Wynn Las Vegas

Wynn Las Vegas
Wynn Las Vegas;
Address	3131 Las Vegas Blvd South; Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
Opening date	April 28, 2005
Theme	Life Imitating Art
No. of rooms	2,716
Total gaming space	111,000 ft² (10,200 m²)
Permanent shows	Le Rêve
Signature attractions	Luxury Sports Car Dealership; Lake of Dreams
Casino type	Land-Based
Owner	Wynn Resorts Limited
Previous names	Desert Inn (which includes Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn, ITT Sheraton Desert Inn, and MGM Desert Inn)
Renovated in	none
Website	Wynn Las Vegas

Wynn Las Vegas, is a casino resort located on the Las Vegas Strip, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The resort is named after casino developer Steve Wynn and is the flagship property of Wynn Resorts Limited. The resort covers 215 acres.

Wynn Las Vegas is one of the tallest buildings in Las Vegas, towering 60 stories over the Strip. It is located at Las Vegas Boulevard South and Sands Avenue, diagonally from the Fashion Show Mall.

The 2,716 rooms range in size from 620 square feet (58 m²) to the villas at 7,000 square feet (650 m²) with a 111,000 ft² (10,200 m²) casino, a convention center with 223,000 ft² (20,700 m²) of space, 76,000 square feet (7,000 m²) of retail space.

History

The site was assembled by buying the Desert Inn Hotel and golf course for most of the land. The remainder was acquired by purchasing private residences that were generally located along Paradise Avenue. While some owners sold early on, others held out. This resulted in numerous legal actions between the various parties. In the end, the site acquired totaled 215 acres (870,000 m²).

Wynn Las Vegas LLC contracted with Marnell Corrao Associates on June 4, 2002 to design and build the resort. The original name for the project was "Le Rêve" but was changed to "Wynn Las Vegas" well before the project was complete. The original name lives on in the stage production. Built at a cost of US$2.7 billion, it was the largest privately-funded construction project in the nation. This compares with the budget for reconstruction with the World Trade Center site which at that time was projected to be $1.7 billion.

The historic Desert Inn Golf Course was rebuilt while the hotel was being constructed. The course is now known as Wynn Golf and Country Club.

Early advertising for the resort featured exterior images of the hotel tower, with Steve Wynn standing on the roof, just above his signature logo. The initial commercial aired in some local spots during the 2005 Super Bowl, and eventually national spots as opening drew near. A "teaser" website for the resort included both the commercial and a "making-of" video.

Wynn Las Vegas, designed by Jon Jerde, opened on April 28, 2005, Wynn's wife's birthday, the 55th Anniversary of the opening of the original Desert Inn, and five years from the day Steve Wynn purchased the site. When it opened, the Wynn had many firsts and notable features, including:

The first casino to combine the room key and the casino frequent-player card in one card
The first casino to include a car (Ferrari-Maserati) dealership
The world's largest distribution of HDTV, into hotel rooms using high-speed Cat-6 ethernet cables
The largest installation of Voice over IP technology for hotel phones

It was also among the first casinos to install RFID tags inside chips to better detect counterfeiting.

Inspiration and vision

Wynn purchased the Desert Inn hotel and casino to obtain property for his future dreams. The Desert Inn was imploded to make room for his new hotel project. Along the way, Wynn Resorts Limited was formed and continued development with Wynn being the controlling stock holder.

Wynn has stated that the major shift with this new resort is the concept of designing from the "inside out." In contrast to his previous hotels Bellagio, The Mirage, and Treasure Island, there is no Las Vegas Strip attraction to draw in passers-by. Instead, visitors must venture inside to see what the hotel is all about. Wynn has said that "there is no franchise in a casual observer, there is a franchise in a guest."

Attractions

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Ferrari-Maserati dealership sign

Penske-Wynn Ferrari-Maserati dealership

Wynn Las Vegas is the first casino to include a luxury car dealership. Brand new factory-authorized cars include the Ferrari and Maserati brands. Used cars are sold "as-is" and include other luxury car brands, with some cars on display ranging in price from little more than $100,000 to $1.6 million, such as the Aston Martin. The dealership also includes parts and other car-wares.

Non-buying guests of the resort can go into the dealership to take a look around. The cost of tickets was $10.00 when the resort opened, unless you were a Ferrari-Maserati owner, while kids got in for free. The Penske-Wynn is one of the few casino car exhibits in Las Vegas. Other exhibits can be found at the Imperial Palace and Caesars Palace. However, the Penske-Wynn Ferrari-Maserati dealership is the only casino/dealership in Las Vegas.

The dealership is placed near the valet parking of the resort, so that people can look at the model cars while waiting for their own cars to arrive.

The Wynn Art Collection

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The Wynn Gallery, which had charged an entrance fee, closed shortly after the start of 2006 as a result of poor ticket sales. The artwork from the former gallery are now scattered around the resort.

Lake of Dreams

In a departure from the trend established when The Mirage opened of providing free sidewalk attractions to draw in customers, Wynn Las Vegas is constructed so that visitors must enter the building to view the free attractions. The main attraction is a large, curtain waterfall behind a mountain that faces the strip. The waterfall falls into a 3 acre (12,000 m²) lake. Both the waterfall and lake have images displayed on them to produce a show called "Lake of Dreams". This show starts on the hour beginning in the afternoon. When the show is inactive, the waterfall creates an animated color sequence on the screen.

The show can be viewed from the Parasol Up (a bar and viewing area), and can be viewed through a glass window with no audio. Or, the show can be viewed from down-parsel, with a larger view. Visitors can go to the platform at the Parasol Down bar to view the show with full-blast audio. Diners can also choose some restaurants around the resort to get a full view of the show while dining. Kids under 18 are prohibited from going to Parasol Down.

Shows

Le Rêve

The first production show to open was Le Rêve. Le Rêve is set in a 1 million gallon water-oriented theatre where no seat is more than 40 feet (12 m) from the stage. The production was created by Franco Dragone and is similar to the shows produced by Cirque du Soleil.

Le Rêve was the working name of the resort before it was changed to Wynn Las Vegas. "Le Rêve" means "The Dream" in French, and the name of the centerpiece painting that Steve Wynn owns, Le Rêve by Picasso.

Most recently, Wynn Las Vegas brought the rights to the show from Dragone to make some changes, including the logo. Wynn now owns all rights to the show, with Dragone still in the label.

Main article: Le Rêve

Avenue Q

Avenue Q, a puppet and people musical which enjoyed considerable success on Broadway was the second production show to open at Wynn. It debuted on September 8, 2005 in the 1,200 seat Broadway Theatre and closed on May 28, 2006.

One of the main reasons why Avenue Q closed was, according to Steve Wynn, real estate land and money. Wynn contracted with Spamalot to perform at Wynn Las Vegas. However, in order to house Spamalot, a third theater needs to be built. The only room left for the theater was on the skirts of the golf course or in the middle of the convention spaces for the planned Encore expansion tower. Since Wynn did not want to invade the golf course or cut between the convention spaces of Encore and Wynn Las Vegas, he was forced to terminate the Avenue Q contract. Wynn was quoted as saying "Avenue Q was making money, but not enough money."

Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, is set to replace Avenue Q. The Broadway Theater will be replaced by the Grail Theater.

Nightclubs

Le Bête

This nightclub catered to high-rollers and tourists and included an attractive entrance with dog feet. The club was unsuccessful with this focus, and Wynn closed Le Bête. When the venue reopened, it was called Tryst; it boasts a large terrace with views of a private lake and towering waterfall. See below.

Tryst

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The original full-scale nightclub on the property, Le Bête, was temporarily closed during a redesign to improve performance. Le Bête reopened as Tryst [1] in 2006, with a popular weekly event called Retro on Sunday nights.

Tryst was named as one of the hottest nightclubs on the Strip by critics. It has been debated whether the club's name was meant to allude to a kind of love affair, (see Tryst), or the dance move of the same name. Steve Wynn himself later confirmed on his website that Tryst was indeed an allusion to an intimate romantic interlude.

Tryst rivals competing clubs designed by the Light Group for The Mirage and Bellagio, and is the flagship of the hotel's nightlife scene.

Lure

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Lure is the second nightclub and ultra-lounge of Wynn Las Vegas. It is one of two nightclubs that opened with the resort. Its counterpart club was the failed Le Bête, which has since been reopened as Tryst. Lure's convenient location just off the casino floor puts it in an increasingly popular class of establishments known "casino clubs". These clubs offer relaxing and intimate environments where patrons looking to escape the excitement of the casino can socialize and drink. Lure has been acclaimed by critics as one of the "hippest" clubs in the city. While Le Bête's successor, Tryst, has overshadowed Lure, the club has a strong and loyal following and is one of the most popular ultra lounge style clubs in the city. However, despite those reviews, Wynn claims that the club is not doing well and needs to be replaced. See below.

Vanity - The Original Sin

Vanity - The Original Sin is a new ultralounge club, set to be designed by James Sinclair and to replace Lure. It is expected to completed around January or February 2007.

Restaurants

Alex
Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare
Corsa Cucina
The Country Club - an American Steakhouse
Daniel Boulud Brasserie
Okada
Red 8 - Asian Bistro
Sugar & Ice (in the Wynn Esplanade)
SW Steakhouse
Tableau
Terrace Point Café
The Buffet
The Café
Wing Lei
Zoozacrackers

Shops and boutiques

Wynn Esplanade Shoppes

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Black Satin Intimates
Brioni
Chanel
Christian Dior
Manolo Blahnik
Cartier
Jean Paul Gaultier
Oscar de la Renta
Louis Vuitton
Jo Malone
Graff Jewelers
Judith Leiber
La Flirt
Wynn Signature Shop
Shoe-In
OutFit
Wynn & Company - Jewelry
Wynn LVNV
Chocolat (in Wynn LVNV)
San Georgio

In and around Wynn Las Vegas

Decorazzi
Bags, Belts & Baubles
Cabana Shop (on Pool Deck)
The Drugstore
Mojitos Resort Wear
The Pro Shop (near Wynn Golf & Country Club)
W.Ink
Penske-Wynn Ferrari-Maserati Shop (near Penske-Wynn dealership)
The Show Shop (near the Wynn Theatres)

Amenities

Wynn Golf and Country Club

The Wynn Golf and Country Club is the only golf course on the Las Vegas Strip. It was designed by Steve Wynn and Tom Fazio, who previously worked together on the Shadow Creek Golf Club, also in Las Vegas. Use of the course is restricted to hotel guests at a cost of $550 per round.

The Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas

The Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas consists of all rooms and suites in the southernmost section of the main tower. The corridors are separated on each floor into two sections and these rooms and suites have a private driveway and entrance, a separate check-in area and elevators, and a private pool area. In 2006, The Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas was evaluated independently from the rest of the property by Mobil Travel and received the first Mobil 5-Star Award ever awarded to a hotel in Las Vegas. (Wynn Las Vegas itself received the Mobil 4-Star Award).

Future developments

Spamalot

The Broadway Theatre is being renovated for the Las Vegas production of Spamalot, a Tony Award-winning comedic musical based on the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, scheduled to open in 2007.

Encore

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Steve Wynn with the Encore logo

On 28 April, 2006, the resort celebrated its one year anniversary by breaking ground on a second hotel tower. Called Encore, the tower will be a $1.74 billion, 2,054 room hotel project adjacent to the existing resort and on the remaining frontage of Las Vegas Blvd. Originally envisioned as an expansion of Wynn Las Vegas, Encore will be a full-scale resort and is set to open between Thanksgiving and Christmas, 2008.

Wynn Golf Course redevelopment

The land that the Wynn Golf Course currently sits on is becoming increasingly valuable in the wake of rising land prices on the Las Vegas Strip. Wynn has said he will eventually replace the golf course with a massive mixed use resort project similar to Project City Center. It is expected to include several boutique hotels along with a large central lake feature.