Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

Sweet! I look forward to seeing you all at the opening!

The language in the release is typical Wynn-flowery, but Encore does sound great.
Five new signature restaurants? I hope Mark LoRusso of Tableau gets a new restaurant at Encore.
I'd also like a few of the "seven cozy bars and lounges" to include spaces like Bellagio's Petrossian Bar and Baccarat Lounge.

The Wynn suites sound awesome. 60,000 feet alloted for that structure, its hard to think about but I hope it has the same feel as the wynn. Maybe they'll include a few more night clubs in there like blush and tryst. Well anything that Steve Wynn makes, I want to see because I stayed in the Wynn once and I'm still in awe.

More than $1 million per room, and Steve Wynn says almost all of the money is going into the suites. He expects the rooms to command the best rates in Las Vegas, as Wynn Las Vegas does now.

As for the opening date, Wynn didn't want to over-promise and under-deliver on the opening, so he held back on promising a December opening until he was certain his builder Tudor Saliba could deliver. (Unlike a certain neighbor to the south.) December openings are best for LV resorts for a couple of reasons: traditionally slow business during the month allows kinks to be ironed out (although Encore's's opening will almost certainly attract a crush of visitors) and enables the resort to capitalize on the big-money New Year's Eve, Super Bowl and Chinese New Year weekends that will soon follow.

From talking to people I know who live out of town, and who follow Las Vegas doings, Encore's opening is going to be a very big deal because people are very, very excited to see what Steve Wynn comes up with to top the Wynn. As far as the nightclub goes, let's hope it's something different than Tryst and Blush. Those have already been done, and on the same property no less. Blush is cool, and Tryst is simply the most beautiful venue in town. But, they don't need a clone.

As far as the rooms go, I think those are the most eagerly anticipated part of the hotel.

I just wish the press release had a bit more 'factiness' in lieu of florid prose. But yes, if there's one realm in which Steve Wynn's track record absolutely smokes that of Sheldon Adelson, it's in being able to open a property for maximum impact -- although I was back at Palazzo during the shoe expo and business had really picked up.
Both Espressamente Illy and Dos Caminos can be endorsed without reservation ... though I'd recommend visiting them in reverse order.

I'm just hoping it opens that extra-slow week before Christmas as that's the only time in December when I'm completely free.

Looks like www.encorelasvegas.com will be the official site considering that it reverts back to WLV's address. Keep your eyes peeled.

Looky looky what I found...

http://wynnmeetings.com/brochures/downloads/Encore.pdf

Wynn had composer names for his meeting rooms at WLV. Sure hope he sticks with those names for Encore.

Duh, I forgot all about checking for floor plans. I used to do this religiously as WLV was ramping up. All sorts of nuggets can be found on these Web servers.

Nice find and I'm going to see if anything else is out there.

Posted by mike_ch

I do think the importance of openings is overstated (though this being the Wynn Hype Machine, everything is overstated. ;) These places always start out fairly uneventful, and after a year or so they find their niche. The most important effect of an opening is the professional travel reviews, as Palazzo found out when LA Times & co published articles read nationwide that it wasn't worth going to.

Encore has had a lot less press and hype and buzz surrounding it than WLV did. I guess they realized that promising the world only caused people to be let down last time, so happily surprised people drop more money than disappointed ones.

It's nice to have a less hazy idea of opening, though.

The meeting room naming conventions are quite clever. Brahms has four rooms - one for each symphony - which appear to be directly beneath Beethoven, again in the shadow of the master he so respected. Bach and Beethoven are, appropriately, on a floor by themselves. Giving Mozart a closet stuck behind a pantry while dedicating four to Chopin is travesty, yet somewhat fitting if you take into account the circumstances behind his demise. I'll stop.

Wow, I love that red in the guest rooms. And the bathrooms look great. I was just sure that was a cafe or something overlooking the pool on the back side, with that curved patio.

Think that will be the only access point between WLV and Encore? Seems like an odd walk for folks who aren't affiliated with any sort of meeting, could possibly be a deterant for folks booking meetings if Joe Blow from Iowa is walking by with his funsaver.

No, that's not the only connection point. Actually, that will probably be the least used - that's just to connect the conference areas.

Encore and WLV will have a main arterial connection that comes through down past the Aqua Theater (Le Reve) that opens up onto a corridor with the pool area on the right and casino on the left.

I have a poster sized print of the WLV main casino floor plans and you can see the very wide corridors will give plenty of access.

Chuck and I are clearly kindred spirits. And yes, making Chopin 4X than Mozart is ... odd.

Chuck, you sir are a true Renaissance man. Even as I pursue a Masters in Music History, I never drew the Brahms/Beethoven parallels.

The level of importance in the meeting rooms probably parallels Steve Wynn's own liking of each composer. He's mentioned Beethoven in many interviews particularly when drawing parallels between his own eye sight and Beethoven's deafness. Even though he gets a golf course view, Bach clearly isn't Mr. Wynn's favorite.

Not sure if anyone has noticed, but the meetings map from Encore and Hunter response to my question above got me thinking maybe the Wynn Resort map has been updated. Indeed it has been marking the entrances slash exits to and from Encore. I found it interesting figured I would share.

http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/pdf/Wynn_Property_Map_Full.pdf

TC, thanks. The Wynn Las Vegas website has had some other changes I hadn't seen before. The Dining section now has multiple photos of each restaurant. The shots of the rooms and the food are unbelievably good.
Also, Tableau is now open for full dinners nightly in addition to the "Lounge Menu".
Finally, I didn't know Country Club Grill had been renamed as The Country Club, A New American Steakhouse.
The site still loads more slowly than it should.
The photo of the Tower Suites Entrance now has a Rolls Royce and driver in it. That's new, isn't it?

"Finally, I didn't know Country Club Grill had been renamed as The Country Club, A New American Steakhouse."

Funny, since Walzog was the original (actually, last minute replacement) chef there before moving on to SW, and his book was called "New American Steakhouse." I suppose this is supposed to sound classier or more upscale to the Encore guests passing by, but the name "Grill" was just fine.

detroit & TC, did you notice on the map the B Bar looks like it's been expanded again? Has anyone seen if this is true?

Sorry if this belongs in Open Topic, but I always wondered what happened to original SW chef Eric Klein. Looks like he did a stint at FIX and now runs Spago for his old boss Wolfgang Puck, over at Caesars. I still wonder what were the circumstances of his departure from SW.

http://www.lasvegasrestaurants.com/chef.cfm/restaurant/1097/WolfgangPuckEricKlein

While I can't officially confirm whether or not the B Bar has been expanded I believe that the WLV folks changed the scale of the map to make it look that way...obviously not on purpose

Just a note from the inside... Wynn has started the process of selecting and appointing managerial positions for Encore in all departments.