Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens

The Bellagio, a 1.6-billion-dollar hotel-casino developed by Steve Wynn and inspired by the villages of Europe, opened its doors on 15 October 1998, shortly before 11 p.m. The conservatory beside the lobby was among its attractions from that first night: the Las Vegas Sun reported that, of the roughly 15,000 people who came in, the biggest crowds gathered at the entrance to the conservatory, decorated with tens of thousands of live flowers. According to Wikipedia, citing the local press of the time, the space had first been planned as an outdoor garden.

The principle has not changed since: the beds are completely dismantled and replanted five times a year, for Chinese New Year and then for each season, each display costing around a million dollars and occupying more than a hundred workers for several days; the props are stored for reuse. In 2001 a shop devoted to the glass artist Dale Chihuly, creator of the Fiori di Como ceiling in the neighbouring lobby, opened in the conservatory. A life-sized candy village marked the Christmas display of 2012. In 2018, for the hotel's twentieth anniversary, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, as cited by Wikipedia, counted six million plants used in a hundred displays and 150 million visitors. In 2022 the resort added the Garden Table, a dining table set in the middle of the display. The hotel now belongs to MGM Resorts, whose horticulture team builds the installations; recent displays are designed by Ed Libby.

The conservatory occupies a volume grafted onto the reception lobby, straight ahead of the main entrance from Las Vegas Boulevard, and also connects with the luxury shops and the spa. The hotel's official fact sheet credits it with more than 14,000 square feet (about 1,300 m²) under a glass ceiling 50 feet (15 m) high; Wikipedia gives 13,500 square feet (1,250 m²) and other guides between 13,000 and 13,573 square feet. A Las Vegas guide describes clear glazing, curved into an arch, that lets daylight fall directly onto the beds and rests on ornate architectural details.

The glass roof covers four beds, north, south, east and west, separated by winding paths, which the horticulture team empties and refills at each change of display during a few days of closure. The rest of the engineering is out of sight: according to the operator, the garden's water comes from on-site wells fed by rain and the resort's recycled water rather than from the municipal supply, and is reused around the property; at the end of each display, plants without viable life are sent for composting. The resort was designed by the architect Jon Jerde, with interiors by Atlandia Design, Steve Wynn's in-house studio.

The conservatory has no permanent collection: it is a planted stage renewed five times a year, each display planned a year ahead to secure the flowers, plants and trees required. The Lunar New Year display, from January to mid-March, mixes bromeliads, orchids and the animal of the year's zodiac; spring, until May, combines tropical flowers and, more often than not, a butterfly house; summer, from Memorial Day weekend, long featured a large replica of the Liberty Bell among hydrangeas; autumn, from late September to Thanksgiving, rests on chrysanthemums and very large pumpkins; winter, after Thanksgiving, is built around a large Christmas tree and poinsettias. The autumn 2026 display, Casting Tranquility, gives the scale: 37,800 flowers and plants, 500,000 autumn-coloured leaves, heirloom pumpkins the largest of which weighs 687 pounds (over 300 kg), and animals sculpted from manzanita and driftwood.

The conservatory is visited freely, day and night, from the hotel lobby beneath Dale Chihuly's blown-glass ceiling Fiori di Como, a few steps from the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art and the fountains that dance on the lake facing the Strip. Allow thirty to forty-five minutes. The five annual installations, Lunar New Year, spring, summer, autumn and the holidays, are separated by a few days of closure for the changeover, worth checking before a visit. The Garden Table, which serves brunch and dinner in the middle of the beds, must be reserved. The garden fits naturally into a walk along the Strip, and the nearest monorail station is Horseshoe/Paris.