Wynn’s project also appealing for non-VIP’s

Martin Kuz

Friday, Oct. 16, 1998 | 10:57 a.m.

Tom Kulilowski stood in the middle of the room, taken aback by the sheer beauty of what he saw. Inspired by such exquisite works of art rarely glimpsed in a casino, he found himself unable to contain his passion on this, the opening night of Bellagio.

"I'd have to say this is the best sports book I've ever seen," he gushed. "These TVs are huge. They have the clearest picture of any I've seen."

Kulilowski, 50, didn't much care if the Bellagio's ballyhooed art gallery is closed until Sunday. The Schenectady, N.Y., resident had his eyes fixed on something of far greater beauty: the Colorado-Phoenix hockey game on ESPN2.

"This place is more comfortable than your living room," Kulilowski said. He's right, what with the room's soft lighting, timely drink service and leather chairs as snug as a grandmother's hug. "If they're going to take you like everyone else, I guess it might as well be in luxury."

Give Steve Wynn credit. The man even makes losing money feel good.

Before the curtain rose on the $1.6 billion Bellagio -- the planet's most expensive hotel, at least for this week -- all the talk had centered on van Gogh, Monet and those other hard-to-pronounce foreign words.

But Thursday night, as the bow-tied VIP crowd gave way to dreadlocked guys in "South Park" t-shirts and soccer moms in jogging suits, attention turned to the stuff that really matters in Las Vegas: Megabucks, nickel slots and buffets.

In other words, dress it up all you want. It's still a casino.

"I think this is kind of a return to the Las Vegas of old," James LeMay said as he waited in line more than a half hour to play a Megabucks slot machine. With the jackpot at $24 million and climbing, the 21-year-old UNLV student said he "had a vibe going on" that he might win.

"Steve Wynn is trying to get back some of that old feeling with the black ties and not letting anyone under 18 in. But I think it's cool he still has the buffet and slots and things like that," LeMay said.

Aside from those common amenities, LeMay lauded the Conservatory, an aromatic, high-ceilinged greenhouse not likely to be imitated anytime soon by, say, Jerry's Nugget. Walking through the flower-filled room, he said, was a trip -- literally.

"With all the colors in there, I actually thought I was having a flashback from when I used to do mushrooms," LeMay said, laughing.

Minutes after strolling into what could someday -- given Las Vegas' penchant for high-rise gentrification -- turn into the planet's most expensive implosion project, Lisa Hermany, 23, and Shane Lester, 26, plopped down in front of the cheapest game they could find. As the couple, visiting from Calgary, tapped away at nickel slots, they took heart in knowing they were doing their part to help Wynn get a return on his investment.

"Well, you do have to play at least nine (nickels) at a time," Hermany said, chuckling.

Across the casino floor, Susan Burns, 26, and a couple of friends checked out the buffet -- tastefully named The Buffet -- which was not yet open for business. At $19.50 for dinner, the price seems a bit high by Vegas standards. But Burns had the chance to eat there last week with family members who work at the hotel and said it's worth the money.

Proof, perhaps, that you can take the art out of the museum, but you better not take the buffet out of the casino.

"There's shrimp this big," Burns said, holding her hands six inches apart. "And they're peeled!"

Yet no matter how impressive the Bellagio's trappings, Susan Dimino doesn't think she'll spend a night there. A veteran of hotel openings -- including the Mirage, Treasure Island and the Luxor -- the Las Vegas resident gave the Bellagio high marks.

Nonetheless, Dimino, 40, said if you've slept in one megaresort, you've slept in them all -- especially when rooms start at $159 a night.

"It's a hotel. It's a bed," she said. "Who cares? I'd rather just put a couple bucks in a machine, have a good time and then go home. It's still just a casino."