Bellagio dissolved allusion number two first - that high class casinos give high class service. On looks and style alone, Bellagio was my favorite Hotel. It was absolutely beautiful with a taste that was perfectly balanced between the glamour of the Strip and the upscale allure that Europeans have long admired. But let me explain that high class hotels do not mean high class service. When we pulled up to the casino, my wife offered to check us in while I tried to sort out our luggage from the shuttle. After about 10 minutes I was walking through into the lobby and finding my wife about 5 people from the check-in desk. After about another 5 minutes a woman walks up and offers to open a 'new' line for our group of 10. I thought that was a marvelous idea but her directions were rather cryptic and merely pointed in a general direction. I walk over there only find no 'new' line and now the 5 people in front of me are the people that previously were behind me. I stood there for about 20 minutes, only to watch other lines open and my line stand still. Eventually, my wife stepped into another line and checked in while I was still about 4 people back. Taking over 30 minutes to check into any hotel is ridiculous, but a casino like Bellagio to have a 30 minute check in is just inept. Needless to say, having such bad luck just trying to check into a casino is a definite sign for me not to gamble.

A room was ready for us about 2 hours later and while it was beautiful, the bathroom had dirty towels and soap laying out. This was remedied by housekeeping, who came by about a little over an hour later. The room really was beautiful and the view was breath taking, we were looking out over the magnificent fountains and into the beautiful Paris Casino. While the room was nicely furnished, you had to see it in the day time as the lighting was poorly designed and at best only 75% of the light bulbs worked. The lighting was so bad that my wife could barely see to put on her makeup for our expensive dinner at Prime. I guess I could have called for someone to 'fix' the issue but honestly I didn't feel like waiting for the 8 minutes of hold music and the subsequent 1 hour response. As a business person I find it shocking that an expensive casino lets things like this happen.

Perhaps Bellagio should see what their neighbor, the Venetian Hotel has been doing with wireless check-ins. IBM also has some expertise in the subject of streamlined check-ins. Then again, they could always cross-train their staff and then make sure they know how to appropriately respond to situations.