STRIP MEGARESORT: Wynn creation opens

28.04.2005, Lesen Sie hier den Bericht über «STRIP MEGARESORT: Wynn creation opens».

Thursday, April 28, 2005, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Countdown inaugurates hotel's start

By HOWARD STUTZ, GAMING WIRE

FOTO: Crowds file into Wynn Las Vegas today after the marquee counts down just after midnight. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Five years of design, construction and mystery came to an end at 12:01 this morning. But was it worth the wait?

The opening of the $2.7 billion Wynn Las Vegas drew several large crowds Wednesday evening.

Ordinary folks waited near the main entrances for the public unveiling shortly after midnight, and more than 2,000 guests paid either $7,500 or $1,500 for a private grand opening charity gala.

The gala included a sampling of food from the property's signature restaurants and the premiere of "Le Reve," the Franco Dragone-directed water-themed production show.

Michael and Julie Cenko of Las Vegas started waiting outside the megaresort at 4 p.m. in hopes of being among the first inside.

"I'm going in with zero expectations, just ready to enjoy myself," Michael Cenko said. "If what they have is half as good as the hype, it will be worth it."

Tinkering up to the last minute, developer Steve Wynn, interviewed about 10 minutes after midnight, said the public opening was delayed slightly while workers arranged trash receptacles for people to toss their beer cans.

Then Wynn quickly observed the public response.

"It's always fascinating to watch people enter the thing and get their first moment after we open the doors," Wynn said. "What I think about it is irrelevant at this point. The place has been turned over to the public."

The resort's 2,716 rooms and suites open today for paying guests. By this weekend, Wynn Las Vegas will be a packed house.

Unlike the first nights of other Strip resorts, fireworks were not planned. A simple countdown on the Wynn Las Vegas marquee on Las Vegas Boulevard signaled the opening.

Bob Maheu, former right-hand man to multimillionaire Howard Hughes, who once owned the Desert Inn, the site of Wynn Las Vegas, was impressed.

"I think Howard Hughes would have loved this," Maheu said. "He wasn't a builder, he was a buyer. I think Steve did a fabulous job."

Monday and Tuesday of this week were reserved for "employee play-days," where workers and family members took turns acting as guests, staying in the rooms, eating in the restaurants and gambling in the casino with fake money to ensure all of the opening night bugs would be worked out of the system.

For Wynn, the opening of the Strip's most expensive property could be termed anticlimactic.

Other than the last-minute tinkering for which he has become famous, the casino developer already was making plans for his next project: the $1.4 billion, 2,000-room Encore, which will break ground this summer next to Wynn Las Vegas.

"To me, these places and life are an exercise," Wynn said. "You're always testing your potential, and, by definition, you should never be satisfied. But if you're a true student of what you're doing and a lover of your business activity, then you study what you've done to understand what you could have done better."

He said he always has focused on the next development, which is one reason why Wynn Las Vegas took five years to complete.

He knows visitors to Wynn Las Vegas will be comparing the property with others he has developed and to what follows.

"The question is, `Physically, is there a comparison?' " Wynn said. "That's a fair question. But there is nothing worse than a developer talking about their own stuff. The language just gets exhausted. `Five star,' `world class,' all that kind of talk. Who doesn't say that? Every schmuck with a Motel 6 has the same crap."

Bill Thompson, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas professor who specializes in gaming, said the Wynn Las Vegas opening easily could be termed, "the city's most important opening to date."

Thompson said that unlike previous openings when Wynn relied on some sort of gimmick -- he imploded the Dunes in 1993 for the opening of Treasure Island -- the hotel is the story.

"Steve Wynn's openings are always a catalyst for something else," Thompson said. "This opening is truly the largest the city has seen because it's been a while since we've had something like this and it's the start of another new (building) wave. With other new casinos, you kind of knew what they were going to have. This is much larger."

Unlike the MGM Grand, which opened as a nonunion resort in 1993, and nonunion The Venetian in 1999, labor union pickets complaining about the treatment of workers did not disrupt the opening of the unionized Wynn Las Vegas.

"Wherever (Las Vegas Sands Corp. and The Venetian Chairman) Sheldon Adelson goes, a lawsuit seems to follow," Thompson said. "That doesn't happen with Steve Wynn."

For the past six months, Strip resorts have been running close to 100 percent occupancy on the weekends, tourism officials said.

So the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority welcomes the added 2,716 rooms from Wynn Las Vegas.

Terry Jicinsky, the convention authority's senior vice president of marketing, said officials would have difficulty determining whether Wynn Las Vegas is reason for any increased visitation this weekend or subsequent weekends.

But visitor studies have shown that tourists will flock to new attractions.

"Clearly, Wynn Las Vegas is going to drive foot traffic on the Strip," Jicinsky said. "We know people will want to check out the new property."

Wynn Las Vegas is the fourth Strip resort Wynn has built. The Mirage, Bellagio and Treasure Island were sold to MGM Grand in 2000. But Wynn does not long for his former properties.

"I never identify with these projects," Wynn said. "I don't identify with buildings. Every time I built a new hotel, I moved into the new one.

"The Golden Nugget (Wynn's first major resort development) was my life from 1973 to 1989, but when The Mirage opened, I didn't go downtown more than twice a year."

Still, he admits to being proud of what he has brought to Las Vegas.

"I look at the fountains (at Bellagio) and say, `What a cool thing,' " Wynn said. "I'm happy to have played a part in bringing them here."

His wife, Elaine Wynn, wandered the resort Wednesday evening, administering to last-minute details.

"I am elated. We have major events over the next three days, and I am in charge of them," she said. "I'm just making sure everything is ready to go."

Steve Wynn said the one drawback in building Wynn Las Vegas was not having another resort that could help offset startup costs.

About 10,000 workers had to be hired, and computer systems and equipment had to be bought.

"Whenever you had sister properties, it was an advantage of millions upon millions of dollars," he said. "The good news is that we're using the highest tech systems. The bad news is they are expensive and making them work is a daunting challenge."

Those waiting along the resort's Strip and Sands Avenue entrances Wednesday evening were able to gamble in the casino and tour the property once let inside.

Most of the visitors were expected to head toward views of the $130 million man-made mountain, from the hotel side. The richly vegetated design that, from the Strip, hides much of Wynn Las Vegas' lower levels, is the focal point of the resort.

Review-Journal writer Chris Jones contributed to this report.

Über Wynn Las Vegas:

Das Casino/Hotel 'Wynn Las Vegas' am Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas USA wurde vom Immobilienmogul Steve Wynn finanziert und gebaut.

Das Wynn Las Vegas ist mit seinen 50 Stockwerken das zur Zeit das höchste Hotel in Las Vegas und mit den Baukosten von rund 2,7 Milliarden US Dollar eines der teuersten Hotels der Welt.

Das Grundstück umfasst ein 10'200 m2 grosses Spielcasino, einen 12'000 m2 grossen See, 18 Restaurants und Bars, 26 Geschäfte auf 7'000 m2, eine Kunstgalerie und zwei Hochzeitskapellen. Darüberhinaus gibt es ein 20'700 m2 grosses Konferenzzentrum. Es ist das einzige Hotel in Las Vegas, welches seinen Gästen einen Golfplatz mit 18 Löchern innerhalb des Komplexes zu Verfügung stellt. Für die Restaurants wurden eigens Spitzenköche engagiert.

Wynn Las Vegas Lage am Las Vegas Strip bietet einfachen Zugang zum Las Vegas Convention Center, Fashion Show Mall und Sands Expo Center. Unser von Tom Fazio und Steve Wynn entworfene Meisterschafts-Golfplatz kann ausschliesslich von Hotelgästen genossen werden. Alle unsere Tagungsräume bieten freie Sicht auf die luxuriösen Pools und Gärten oder den charakteristischen 18. Loch Golfplatz.

Das Casino bietet die gesamte Palette an Tischspielen, einschliesslich Blackjack, Big 6, Craps, Caribbean Stud Poker, Roulette, Let-it-Ride, Pai Gow Poker, Pai Gow, Three Card Poker und War. Als Gast unseres Resorts können Sie auch am Pool an der Cabana Bar Blackjack spielen.

Das Hotel liegt auf dem Gelände des abgerissenen Hotel/Casino «Desert Inn».

Besitzer ist die Firma Wynn Resorts Limited.

--- Ende Artikel / Pressemitteilung STRIP MEGARESORT: Wynn creation opens ---


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