TR Wynn 8/31 --> 9/2

Just a few observations on our first stay @ the new Wynn. Really liked staying here, very comfortable and poker rate was pretty good ($129, online was $199; see fuller discussion under comps). Thought that the Palms had the best, most comfortable beds and bedding, but think Wynn has it beat. Also room is larger, brighter, has more features and nice mix of neutrals and colors; Palms looks more austere/Asian. [Palms still has that wonderfully small footprint tho, so casino is very short walk to/from guest elevators.] Flat screen TV in main room very useful; you could genuinely tilt it to watch from the bed (no twisting or craning your neck) or leave it flat to the wall to watch from dining table or couch/loveseat.

Room 1553 had a south-facing strip view. Saw Venetian's tower top, but had a better view of Fashion Show Mall spaceship ;-) and Treasure Island. After dark, saw all the pyrotechnics of the battle; very cool. Looking straight down had the less pleasant roof-of-the-casino view; floor 15 or higher would be better, at least facing south. Given that the building has that tall boomerang shape, I'm not sure how the view changes from one end or side to another.

I do like to spend breaks and down-time in the room, so I was delighted that Wynn had many more cable channels than our other LV hotel, the Orleans.

By accident, we found that Wynn's south valet parking entrance was easier than the Strip entrance with great service. Coming from the airport, choose Koval instead of LV Blvd. heading north; at Sands it will deadend at the Wynn service entrance; turn left onto Sands, then look for the right turn into south valet (also a villas entrance I think). YMMV on the entry choices, but don't see how the valets/bell desk could have been better; fast, efficient, helpful.

Drink service in casino and poker room: never had better, although I was sitting at just the 25 cent machines or low limit tables. Great tasting gin & tonics btw.

Eats: Wynn's deli, Zozacrackers, isn't cheap, with corned beef or roast beef sandwiches about 10 bucks without side dishes. On the other hand, poker players get $1/hour in food comps, so it is a reasonable choice for that purpose. Our sandwiches were superthick with good quality meat (tender but very little fat). I saved half of mine to eat on the cheapie/Allegiant plane ride home! The latkes, aka potato pancakes, were the real deal; seemed to be made with grated potatoes and a little onion (IMHO those odd potato pancakes you find at Perkins, etc. chains with hash browns scattered on pancake batter are horrible). We saved other eateries for another trip and chose Paris buffet for breakfast and Lotus of Siam (ordering from menu, NOT blah buffet) for a lunch.

Trying to eat after a show: this seemed to be the biggest glitch in Wynn's otherwise high customer service. After Avenue Q show let out, we looked for a place to eat; the Red 8 Asian Bistro (supposedly casual) had snooty employees, they closed the line after us and said they couldn't serve anyone after us. We ditched the line. Seemed dopey that they wouldn't be staying open long enough to accomodate people coming from the casino's own shows!

We are swimmers, not sunbathers, so I can't comment on the poolside beverage service. The pool areas are pretty nice, but in late summer it had a few too many kids -- and it's not a great pool for kids, no extra water slides, surf, lazyriver. Local LV TV news and newspapers were featuring the 'European' pools, and yep, Wynn has one restricted to adults. More than one woman interviewed at these pools said she chose it not for topless feature but for child-free atmosphere. (Guys may have different reasoning I thought about it, but got my swimming done without colliding with youngsters.

Salon: didn't try the spa, but the pedicure I had at the salon was excellent.
It was a Wed. and I checked for openings around 2 p.m. and got an appt. for 5 p.m. It was a busy place.

If you are going to the spa, salon or pool and you are dressed for comfort, get off the guest/resort/room elevator at the spa-salon floor. If you are heading to the pool, you can walk down the hall to the pool elevator; no need to walk thru casino in your swim duds.

Liked the casino's design, and it was helpful to us that the room elevators, show & show ticket booth & poker room were close together. Of course, finding your way around a new casino is always a bit boggling; nonetheless, there are more aisles and pathways than some other properties.

Checking out around 4 a.m. to catch our early flight: only one clerk available and the electronic check-out from the room was disabled. So allow some time in case others are flying Allegiant's dawn flights out of LV!

We are ready to return to Wynn anytime, although I'll agree that more middle-priced restaurants would be welcome.

Hope this helps someone else with trip planning.

Cheers.

 

Nice TR ...thanks for your insights on the Wynn.