Bellagio named fourth-best hotel in world

Monday, July 16, 2001 | 11:04 a.m.

The Bellagio hotel-casino has been ranked the fourth-best hotel in the world by readers of Travel & Leisure, a major travel magazine.

The $1.6 billion Bellagio was surpassed only by the Four Seasons Resort Bali and Jimbara Bay, the Ritz-Carlton Chicago and the Ritz-Carlton Naples (Fla.) in this year's rankings, set for release in this week's issue. The rankings are derived from surveys sent in by the readers of the magazine, which has a circulation of more than 1 million.

"The Four Seasons (Bali) has 200 rooms, the Ritz Chicago has 400 rooms, the Ritz Naples has 250 rooms," said Randy Morton, vice president of hotel operations at the Bellagio. "We have 3,000 rooms. For our guests to stay here and feel the same experience, the same level of service and standards (as those smaller properties) is an incredible achievement, and it has everything to do with the commitment of the employees to give our guests five-star, five-diamond service."

And it should have a major impact on the Bellagio's bottom line, Morton said.

"Travel & Leisure carries a lot of clout," Morton said. "This will assist us in our goals of maintaining our (free-and-independent traveler) business increase and maintaining the high occupancy we currently have. Clients that may have gone to Four Seasons Maui may now say, 'Let's try the Bellagio for a getaway."'

The Bellagio posted an average occupancy rate of 96.7 percent for the first three months of 2001, and average daily rates of $195 per night. While the occupancy was down slightly from the first quarter of 2000, the ADR was up 14 percent.

Ironically, the Las Vegas hotel ran far ahead of the Grand Hotel Villa Serbellono of Bellagio, Italy, which ranked No. 95 in this year's survey.

The MGM MIRAGE-owned property wasn't the only Las Vegas property to make a showing on the list; Sheldon Adelson's Venetian ranked 42nd globally, while Four Seasons Las Vegas was ranked 67th.

In the United States and Canada category, five Las Vegas properties placed in the Top 100 -- Bellagio (No. 3), Venetian (No. 24), Four Seasons Las Vegas (No. 40), and Park Place Entertainment Corp.'s Caesars Palace (No. 90) and Paris Las Vegas (No. 97). Travel & Leisure noted the Bellagio moved up from 22nd in last year's survey, while the Venetian rose from No. 74 in 2000.