Wynn Las Vegas

Wynn Las Vegas
Facts and statistics
Address	3131 Las Vegas Blvd South Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
Opening date	April 28, 2005
Theme	Life Imitating Art Imperfect Dreams
No. of rooms	2,716
Total gaming space	111,000 sq ft (10,300 m2)
Permanent shows	Le Rêve
Signature attractions	Luxury Ferrari/Maserati Dealership Lake of Dreams Wynn Golf Club
Notable restaurants	Alex Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare Daniel Boulud Brasserie Okada "SW" "Tableau "Wing Lei"
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)
Years renovated	none
Website	Wynn Las Vegas

Wynn Las Vegas Resort and Country Club ("Wynn") is a luxury casino resort located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The US $2.7 billion resort is named after casino developer Steve Wynn and is the flagship property of Wynn Resorts Limited. The resort covers 215 acres (87 ha).

It is located at Las Vegas Boulevard South and Sands Avenue (on the N.E. corner), directly across The Strip from the Fashion Show Mall.

The 2,716 rooms range in size from 640 sq ft (59 m²) to the villas at 7,000 sq ft (650 m²) with a 111,000 sq ft (10,300 m²) casino, a convention center with 223,000 sq ft (20,700 m²) of space, and 76,000 sq ft (7,100 m²) of retail space. Together with the adjacent Encore which opened in late 2008, the entire Wynn resort complex has a total of 4,750 rooms. Its height is 614 ft (187 m), and it has 45 floors. The resort has earned AAA five diamond, Mobil five-star, and Michelin five-star ratings and is considered to be one of the finest hotels in the United States.

History

View north from Las Vegas Boulevard

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.^[1] In the end, the site acquired totaled 215 acres (87 ha).

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.^{[citation needed]}

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

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 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.

On May 12 and 13, 2007, Wynn dealers voted 444-149 in favor of representation by the Transportation Workers Union. The vote is a result of controversial policy changes made by Wynn to share tips with floor staff.^[2]

Features

Wynn has stated^{[citation needed]} that the major difference between the Wynn and many other Las Vegas hotels is that it was designed 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.

At its opening, the Wynn was the tallest hotel building on the strip (a record which lasted for two years). It was the first Vegas casino to feature a car (Ferrari-Maserati) dealership^[3] Other firsts:

• The Wynn combined the room key and the casino frequent-player card in one card
• 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.

Additionally, The Wynn is featured as a Top U.S. Hotel by the Zagat Survey. ^[4]

Attractions

Ferrari-Maserati dealership sign by YESCO

Penske-Wynn Ferrari-Maserati dealership

Wynn Las Vegas was the first resort 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. 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. When the resort opened, there was no fee to enter, but the dealership became so crowded that management began charging $10 for admission;^[5] registered Ferrari-Maserati owners are exempted from this fee, as well as children accompanying paying adults. The Penske-Wynn is one of the few casino car exhibits in Las Vegas metropolitan area. Other exhibits can be found at The Palazzo, Imperial Palace and Caesars Palace. However, the Penske-Wynn Ferrari-Maserati dealership along with Lamborghini Las Vegas showroom and dealership at The Palazzo are the only two casino/dealerships in the Las Vegas area.

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 cars are not the only thing that the resort offers with the Ferrari name. A Ferrari Store accompanies the dealership, Offering such goods as apparel, racing merchandise, electronics, and even a home gym all branded with the Ferrari logo. This is the first ever factory authorized Ferrari Store in North America and only the seventh in the world. The staff wear Ferrari pit crew outfits and a sound system blasts engine noises as would be heard on a race track.

Lake of Dreams

Artificial waterfall at the Wynn

In a departure from the trend established when The Mirage opened of providing sidewalk attractions to draw in customers, Wynn Las Vegas is constructed so that visitors must enter the building to view the attractions. The main attraction is a large, curtain waterfall behind a mountain that faces the strip. The waterfall falls into a 3 acres (1.2 ha) lake. Both the waterfall and lake have images displayed on them to produce 11 different shows.^{[citation needed]} These shows start every 15 minutes beginning at 8:30 p.m. and concluding at 1:30 a.m.^{[citation needed]} 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 Parasol Down, with a larger view. Visitors can go to the platform at the Parasol Down bar to view the show with full-volume audio. Those dining at SW Steakhouse or Daniel Boulud Brasserie may also have a full view of the show while dining.

Shows

Le Rêve

The first production show to open was Le Rêve. Le Rêve is set in a 1 million gallon water-oriented theater where no seat is more than 40 ft (12 m) from the stage. The production was created by Franco Dragone.

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 bought 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.

Avenue Q

Avenue Q, a Tony Award-winning 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.

Monty Python's Spamalot

Spamalot, a Tony Award-winning comedic musical based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, opened for previews on March 8, 2007, at Grail Theater (formerly, The Broadway Theatre). The official run began on March 31, 2007, and starred John O'Hurley as King Arthur through September 26, 2007. The show closed on July 13, 2008.

Danny Gans

On April 17, 2008, Wynn Resorts announced that Mirage headliner Danny Gans would move to the resort in February 2009.^[6] Gans moved into the theater formerly used by both Avenue Q and Spamalot, which was renamed Encore Theater and is marketed as part of the Encore expansion. Gans died on May 1, 2009.

Garth Brooks

On October 15th 2009 Garth Brooks announced that he would be coming out of retirement to play a continuing set of weekend shows at Wynn starting in December 2009. Brooks will occupy the facility left vacant after the death of Danny Gans. The first set of shows will take place on the weekends of: Dec. 11-13 2009 Jan. 1-3 2010 Jan. 22-24 2010 Feb. 12-14 2010 and Feb. 26-28 2010

Steve Wynn has refused to divulge the financial portion of the agreement however he has said that Wynn will provide Brooks with a private jet so that he can quickly get between Las Vegas and his home in Oklahoma.

Nightclubs

Tryst

Tryst is the main club located in Wynn Las Vegas, famous for having a 90 ft waterfall and lake in the middle of the club.

XS

XS is the new flagship of Encore's nightlife scene.

Blush

Blush opened on Labor Day 2007.

Restaurants

Shops and boutiques

Wynn Esplanade Shoppes

In Wynn Las Vegas

Amenities

18th green

Wynn Golf and Country Club

The Wynn Golf Course 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, in neighboring North Las Vegas.

The Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas

The Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas consists of all rooms and suites in the separated southernmost section of the main tower. These 296 rooms, all 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 Guide for their 2007 ratings. It was awarded the first Mobil Five-Star rating ever awarded to a hotel in Las Vegas.^[8] Wynn Las Vegas itself received the Mobil Four-Star rating. In 2009, the Wynn Tower suites share their 5-star rating only with the 51 Skyloft Suites at the MGM-Mirage for all of Nevada.

Encore

On April 28, 2006, the resort celebrated its one-year anniversary by breaking ground on a second hotel tower.^[9] Called Encore the tower is a $2.3 billion, 2,034-room hotel project adjacent to the existing resort and on the remaining frontage of Las Vegas Blvd. Encore opened on December 22, 2008.

Future development

Wynn Golf Course redevelopment

Wynn Resorts are developing a long-range master plan for the 142-acre (0.57 km²) golf course that will include a large mixed-use hotel, casino entertainment resort complex. The complex may include multiple waterfront hotels built around a lake offering water sports and other entertainment. The complex also may include multiple restaurants, retail offerings and entertainment venues. Wynn Resorts have not yet developed specific plans for such a complex, and there can be no assurance that such plans will be developed. Wynn Resorts cannot predict the cost of such a development or whether Wynn Resorts will be able to obtain the necessary financing for the development on suitable terms, if at all. It is not expected that any construction on the golf course land would begin before 2009.^[10]

Additional villas

In February 2007, Wynn Las Vegas submitted a request for approval to construct four additional villas on the South side of the property, which would bring the total number of villas to ten. The description of the new villas closely matches that of the six existing villas on the property.^[11]

Notes

References

External links

Wikinews has related news: World's most expensive hotel-casino opens in Las Vegas

• Official Wynn Las Vegas website

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Coordinates: 36°07′46″N 115°09′58″W / 36.12944°N 115.16611°W / 36.12944; -115.16611