Expedia Save300 Final Update and Bellagio Las Vegas Review (with pics)
I was lucky and got in the on Expedia Save300 coupon deal last month which got me round-trip airfare to Las Vegas and a night at the Bellagio for $20 when all was said and done. I even got upgraded on both of my Delta flights and earned 4,496 Medallion Qualifying Miles and 8,992 Skymiles- not a bad deal!The Bellagio is located right on the Vegas Strip and at one point in time was the luxury hotel in Vegas. Times have since changed, but it is still regarded as one of the premier upscale hotels. The daily fountain shows draw large crowds, as well as the Via Bellagio shops (Dior, Chanel, YSL, Armani, Gucci, etc etc).I checked in around 8pm, so I wasn't expecting it to be a zoo, but it was. Check-in is a lonnnnng row of agents with mini lines for each. Not knowing which line to use, I picked the line with the fewest people. A haggard agent barked at me to change lines, to which I replied "Where the hell am I supposed to go? There is no signage!" I don't like being rude, but I generally dislike being herded like cattle, especially in "luxury" hotels. The agent yelling at me shrugged and at that moment my chipper check-in agent called me up.Check-in was painless, especially because my Expedia room was pre-paid. When asked if I was there for work or leisure, I said "Neither- for the miles". Perplexed, the agent just gave me an "Okayyyy" look and went along coding my key for the one night stay. He was friendly enough and I actually told him about the Expedia deal to see if he noticed an uptick in Expedia bookings, but he said he hadn't noticed a difference or heard anything about it.There are a lot of things that annoy me about Vegas, but one is the rampant smoking. The woman checking in next to me was smoking what seemed like a foot long cigarette during the process. Is it really necessary to puff on your Virgina Slim 120 as you check into your hotel room?? I suppose as smoking in public becomes more and more limited, people go crazy when they can get away with it in Vegas. Then again, I guess thats the thing about all vices and Vegas.Moving along, I got my keys and walked 2 miles to get to my room, which was decent, but not spectacular. I recently stayed at The Palazzo (connected to the Venetian) and I was much more impressed with their standard room, which is a large semi-suite with sunken living room and sectional sofa.The Bellagio room was nice, but it seemed very dated to me. A pet peeve of mine is chunky old TVs in high-end hotels (I mean, come on- how cheap are LCDs these days!) and sure enough, the Bellagio had a crappy old TV. Internet was also expensive, but I ended up buying a couple hours of access for cheap from a third party Vegas-wide wireless network. When I needed free wi-fi for an extended amount of time, I went to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf cross the street from the Bellagio in the Planet Hollywood shops. They give you a free wifi-code with your purchase (note: Starbucks in Planet Hollywood does not offer any wi-fi).
I posted the pictures below- you can see the room is just okay. The lobby was decorated for the holidays and looked pretty nice. Overall, I can't complain about a $20 first class trip to Vegas and night at the Bellagio, but I defintiely wouldn't pay a premium to stay here again. For my next trip to Vegas I have the Four Seasons booked, but I'd consider switching to the Mandarin Oriental or Cosmopolitan if good rates come up.Overall, the moral of the story is that when crazy deals are posted, you just need to book them right away and figure the rest out later. Many people were nervous that Expedia wouldn't honor the deal, but they did and it worked out flawlessly. Will every deal end up this way? Certainly not. But the risks are usually pretty low- at the very minimum, you will get a refund, if not compensation to make you walk away from the deal. So keep following The Points Guy and book your travel through the ads on my site to keep the deals coming!
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