Luxury Travel Advisor - November 2007 - (Page 65) STEVE WYNN (opposite), chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts, is widely recognized as a key catalyst of Las Vegas’s luxury evolution. SALON SUITES (living room shown, above) are among the offerings in WYNN RESORTS Chairman and CEO: Stephen A. Wynn Hotels: Wynn Las Vegas (www.wynnlasvegas.com), opened in 2005, with 2,716 rooms and suites; an approximately 111,000square-foot casino; 22 food and beverage outlets; an 18-hole golf course; approximately 223,000 square feet of meeting space; an on-site Ferrari and Maserati dealership; and approximately 76,000 square feet of retail space. Encore is slated to open in late 2008 as an expansion of Wynn Las Vegas. Wynn Macau (www.wynnmacau.com), opened in September 2006, with 600 rooms and suites; approximately 110,000 square feet of casino gaming space; four restaurants; 26,000 square feet of retail space; a health club, pool and spa; lounges; and meeting facilities. Wynn Las Vegas’s exclusive Tower Suites collection. Kirk [Kerkorian], but that I sold them because I wanted to start over and own more of it myself,” Wynn tells Luxury Travel Advisor. “Kirk and I discussed it and that’s how the sale came about.” Wynn, in fact, had already begun his next move, having purchased the legendary Desert Inn, which sat on prime real estate on the Las Vegas Strip. On it he planned to build Le Rêve, the resort that would later be renamed Wynn Las Vegas. But what would he build? His strategy was simple enough. The new project was going to have to surpass Bellagio as the most luxurious resort in Las Vegas. “Not such an easy thing to do,” Wynn says, admitting, however, that having an insider’s track would help. “I knew about the strengths and the weaknesses of that hotel more than anyone else because I had designed and operated it with my friends and we understood what we did right and what we did wrong.” A more external, more discouraging challenge for Wynn was that a mammoth shopping center was going in across the street from the Desert Inn; its dramatic façade was likely to compete with any of his own designs.“I said, ‘Well, it’s going to dominate the Strip, this thing they’re building. It’ll destroy the front of my hotel. I’ll be defined by this ugly thing across the street,’” says Wynn. The solution—and of course there was one—played out like this: That evening, Wynn relayed his challenge to his wife, Elaine. “She asked me, ‘Why are you so concerned about the Strip and the walk-in [experience]? That’s not based on what they see (which was the prem- November 2007 | LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR 65 http://www.wynnlasvegas.com http://www.wynnmacau.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.