Wednesday, October 30, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Le Reve designs in final stages

Groundbreaking on Wynn's resort set for Thursday

Now that Steve Wynn's got the money he wanted to build Le Reve, insiders say the Strip developer is focusing on the planned $1.85 billion resort's final touches.

With groundbreaking for the project slated for Thursday, and a 30-month construction timetable, Wynn Resorts expects Le Reve to open in April 2005.

But after a tiring and frustrating three weeks that culminated Friday in his company raising $450 million from a public stock offering after dropping the IPO's price three times, Wynn's not relaxing, sources said.

Instead, the 60-year-old Wynn is juggling decisions about final design details for Le Reve with plans to build at least one casino in the Chinese enclave of Macau.

Wynn's Le Reve design is unlike his recent creations Bellagio, Treasure Island and The Mirage, which Wynn has said were essentially the same buildings.

Instead of Strip-facing attractions that beguile passers-by with the promise of what's inside, Le Reve's signature attraction will be different, sources said.

An eight-story, man-made mountain will face the main casino building and the inside curve of the hotel tower. The mountain will enclose a 3-acre lake and provide unique views from a number of vantage points within the property.

For instance, at the northern end of the mountain and lake a small, serene temple and brook will face the windows from Le Reve's Japanese restaurant.

Just south, Le Reve's nightclub will face a different section of the mountain, one with cascading waterfalls, mist and dramatic lighting.

The mountain is slated to run parallel to Las Vegas Boulevard, across from the cloud attraction planned for the Fashion Show mall.

The main casino and central area of Le Reve will face a different section of the mountain, with even more spectacular effects, sources said.

Not content to plan his casino's look with scale models and design books, insiders say Wynn has a mock-up casino in a basketball court-size temporary building erected behind the Le Reve site.

No one gambles in the casino, even though it's full-size, and is outfitted with dozens of slot machines and table games.

Instead, Wynn uses the spread to make design decisions, comparing colors, textures and fixtures as he plans the casino that will be Le Reve's lifeblood.

The 60-year-old's office on the top-floor of the Desert Inn has stacks of Sotheby's and Christie's catalogs, likely fodder for Le Reve decor, sources said.

Below Wynn's offices are mock-ups of several suites, hotel rooms that insiders say will not only be bigger than The Venetian's all-suite product, but will have superior design elements.

All suites will have flat-screen plasma televisions in the living areas and in the bathrooms.

The bathrooms will be large and opulent, reflecting Wynn's belief that luxurious bathrooms send a clear message about quality, sources said.

All rooms will be equipped with fax machine-printers, and will have wireless data ports.

Unlike Aladdin, Paris Las Vegas, The Venetian, Bellagio and Mandalay Bay, the Strip's last five megaresorts, Le Reve won't have a theme.

"Rather than focusing on a highly themed experience like many other hotel-casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, Le Reve will offer a luxurious environment having a sophisticated, casually elegant ambience," Wynn Resorts noted in a Monday Securities and Exchange Commission filing. "In this manner, we believe that the property, rather than a theme, will be the attraction and, therefore, will have greater lasting appeal to customers."

Le Reve is slated to have 2,700 hotel rooms and a 110,000-square-foot casino, 18 restaurants, a new golf course and an on-site, full-service Ferrari and Maserati dealership.

The dealership and Le Reve's lineup of high-end restaurants and retail outlets are the kind of top-drawer offerings that would attract guests who currently stay at Bellagio, sources said.

Wynn Resorts stock closed at $12.64 Monday, down 37 cents, or 2.8 percent, on the Nasdaq market. Wynn Resorts representatives said Wynn is still observing an SEC-mandated quiet period that accompanied his IPO.