Hospitality Design - March/April 2017 - 70

perspectives

interview roger thomas

A peacock waits at the end of a corridor at the spa, designed by TAL Studio

A gilded red cherry tree is a focal point at Mizumi from Vicente Wolf Associates

the way, I completely reinvented a line of
plumbing because I don't want anybody to see
anything that's in there and say, 'Oh, look, that's
just like when we were staying at...' It can be
the most elevated reference in the world, but
it still doesn't make it a unique set of dramatic
experiences, which is what I want.

Of all the standouts, what are some of
your favorite moments at the hotel?

The windows at Café Fontana perfectly frame the resort's fountain show

and exquisite. Thankfully, they have to do with
wealth and abundance, so they're good. But as
many questions as we asked, after we opened we
had a few discoveries.

What other fun, lavish materials did
you use?

The registration desk in the VIP registration area
is done in real lapis lazuli inlaid with mother
of pearl because just lapis lazuli isn't enough.
[Laughs] And malachite, rare emerald green onyx,
tiger eye, rock crystal, lots of gilding and ormolu,
and polished brass everywhere.

How do you approach a project of this
scale?

We get to build a full-scale model of every
guestroom and every suite in Las Vegas. We get
to hammer on it for two or three years, testing
ourselves. We have a great time with trying
different fabrics, different carpets, different paint
colors, and different light fittings.

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March/April 2017 hospitalitydesign.com

We also build a full-scale model of our casino.
And that gets beat up, and visited, and used and
reused, and reevaluated. While we were designing,
the hotel gaming regulations changed, restaurant
regulations changed, room regulations changed,
code regulations changed. Macau is a fast-paced,
growing area with an amount of construction that
engenders constant bureaucratic scrutiny and
reevaluation, and we had to participate in all of that.

When rethinking the guestrooms and
suites, what did you do differently?

We've always excelled at guest comfort and
convenience, but we were able to take it a
step further. Every single drawer you open is
completely fitted with whatever goes in it. If
there's a stemware glass, it's nestled in a suede
receptacle of exactly its dimensions-and that
goes for every teacup, every sugar packet. We
got really maniacal in drilling down to your
expectations of opening drawers and finding
4
exactly what you need inside of them. Along

Creating our two most opulent restaurants and
a bar: Wing Lei Palace and Wing Lei Palace
Bar, and Café Fontana. They were absolutely
the greatest flights of fancy that we got to take
and great fun. We have a fountain in the front
yard that makes Bellagio look like our training
wheels. Bellagio was just a learning experience
to allow us to do this fountain.

What can you tell us about the Wynn
Boston Harbor, set to open in 2019?

It's just north of downtown on the Mystic River,
and it's going to be beautiful. Alex is taking the
lead; I'm the éminence grise for this project.
It's a new expression in casino design that we
haven't done before but will have some of our
favorite Wynn amenities.

What's next for you?

It's time to redo much of what we've already
done. So we're reinventing spaces. We've got an
enormous new race and sports book restaurant
coming into Wynn Las Vegas. We're reinventing
a new gaming area for Encore Las Vegas. We're
adding the Wynn Plaza retail esplanade in Las
Vegas. It's constant and forever. We're completely
rethinking our Italian restaurant at Wynn Macau.
We're the painters of the Golden Gate Bridge-the
minute we get done, we have to start over. hd
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