An Encore Performance At Wynn Las Vegas
by Robert La Bua
2.3 billion dollars. For the equivalent of the gross national product of a small country, the ability to build something truly spectacular comes as no surprise. All that money and a dash of panache have come together in the style at Encore At Wynn Las Vegas, where you can forget all about kitschy decor; billionaires can do things others can’t, and one of them is decorate without thought to budget constraints. Quite the contrary, in Las Vegas, over the top is just the starting point, which is why the place is one of the top destinations in the world for LGBT travellers.
The Spa at Encore is a good example; it cost more than 250 million dollars, and, in looking at the result, was worth every cent. Much more than the handful of treatment rooms found in most hotels, this palace of the senses is a true escape from the outside world, with an enormous relaxation salon, spa baths the size of swimming pools, and a staff that combines youthful exuberance with seasoned professional experience.
Men’s and women’s facilities are separated by a dazzling lobby that introduces the Moroccan theme carried throughout the Spa’s main rooms as well as its 37 treatment rooms. If you are going to indulge, why not go all the way; the Encore Escape treatment combines several types of therapies in something of a sampler of the world’s favourite treatments. If all the therapists are as dedicated and talented as Devin, no one goes home unrevitalised.
Do spa treatments make you hungry? At Encore’s restaurants, the star chefs do not spend their days in a back office thinking up new dishes; they are in the kitchen preparing them, with the result that the quality of a meal is unsurpassed in both culinary preparation and environment in which they are served. The lobster burgers at Society Cafe are beyond divine. For fun, try Switch, so named because the decor changes all around you automatically as you eat.
Encore’s food outlets are very well endowed; with art, that is. Artworks are everywhere in the world of Wynn; all are part of Mr Wynn’s 300 million-dollar art collection.
Encore’s fab restaurant Botero serves as a showcase for masterpieces of the Wynn collection as well as a showcase for the culinary talents of chef Mark LoRusso. Centrepiece to this sublime space is the large statue of a seated lady by Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero. This work of art lends itself to another; the restaurant’s Seated Lady champagne and rose cocktail. Yes, even the drinks are artfully mixed and presented at Wynn | Encore.
One of the more recent developments in Las Vegas history has been the evolution of entertainment in the city. Gone are the days of crooners at the edge of the casino floor warbling ditties to the unlistening masses. Siegfried and Roy no longer perform their magic on their famous white tigers, but the magic persists at Wynn | Encore, where theatre wizard Franco Dragone has brought to life Le Rêve, a mesmerising spectacle presented in the Wynn Theatre, where wet muscles grab you by the attention and don’t let go until the show’s over; maybe not even then. Not only are the performers goodlooking and athletic, they also know how to swim and do their ‘normal’ acrobatic moves while soaking wet. Synchronised swimming was never so sexy…and the ladies of the water give the muscular gymnasts of the Man Tree a run for their money in the attention stakes. Wynn Theatre offers voyeur spectators like me the chance to see behind the scenes as the show progresses; a really interesting perspective given the logistics of the performance; stay in the loop and stay dry in the VIP seats, where the underwater action below the stage and aerial coordination above it in the catwalks are both shown on video screens to enhance appreciation of the performance; as if all those glistening bodies need further embellishment; with a VIP Indulgence Package. Champagne and chocolates included.
It comes as no surprise that the pursuit of retail happiness, even at full price, occupies many hours of the day for a certain segment of Las Vegas LGBT visitors. Wynn | Encore complies graciously, accommodating these guests as it does all others. There is no shortage of shopportunities to spend money in one of the gorgeous boutiques in the Encore Esplanade or the Wynn Esplanade, which is home to Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and numerous other purveyors of fine merchandise, including Wynn & Company, which brings the Wynn name into the retail arena with an array of fine jewellery to rival the other brands. Conveniently, a room keycard also serves as a charge card for everything within Encore and Wynn, including retail purchases at any of the shops. Unfortunately, the boys of Le Rêve are not for sale; not in the shops, anyway.
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Southwest Airlines, the #1 domestic airline in the US, offers reasonable fares from LA, SanFran, and other US cities, with first checked bag free.
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