Wynn Casino
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. 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 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. Wynn Las Vegas and its sister property Encore Las Vegas collectively hold more Forbes five-star awards than any other casino-resort in the world. The Wynn Las Vegas also made Forbes Award history by earning five-star ratings in every category - Hotel, Restaurant, and Spa - for two consecutive years.
The 2,716 rooms range in size from 640 sq ft to the villas at 7,000 sq ft with a 111,000 sq ft casino, a convention center with 223,000 sq ft of space, and 76,000 sq ft 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, and it has 45 floors.
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. In the end, the site acquired totaled 215 acres.
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.
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.
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; 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.
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 lake. Both the waterfall and lake have images displayed on them to produce 11 different shows. These shows start every 15 minutes beginning at 8:30 p.m. and concluding at 1:30 a.m. 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.
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 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.
