Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas gambling mogul who dreamed up the Bellagio and Mirage, has a reputation for flamboyance. Yet he also is known for the intensity of his attention to detail. Since the opening of his first resort and casino in Macau last week, the latter has been very much in evidence.
The Wynn Macau is an impressive place. Walking through its casino, you cannot help but fall in step with the rhythm of the piped music. The chairs are covered in a soft, super-comfortable leather. The walls are adorned with rich fabrics, not just your common paint job. And the service is mostly of a standard not usually associated with Macau. All of this is clearly the work of someone who knows exactly what he wants, and knows how to get it done.
The bar has undoubtedly been raised in Macau. The only question is, how much higher can it go?
Wynn himself seems sure of the answer. “People have told me, ‘This is Macau, Steve. It’s only about gambling,’” he said at a press conference to open the resort and casino last Tuesday.
“But I told them: ‘I warn you, because you only know what was’.”
Granted, every new opening of a hotel, even one with a casino, is going to be surrounded by a surplus of hype. Yet there is nevertheless little doubt that Wynn has, in the words of one observer, effected a “step change in thinking about Macau”.
“A lot of people struggle with what might be,” he said. “But I live in the world of what might be. I think people love places that are clean, beautiful, have gardens, plants, colour, flowers, great scenery and a loving staff, so that’s what I want to give them.”
The 600-room Wynn Macau also has a spa, six gourmet restaurants, and a shopping arcade with some big names: Bulgari, Chanel, Christian Dior, Fendi, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Piaget, Prada and Tiffany & Co. It has taken two years to open since his main Las Vegas competitor, Sheldon Adelson, opened his Sands casino in Macau.
“Yes, I wish we could have been in this spot earlier, but God knows we have a brand to protect,” Wynn said, in his customary jousting manner.
“We are here now to bring a new day, and a new experience to Macau. This is not a gambling hall with just baccarat tables. We don’t build down-and-dirty quickies. I’m a little slow, and it takes me a long time to work out all the details. We’re hardly ever first, but we are always better. You just can’t be in a rush. What’s a year or two among friends?
“This hotel, taken to a larger scale, will be the future of this city. Outside this building is a new Macau. Here, we give people room to breathe with greenery along the front of the hotel. Families can walk through the restaurants without ever entering the casinos is they wish.”
Wynn is expected to expand this property, perhaps adding a theatre for shows, and will build a new casino hotel along the 100,000-square metre Cotai Strip across from Adelson’s 3,000-suite Venetian Resort. Adelson already has Cirque de Soleil lined up for performances at his property, so it will be interesting to see what entertainment Wynn will bring in.
Wynn seems undaunted by the incredible capacity building under way. “The Venetian will make Macau stronger,” he said. “People say there could end up being a glut of hotels here, but I think Macau will not grow in spite of development, but because of the development.
“The visitor volume has already increased. In the past, tourism here was one-dimensional. It was gaming, period. Now Macau is being enriched at a pace never seen before. The speed of development is dizzying.
“We’re here to broaden the market. We were selected by the government of Macau to bring change (to the city) and now change has come.”
