Winning Day For New Wynn Las Vegas
Published: Friday, April 29, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
WINNING DAY FOR NEW WYNN LAS VEGAS
Most expensive land casino resort yet
opens doors this week
The U.S. press was full of big news from Las Vegas
this week - the most expensive casino in the world was to start operations Thursday,
confirming a resurgent gambling Mecca with all the style and razzmatazz for which
this city is world renowned.
The $2.7 billion Wynn Las Vegas resort, fronted
by a tree-covered artificial mountain, opens at a time of record tourism and booming
real-estate prices.
Steve Wynn, the gaming magnate known for creating
casino resorts like The Mirage has become something of a celebrity himself, starring
in a television commercial standing astride the rooftop of the gleaming 50-story
bronze tower of his latest investment.
Already just the promise of the
new resort's opening has upped the ante for rival Las Vegas destinations, analysts
say.
"Every time a major resort opens with the kind of profile that
all of Wynn's properties have enjoyed, it causes everyone else to enhance their
amenities," said Erika Yowell, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
spokeswoman.
Several major Strip casinos have added upscale hotel towers
or will soon open new ones, including Caesars Entertainment Inc.'s Caesars Palace.
Mandalay Resort Group in December 2003 opened THEhotel adjacent to Mandalay Bay,
and the Bellagio, owned by MGM Mirage, opened a spa tower, complete with a fountain
of liquid chocolate, last December.
Although he is excited about his hotel's
complicated design with its asymmetrical roof and horizontal white lines, Wynn
said the resort's success will come down to service and employees that show a
greater interest in making guests happy.
Speaking at a conference last
week in Los Angeles, Wynn said the 9,500 employees have been told not to worry
about money or failure. Such things are inevitable in a new operation and a new
building. Their one charge, he said, is to not let guests leave unhappy, whether
it takes reversing a charge or even returning a bet.
"The only thing
that matters is that the people who come to this environment be happy and playful.
It's not about us, it's about them," he said.
Originally branded
"Le Reve" after a Picasso painting, but later changed in a brand unifying
exercise the new resort is said to be the ultimate in luxury. The company's Web
site boasts that "Michelangelo took four years to complete the Sistine Chapel.
Your room took five." The 2,700 rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows with
views of the Strip, the mountain and lake, or the resort's 18-hole golf course.
The complex offers 18 restaurants, some run by celebrity chefs, theatres,
a spa and dozens of designer boutiques along with a Ferrari Maserati dealership.
With 37.4 million tourists visiting the city last year and predictions of another
record this year, the new complex will be receiving some close attention as the
latest attraction in a fun city.
