The Bellagio is an triple-A Five-Diamond rated luxury hotel and casino in Las Vegas, located on The Strip. MGM Mirage holds ownership of this luxurious hotel and casino, and it was built on the site of the demolished Dunes hotel and casino.
Inspired by the Lake Como resort of Bellagio in Italy, Vegas' Bellagio is famed for its elegance. One of the most notable features of the Bellagio is an 8-acre artificial lake between the hotel and the Strip, which holds the famous Fountains of Bellagio. The Bellagio has been one of Vegas' most famous resorts since its inception. It employs approximately 10,000 people, and is visited by millions each year.
The Bellagio was conceived by Steve Wynn, an American casino resort developer, and built by his company, Mirage Resorts, Inc. Wynn is often considered as the man who changed Vegas. In 1989, his first major Strip casino, The Mirage, opened, setting a new standard in Vegas, making immediate history.
With his second project, the 1993 Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, Wynn proved once again that his vision for Vegas was different. The $450 million dollar resort was another instant smash with the public.
Wynn decided to take his standards for luxury a step further with Bellagio. Costing $1.6 billion, the Bellagio is credited with starting a new spree of luxurious developments in Las Vegas.
The former ground of the Bellagio, The Dunes Hotel, was a Las Vegas hotel and casino that operated from May 23rd, 1955 to January 26th, 1993. It was the tenth resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip.
Although the Dunes opened to much fanfare, it seemed doomed from the start. Other casinos in Vegas, such as the Sands Hotel, lent its executives to help out. Dunes execs were often borrowing money to stay in operation, and even recruiting celebrities, such as Frank Sinatra, who lent a famous surprise appearance dressed as a sultan.
In 1957, as a last desperate gasp to keep the casino open, the Dunes became the first hotel/casino in Nevada to offer a topless show, called Minsky's Follies. The Dunes set records for attendance shortly after.
The success would be short-lived, and financial investor, Masoa Nangaku of Japan would purchase the Dunes for $155 million, but could not return on the investment.
In one of the biggest Vegas losses ever, Nangaku sold the Dunes to Steve Wynn's company, Mirage Resorts, for $75 million in 1992. In 1993, the Dunes closed up shop for good, and on October 29th, Wynn brought the Dunes down and started the implosion (process of which explosives are systematically placed to bring a tall building down on itself) trend of Vegas.
With the destruction of the Dunes, Vegas celebrated the end of an era. The Dunes was originally built and controlled by the mafia, having been constructed from Teamsters' pension funds. When the construction of the Bellagio began in 1994, workers found four bags of Dunes casino chips buried at the site.
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