The day has finally arrived: Wynn Las Vegas, five years in the making, will open at midnight tonight. I’ve been lucky enough to be invited on the sneak peak media tour at 10, so I’ve got a 2-hour jump on the general public. I’ll post some of my thoughts here, and I’ll be basing the epilogue of Roll the Bones around the experience.
From the LVRJ:
After a design and construction period in which the Desert Inn was demolished and the golf course renovated, Wynn Las Vegas is ready to be judged by the public, opening five years to the date the casino developer completed the purchase of the Desert Inn on wife Elaine’s birthday.“Bobby Baldwin (Wynn’s former chief executive) told me the beauty contest starts in April,” Wynn said last week. “I didn’t respond to his beauty contest comment because it’s a beauty contest between me and me, and I don’t intend to be the first runner-up.”
The opening of Wynn Las Vegas marks his return to active casino ownership after a five-year hiatus since the sale of his company to MGM Grand.
Wynn, 63, will compete for market share against the three nearby Strip resorts — the Bellagio, Treasure Island and The Mirage — he designed and built, as well as other neighboring mega-resorts.
Nine days before the opening, Wynn gave the Review-Journal an impromptu hour-long tour of the new hotel.
Last minute construction on interior features throughout the public areas made walking the property with Wynn somewhat hazardous. Thick foam panels and plywood protected the marble flooring and delicate walkway tile work from damage, especially in the retail promenade. Undaunted, Wynn was determined to give a sneak peek of his favorite design features.
Wynn likes to describe how the new resort was created “from the inside looking out,” with the intention of giving hotel guests, rather than passersby on the Strip, the best view of the features designed into the mountain.
“The mountain is the back of stage,” Wynn said. “It’s pretty, but it also creates a sense of intrigue.”
The casino is hidden behind shops, restaurants and a sizeable garden illuminated with natural light by a large atrium, similar to the conservatory at the Bellagio. Wynn said the colorful flowering plants and vegetation in the his new garden would be changed out on a seasonal basis.
The mountain, decorated with a lush landscaping that includes numerous imported plants and trees and varying elevations, is the property’s dominating feature. Several of the property’s signature restaurants, the La Bete nightclub and the hotel lobby are accentuated by the mountain, that drops into a three-acre lake with different water levels.
Waterfalls, some as high as 100 feet, fountains and other animated highlights hide the sounds of the bustling Strip that is just over the mountain’s opposite side. Other Strip resorts can not be seen, giving the guest a feeling of seclusion.
“We have created all these different moments, each one is a creation unto itself,” Wynn said.
Wynn’s favorite restaurant is Okada, the Japanese restaurant named for his partner and investor in Wynn Resorts Ltd., Kazuu Okada, the chairman of Aruze Corp. Several dining tables are available outside with the lake and mountain and a 75-foot waterfall as the backdrop.
If you’re going to be there tonight, good luck; if not, check back in tomorrow for my take on the opening.