Spa Bellagio in Las Vegas Delivers Consistently Good Massage Treatments
by Susie Ellis

Sallie and I are in Las Vegas at Virtuoso’s Travel Mart where approximately 1,500 of Virtuoso’s top travel agents and 1,500 of their top resort and hotel property representatives meet yearly. It’s a time for agents to become more familiar with the products they book (cruises, properties, spas, etc.) and for strategic alliances to strengthen. It’s held at the Bellagio Hotel & Resort each year (fittingly since all attendees are used to five star travel and accommodations) and this is Spa Finder’s third year in attendance. We are their partners in selling spa vacations and teach a course to some of the top spa booking agents to become Spa Travel Specialists.

Except for the smoke in the casino, which I had to walk through several times a day on my way to sessions, I really like the Bellagio – as well as their spa.

In the training we give agents “insider info” so they can quickly become knowledgeable and skilled in understanding the differences between various spas all over the world. I love helping them learn the “DNA” of each hotel/resort or destination spa, so they can ultimately make an ideal match between their client and the best spa for them. It’s also fun to give them the vocabulary and resources necessary to talk like an expert – even if their client has been to many more spas than they have.

After the training class we went on a special tour of Spa Bellagio – all 65,000 square feet where we get to peek into various treatment rooms (including those where they do Ashiatsu), the waterfall and candled relaxation lounge (smelled too much like chlorine for my taste), the Watsu room, the bamboo movement studio, the gorgeous hair salon (where there were brides upon brides getting their up-dos), the soaking pools, fitness center (lots of neon and whirling fans), etc. It is a privilege to get this back house tour and the staff is very accommodating.

The day after our training I decided to treat myself to a spa treatment and was able to get a last minute booking for a sports massage (OK, not very adventurous but this was because my body needed it). Once again I was surprised at how good the Spa Bellagio therapists are. Don’t know how Shane and his staff do it…..but it is heartening to know that it is possible to train an army of therapists 100+ strong so that whatever treatment you get, you come out saying “wow, that was great.”