Long Story Really Long
In this part, I'm going to describe briefly the flight, then lunch at Tableau in the Wynn, then spend a lot of time gushing about the Wynn hotel. If this bores you, skip it.
Arrival
The week between booking and going I was on the road for work, so I could not really dwell on the trip, and I did only minimal talking with friends. Only Prince CDs playing in the rental car had me thinking about the trip. The long posts here are probably making up for lost chances to chat it up with friends and colleagues.
Back home on Friday, and still no time to think, because we had to get ready for a flight at 7 AM Saturday morning.
Grandma arrived, we packed, I printed out boarding passes. Frequent flyer status did its magic and we were bumped to first class. W00t!
Our daughter cooperated and was still asleep when we left for the airport. Not the kind of weekend where you save a buck with remote long term parking, we parked close and were at the gate in about 10 minutes.
Flight was good, movie ("The Guardian" with Kevin Costner) laughable, food in first (western omelette for me, cold cereal for her) pleasant, complimentary bloody marys super-soporific. N worked on the plane (ironically, it took going away for a weekend for her to get work done on a weekend) and I slept.
First off the plane, carry-on bags only, and no line at the cab stand. We were at the Wynn by 10 AM.
Called Grandma (baby was fine), walked around the shops at the Wynn. N was impressed with the line-up. Here are some Manolo Blahnik shoes, we both liked the brown ones:
I'm kicking myself now for not getting them for her.
Tableau
We went to Tableau for brunch. This is a tough place to find, as it is next to the Tower registration lobby, and not at all visible from the casino floor. Originally, it was planned to be an exclusive restaurant for the Tower suites, but since then it has been opened to all.
N had ricotta pancakes with tangerines and pecans, with honey butter. I had an omelette of ricotta, arugula, and caramelized onions. Ricotta is
a secret ingredient I picked for Iron Chef OOT, though I could not compete because I was visiting the in-laws over New Year's. So I was really pleased that these dishes were so good. The Ricotta pancakes were creamy, and the tangerine chunks inside added sweet and tart flavor without overpowering. The arugula, cooked in the omelette, lost some of its pepper flavor, just as a caramelized onion loses its acridness, and so the ricotta cheese was not overpowered there, either. We finished with cappuccino.
One other note about Tableau. The seats are wide and comfy, and fuzzy on the back. I kid you not. Fuzzy like a mod pillow from Urban Outfitters. Every once in a while I would stop during the meal to reach back and feel the fuzz. Hey, that kind of weekend.
Registration was a breeze, and we headed up to the room.
Wynn Las Vegas Hotel
Just walking around the Wynn leaves an impression. The grounds are manicured to the point of looking almost too neat to be real. The public restrooms have elegant trough sinks and marble stalls. The design motiff of rich red and brown colors, creme, curved light fixtures, and squared off shades, repeat themselves all over. Tableau, for example, has curved chandeliers similar to what you see in other areas, and the same use of cream and brown. Even the poker room has the same brown wallpaper and red drapes that you see in other areas.
Checking in as a guest just reinforces that impression. The room keys have your name printed on them. The elevator lobby on the casino floor uses the old school "dial" display complete with moving arrow, to show what floors the elevators are passing. The hallway is curved, so you do not get that awful impression of an endless hallway that you get in so many other LV resorts (with MGM Grand's central corridor being the worst offender).
The rooms keep the design elements consistent. The wallpaper in our room, for example, was the same textured brown used in the poker room. There was bright modern art on the walls. Picture from cell phone:
The shades and drapes on the windows (by luck I got a corner room, with two windows) were controlled separately and remotely with buttons on the wall by the bed. Far be it from Steve Wynn to ask you to hold your finger down, either. One touch of open and the shade opened, one touch of close and it closed. A third "stop" button allowed you to get something in between.
This is the view we had from the room:
There were bathrobes, naturally, but also slippers. Plenty of toiletries by the sink, but the shower stall already had a set of shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner. Likewise, there was already a towel positioned on the rack outside the shower, and one in the corner of the tub. The tub had a waterfall faucet head, that released an arc of water in a sheet from the side of the tub. The bathroom had two light settings, one for the overhead lights, another for a night setting that illuminated the room elegantly from under the sinks. There was a glass scale.
Glasses in the bathroom were brown glass. In the room by the ice bucket, there were both lowball and balloon wine glasses, clear, with a textured pattern of large dimples. So much to like about the room.
When we came in, the flat screen TV had a background image of flowers and jazz piano music when we came in. We left it on for a while.
Later I saw on the channel guide, there was keno (which I had seen in other LV hotels) but also Poker. I tuned in, and found the wait list for the poker room. Brilliant. Just look at your room TV, find your game, then call down and have them lock up a seat.
Which is exactly what I did next.