Flower Show

But you know what it’s really known for?

The flowers.

At least, that’s Sherry Moretti’s experience. Whenever people find out she works for the resort, the first words out of their mouths, she says, are “the flowers!”

And no wonder: massive arrangements of fresh and often exotic flowers inhabit every table, corner or space in the resort, spilling out in magnificent glory, perfuming the air with their fragrant scents.

It’s the same at The Mirage, Treasure Island, Four Seasons and Caesars Palace.

While most people may stop to smell the roses and even check their authenticity (yes, they’re real), they may give only a passing thought to their source or even the efforts expended to produce them.

“It’s really like playing a game and planning out your days. It takes some thinking on your feet,” Moretti says. “It’s quite a business in here.”

Moretti is referring to Bellagio’s floriculture department, of which she is manager. The department is nearly the equivalent of three flower shops in one warehouse that sits in the shadow of I-15.

There, a staff of 64, including 44 full-time floral designers and eight delivery drivers, produces dozens of floral arrangements for Bellagio, as well as The Mirage and Treasure Island.

Several resorts use in-house departments, dedicating staff members to designing flower displays on a daily basis, while others use a contractor, Moretti notes.

For their needs, going to an outside florist can be expensive and unreliable, she says.

They purchase the flowers at wholesale cost and bill each hotel at that rate plus a bit extra for labor. While Moretti wouldn’t give an annual budget, she did say that an average arrangement might cost $75 retail while the larger ones would be priced in the hundreds.

The department operates seven days a week, 365 days a year, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The number of flowers that go in and then out of the warehouse is staggering: In one week, it receives about 10,000 roses, 3,000 calla lilies, 2,000 hydrangeas and 500 cymbidium orchids, and an additional 20,000 stems of various flowers.

The department is responsible for two wedding chapels, three flower shops, two concierges, 19 restaurants and VIP rooms in all three resorts. Then there are the hotel displays guests see in the lobbies and other common areas. Thirty to 50 additional orders come in each day, Moretti says.

All of that is in addition to the people who go out every day to freshen the flowers. Arrangements are changed one to two times a week. In all, the department creates about 3,000 each month, in addition to the ongoing hotel needs, Moretti says.

Guests have come to expect flowers in a resort; it has even become a trend among high-end hotels, says Dale Wisniewski, horticulturist at Caesars Palace.

Two full-time designers create dozens of arrangements each day; a penthouse could have as many as 14 floral displays, Wisniewski notes. He declines to talk about the hotel’s floral budget, saying only that the company saves money by doing it in-house.

Other resorts, such as the Four Seasons, hire outside contractors to do their floral designs.

Two designers from Destinations by Design work on Four Seasons’ displays every day, says Mirian Menezes, a designer for the outside company. For the three main displays — in the lobby, at the staircase and near the guest elevator — Menezes uses about 500 to 600 roses each week and 150 to 200 stems of other flowers.

The Four Seasons’ floral needs are much smaller than Bellagio’s but no less grand. The resort budgets $250,000 a year on floral design, which includes lobby arrangements, weddings and banquet needs, says spokeswoman Erica Johnson-McElroy.

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-4564.