Large hotels with thousands of rooms such as the Bellagio in Las Vegas often have plenty of advantages such as a wide choice of dining options and extensive leisure facilities, but they can have their downsides, too. Consider a number of factors before making a reservation at a large hotel.
Large hotels have lots of rooms, and that means lots of people, which in turn almost certainly means lots of waiting in line. If you arrive at a busy time--say between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. when many guests are checking out or checking in--you could find yourself waiting ages before you register and are shown to your room. Then you might have to wait for a table at your preferred restaurant or join a long queue for the leisure attractions that prompted you to choose a large hotel in the first place. Those thousands of guests increase the risk of there being a mix-up that results in a mistake in your bill. All this can make your stay anything but relaxing.
If you choose a really large hotel, then you might well be allocated a room that's a long, long way from all the action--and that means you could find yourself doing a lot of walking instead of enjoying the sort of restful break you had in mind. Just think: first you have to walk to breakfast, then you walk back to your room to change for the pool, then you trek to the pool, then it's back to the room to get ready for lunch, plus there are all those hikes to and from reception. Get the picture? You could easily need another vacation to recover from all that walking.
The sheer noise and bustle you inevitably find at a large hotel when it's busy can also spoil your stay. This is fine if you always like things to be lively, but not if you want to wind down after, say, a hectic spell at work. And there are other things to think about. For example, some large resort hotels are located well away from towns and other places where you can go sightseeing. This is perfect if you want to get away from it all, but it can leave people who like to have a change of scene after a day on the beach feeling isolated and cut off.
Even the best-run hotels can have spells when the staff are simply run off their feet by the number of guests--and obviously the risk of this happening is greater at larger properties. And this can mean that you are kept waiting. You wait for your well-deserved cocktail, you wait for the menus to be brought to you and you find your stomach rumbling as you wait for your food to be served. Many large properties simply lack the personal touch.
