Wynn Resorts Chairman & CEO Steve Wynn said on Wednesday that his US$4.2 billion Wynn Palace would cater for everybody, but suggested that those looking for theme parks visit Hengqin Island.
Wynn made the comments during a press conference at Wynn Palace in Cotai which officially opens on Monday night.
“Our strategy of the hotel is to make part of it for everybody,” Wynn said.
“Regardless of their income, propensity to gamble or how much money they want to spend on a bottle of wine. We want to make this place available for everybody,” the 74-year-old US gaming mogul said.
The hotel has 1,706 rooms. Wynn said he had made “a larger percentage of the rooms more affordable at US$300” (2,400 patacas) a night.
The new property will also have a main casino hall and six members-only or VIP (high-rollers) rooms. There will be 350 gaming tables, of which up to 60 will be VIP gaming tables, Wynn said.
These are surrounded by a corridor of luxury brand shops, restaurants, salons and spas, with “free public entertainment”, according to Wynn, such as a panoramic fountain show, huge flower sculptures that change every five weeks, a carousel, artwork and artefacts as decoration that cost US$150 million. There is also a 10-minute gondola ride around the fountain, which costs 100 patacas per person per trip.
“This is diversification,” Wynn said, insisting that experience speaks more than how many gaming facilities there are at his new property. “Casinos are a passive place, they have no power,” was one of Wynn’s most salient remarks at the nearly 2-hour press conference.
Wynn also said that “guest experience is key.”
“This city is primarily for the mothers and fathers and their family members that are 21 years or over,” he pointed out, explaining that these people don’t go to theme parks unless they have little children with them who wanted thrill rides.
Instead, he said, people should see Macau and Hengqin as one unit, where people come to Macau for the hospitality experience and visit Hengqin for roller coasters.
Wynn pointed out that there are still two parcels of land left around Wynn Palace, covering 4 acres and 7 acres respectively, on which he said he would like to see a famous medical centre being built, adding that he also planned to set up a botanical garden there in the future.
“We’re going to consult the government, look at the market, see what people are looking for, what makes sense and what will fit in with who we are and what will enhance this place as a whole,” Wynn said, “I won’t think so much as building another casino, perhaps something as lovely as a botanical garden that will make more people want to come to this property.
Wynn also said he was “seeing now a more normalised kind of market,” adding, “I remain convinced that our future is within our control”.
(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
