By Kavita Mistry 
I do not know where to look first. At the Wynn Las Vegas, the slot machines in psychedelic neons vie with glitzy designer stores and Spanish artist Okuda San Miguel’s giant sculpture, Smiling King Bear. The opulent Vegas strip, thrums with revelry while courage and luck hang thick in the air.
We are many miles away from the UAE, in Vegas, for a peek into what awaits the world at Wynn Al Marjan Island at Ras Al Khaimah which is gearing up for a 2027 spring opening.
Poised to be the first-of-its kind gaming resort (integrated resort) in the United Arab Emirates, the property will have 1,530 rooms as well as 22 restaurants, lounges and bars, a theater, a five-star spa, a nightclub, a beach club adjacent to the Arabian Gulf, a 12,000 square metre shopping promenade with luxury boutiques and a celebration and event centre.
For Todd-Avery Lenahan, president and chief creative officer, Wynn Design and Development, the design story of Wynn Al Marjan Island was akin to creating a completely new tapestry. “I often refer to Wynn Las Vegas as a tapestry given how if you go to our properties in Boston or Cotai, you can see a lot of the same things we have in Las Vegas because they are quilts made from cuttings of the original tapestry. Wynn Al Marjan Island however is our company’s first new tapestry in over 20 years…it is a complete start over,” he says, of their move to the Middle-East.
Enclave porte cochère, Wynn Al Marjan Island
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Lenahan calls their upcoming project the company’s first destination resort given that their projects to date have all been urban resorts. In the truest sense of the word…”a resort,” he says, of Wynn Al Marjan Island. The new resort will be located 50 minutes away from the Dubai International Airport and 15 minutes away from the Ras Al Khaimah International Airport.
On the glitzy Vegas Strip, the twin luxury hotels Wynn and Encore Las Vegas see not just guests, but tourists walking through the strip, gamers, visitors, diners and shoppers; all walking through its sprawling, lively corridors. At Wynn Al Marjan Island however, Lenahan speaks of the detailed planning that went into creating zones of increased exclusivity that make it very different from what one experiences at Vegas.
On the uppermost levels of the resort’s 300 metre tower is Enclave, conceived as a destination within a destination at the Wynn Al Marjan Island with 313 accommodations. Arrivals to Enclave for instance, will be via a private, guarded entry which then leads to lobby salons and a processional gallery that takes guests to private elevators.
“All guests are not really coming for the same reasons, and we want to honour people on their terms,” he says. Guests driving in or taking the luxury sprinter buses from Dubai will get to walk in and experience their luxury shopping, residents have a Wynn Boulevard where they have controlled access to the property, and there is a dedicated departures lobby, as well as dedicated entrances for people coming into their beachclubs and night clubs. “We created a dedicated departures lobby — so your arrival experience is always just one way. It’s always a welcome, never a goodbye,” Lenehan says.
Stories around the corner
Every corner at Wynn and Encore Las Vegas has a story; of a rare work of art, discovering a new craft many miles away, or even of forged connections. Leading us through the galleries of the royal suites, Lenehan points to pieces that will now be sent to the Middle-East, to be homed in the new resort. “This mirror was acquired by Anne and Gordon Getty from the French Heritage Collection because it was originally in the Louvre. We acquired it after Anne Getty passed away,” he says, pointing to an ornate mirror there. Sculptor Jeff Koons’ Tulips, which the Vegas property housed, will now find a home at Ras Al Khaimah as well. “We are always moving things around and it is like an art gallery. Things are in a constant state of change. It keeps it fresh and exciting,” he says.
Delilah at Wynn Las Vegas
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
In the evening, we step into Delilah, where a retro theatre-inspired entryway welcomes us with a sign that says ‘Dinner, Drinks and Entertainment’. “While many create spaces that we just move through, I would like to create spaces that move through you,” Lenahan says. A modern-day supper club with late night entertainment inspired by the early showrooms of Las Vegas in the 1950s, Delilah will borrow its nostalgia from the heyday of Beirut in the 40s and 50s in the new resort in Ras Al Khaimah. A French-American steakhouse concept helmed by legendary chef Alain Ducasse spanning two floors is also among the restaurants envisioned for Wynn Al Marjan Island.
A platter of desserts at Delilah and a cocktail later, Vegas lives up to its reputation of being a a city that never sleeps. The casino at Wynn is teeming with people, with guests making a beeline for the blackjack tables and slot machines.
“Even though less than 30% of our business comes from the casino, it has a 100% sort of presence in Vegas. At Wynn Al Marjan Island, it is there and available yes, but it is for those who want to enjoy that kind of fun and it is for you on your own terms. So when the resort opens, you will see the way we have handled it not just spatially, but psychologically as well,” Lenahan says.
What happens in Vegas is not staying there. It is headed straight to Ras Al Khaimah.
The writer was in Las Vegas on invitation from Wynn Las Vegas