-sized floral apples, which each boast over 1,200 red carnations. The indoor, glass-roofed gardens feature a "28-foot-tall enchanted talking tree" and a pair of horses dotted with hydrangeas. Fall-hued flowers fill the nature-nice exhibit, over 51,000, in fact, and dancing waters, a baby bear, a harvest basket, colossal pumpkins, and "mystical wooden forest creatures" round out the picturesque wonder.
WHEN CAN YOU SEE IT? Be in Sin City through Nov. 30 for one of the desert's quintessential autumn experiences. True, it may be Vegas-bright out on the Strip, but a fall fantasy is tucked inside the Bellagio, in plain, photo-pretty sight.
