A very interesting article about Wynn Resort in Las Vegas, even though it is not related to Macau, this story will still give us a real insight in what we can expect from Steve Wynn in Macau.

Let’s face it Steve Wynn has made Las Vegas, like Stanley Ho has made Macau what it is today, so it will be interesting how Steve Wynn is going to shape up Macau in the next 5 years or so.

By JOHN MOORE, from TORONTO STAR

Wynn’s Sleek Style Stands Out On The Strip

Nobody since gangster Bugsy Siegel in the 1940s has done more to make Las Vegas what it is today than magnate Steve Wynn.

With his clutch of developments from the venerable Golden Nugget to the innovative Mirage and Treasure Island to the super-splendid Bellagio — each surpassing the last in opulence — he has reshaped the city. Some love it, others despise it: Robert De Niro’s character scorned it as “Disneyland” in the movie Casino.

But it’s hard to argue with success: more than 38 million people visited Vegas last year, chasing the lure of easy money for sure, but also to experience the lavish lifestyle … if only for a few days.

Wynn’s Las Vegas resort — the $2.7-billion fantasy palace which opened in April, 2005 — is the pinnacle of that trend (at least until the next one comes along).

Isolated from the clamour of the Strip behind a 45-metre-high tree-and-bush-covered wall, the main building is striking: A gleaming, burnished gold crescent that stands out even among the volcanoes, mini-Eiffel Towers and sphinxes that populate Las Vegas Blvd. Inside, a waterfall cascades 20 metres into a sculpture-filled pool that forms the centrepiece of a nightly light show.

The hotel interior really is another world. While in most Vegas hotels you’re assaulted by blaring neon, Wynn’s interior is gracefully decorated in soft colours with whimsical upside-down parasols hanging from the ceilings, mosaics adorning the floors and a profusion of flowers everywhere, all bathed in natural light from the atrium.

Even the casino — the heart of any Vegas hotel — seems understated.

“It’s quieter in here,” said Bill Hobbs of Wisconsin as he punched away at the buttons of a Blazing 7s machine. “It seems like the slots aren’t clanging away like they do in all the other casinos.”

When you check in, you get a credit-card sized pouch that contains your room card — and a map to help you navigate through the property. It may take a while to find your room, but the effort’s worth it. The rooms and suites have the feel of ultra-chic apartments, with floor-to-ceiling windows that give a dazzling view of the Strip and the mountains beyond.

Room décor includes reproductions of paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Gauguin and many others from Wynn’s private collection (displayed in the hotel’s art gallery).

There’s a huge, wall-mounted flat-screen high-definition television as well as all the playthings that any business person could imagine — mobile phones, fax machines and high-speed Internet.

The bathrooms, which are enormous and also contain a TV, have marble soaking tubs, glass shower cubicles, bathrobes, cosmetics tables and mirrors and a separate room for the toilet … equipped with telephone, of course.

There’s even a mini-bar, a rarity in Vegas since most hotels would rather have you impairing your judgment at the gaming tables than in your room.

But be careful of the little snack tray on the table by the bar. It comes with a warning, and not about the health hazards of its selection of “gourmet” potato chips, jelly beans or chocolate chip cookies.

Go ahead and check out the products, it tells you, but if you lift them off the tray and don’t put them back within 60 seconds, you might just as well dig in — a sensor located under each item will already have charged it to your account.

For more substantial fare, the resort has 15 restaurants featuring, among others, Italian, Japanese, Southeast Asian and French cuisines.

I had dinner at celebrity chef Daniel Boulud’s Brasserie — home of the $32 hamburger, stuffed with truffles, short ribs and foie gras and, yes, you do get fries with that — while enjoying the light show on the waterwall.

Blockbuster shows have been a major part of Wynn’s success story.

Here, you’ll find La Rêve, created by Cirque du Soleil and Celine Dion impressario Franco Dragone; Avenue Q closed in May, and, in 2007, the Tony Award-winning Monty Python musical Spamalot will open in a specially-built theatre.

And what would a luxury hotel be without its own Ferrari/Maserati dealership?

Yep, right in the basement you can pick up a smooth new ride or have your old one fixed: There’s a full-service repair and body shop which, with its gleaming white tiles, looks about as much like a garage as I look like Brad Pitt. You almost expect the mechanics to be decked out in tuxedos.

With all that — plus a Tom Fazio-designed golf course for the exclusive use of resort guests (greens fee — $500), spa and fitness facilities, business and convention services, etc. — the knock against Wynn’s is that it’s too luxurious and it’s taking Vegas into a realm inhabitated only by the uber-rich.

That may be — Donald Trump is opening an exclusive condominum-hotel complex on the Strip in 2008 — but it seems that in Vegas, the sky truly is the limit.