RESEARCH QUESTION: The $2.7 billion Wynn Las Vegas resort opened its doors on April 28, immediately becoming the Strip's It casino. With more than 2,700 rooms, it's also one of the largest. We wondered: With the surfeit of big-budget options available in Vegas these days, is the Wynn a winner?
METHODOLOGY: After giving the resort about a month to work out any kinks, we checked in on a Thursday night, securing a surprisingly reasonable rate of $209 for a double through http://www.wynnlasvegas.com . (According to the resort, in its first 34 days of operation, the Wynn operated at 91 percent capacity with an average room rate of $308.) We spent a day and a half exploring the casino, health club, pool, restaurants and anything else we could sneak into.
RESULTS: Steve Wynn has excellent penmanship.
Thank goodness. The developer's artfully scripted surname is stamped everywhere on his property, from the tip of the hotel tower to the teensy pillow atop the downy mound on beds. And Wynn Las Vegas is replete with touches from his previous Sin City projects -- Treasure Island, Mirage and, particularly, Bellagio.
We sat by the resort's entrance for 20 minutes and listened to the first reactions of other visitors. "This looks just like Bellagio!" was a common refrain. And so it does.
With its flowery entryway and corridors, giant water feature (fountains built around and on a pine-studded mountain), sumptuous casino, A-list restaurants and shops, and de rigueur mega-budget stage extravaganza ("Le Reve"), Wynn's new resort does its best to mimic its more opulent predecessor. Unfortunately, it has several things going against it.
The location doesn't help, surrounded by a big hole (the new Palazzo resort), the Fashion Show mall (interesting to look at but a mall nonetheless), the lowly New Frontier casino and the edge of Treasure Island, a 15-minute walk away. Skywalks are being built to adjoining properties, and ongoing development will make the site more dynamic, but right now it's in a world unto itself.
