Has The Wynn Resorts Become The "Palms"

In recent years in Las Vegas there were three high end hotels that were way above the rest in terms of quality, service and luxury; they were the "Bellagio" as well as the "Wynn" and the "Encore" resorts. Below those three properties was the "Venetian" and "Plazzo" hotels followed by resorts such as the new "Aria" and "Cosmopolitan." The "Bellagio" was created by Steve Wynn and for the most part MGM has managed to keep that properties high standards and not messed with it too much. Steve Wynn who got married last weekend decided to build a high end pool area at the side of the Strip in front of "Encore" called the Encore Beach Club which didn't seem a bad idea to bring in new revenue during these tough times. But with this move and the new push on nightclubs at the properties a whole different audience is coming to the property. The audience is younger and seems to be more interested in getting drunk and partying than gambling on the casino floor or shopping in the high end shops. Paris Hilton getting stopped by the police outside the hotel after partying their isn't good pr for the property although in her case it reportedly did get her banned. The question is when the economy improves will Wynn pull back from turning his properties in to a nightclub venue with hotel rooms attacted the question is if this new audience will bring in as much income as the gamblers did.

The Big Wedding Is Near

Yes the time is nearly here for the big wedding no not the Royal Wedding of William and Kate im talking about this weekends wedding of Steve Wynn and Andrea Hisson in a $1 milion ceremony at his "Encore" property. The 1,500 guests of course will be comped at either the "Wynn" or the "Encore" and the guest list is expected to have some big names such as Garth Brooks, Celine Dion, Sylvester Stallone and Donald Trump. The best man is most likely to be Clint Eastwood as Mr Wynn was best man at Clint Eastwoods 1996 wedding. Some of Steve Wynn's guests are said to be high rollers who have been flown in for the wedding and im sure will spend lots of money at the tables of the casino's.

Wynn Adds $20 Resort Fee

Okay lets start off by saying i hate resort fees which is a daily charge added to your hotel bill on top of your room charge. Some hotels first started this a couple of years ago with fuel surcharges which were added to your room daily rate for a few dollars when we had high energy prices. The fuel surcharges went away when the energy prices went down but now most resorts have added a resort fee. The big exception for resort fees is Harrah's which has made a point of advertising they don't have resort fees. The resort fee usually runs from about $5 to $20 a day but now most are in the $10 to $20 range and the fee is according to hotels is mean't to cover amenities on the property which you can use. The stuff they list in the resort fees usually includes things such as free local calls (most people have cell phones so minimal use) or free entry to the spa (which you may or may not use). The rub is you get charged this fee if you use these services or not its basically a add on charge to generate money such as the airlines have got so good at. The difference here unlike the airlines is you cannot avoid the fee and, get charged either way. On a airline if you don't check a bag you don't have to pay a $25 bag fee but with resort fees you get charged either way. You may see a room offer for $59 for example but then in the small print as you are about to book the room it may say that $10 to $20 per day daily resort fee will be charged. Resort fees are bad in my opinion but the current time are probably here to stay. If you want to avoid resort fees Harrah's properties or one of the few properties that don't charge them may be a better option. I'm kind of surprised that Wynn added resort fees at both the Wynn and Encore because as a top end property you are paying a premium price and an extra $20 per day seems something that could just upset their customers. As far as resort fees go the Wynn one isn't a bad deal as most because it does include free internet which can run $13 to $16 a day at most properties.