Bellagio

The Bellagio, a megahotel in Las Vegas containing nearly four thousand rooms and designed in a style that’s an elaborately detailed re-creation of a village by the side of Lake Como, is nothing if not memorable. The hyper-ornate lobby, with its Dale Chihuly glass flowers suspended from the ceiling, is madly over-the-top, and the sheer dedication to the 18th-century Italian style is awe-inspiring.

Thankfully the rooms take it down several notches, opting for a look that’s at least one part contemporary restraint to two parts Italianate opulence, and the views, especially in the Strip-facing rooms, are certainly impressive.

But you don’t come to Vegas to lock yourself in your room, which means you’re bound to be plunged back into the Bellagio’s atmosphere of excess: there’s the expected casino and spa, as well as a generous handfuls of bars, and restaurants by the likes of Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Wolfgang Puck. And how many hotels can boast of entertainment by the legendary Cirque du Soleil?