Last month I was both surprised and pleased to receive a very generous invitation from Wynn/Encore. The email offer included three free nights in either a Wynn "Resort Room" or an Encore "Resort Suite". I could use the offer any time in January, subject to availability. In addition, I would also receive $200 free play.
After discussing this with EH for a full ten seconds, I checked the
Net for ORD/LAS fares during the week of January 19th. Finding a decent American Airlines non-stop fare of $263 per person, with exit row seats still available, I booked both the air and hotel.
We opted for staying at Encore, which had just opened the day before I received my invitation. I had already partaken of the glory that is
Wynn, last summer, and wanted the experience of staying in the brand
new five star hotel. We also liked the idea of staying in an "all-suite" resort.
The Check-In:
When we arrived at the "Invited Guest" registration area to check in, we were slightly taken aback by the huge, lipstick red plastic flower shapes, that decorated the wall behind the counters. Instead of the subdued elegance of the public areas at Wynn, this was an in-your-face explosion of color that seemed almost too flamboyant.
There were several "invited guests" ahead of us in line. Though there were many front desk people manning the regular stations, there was only person assigned to check in many invited guests.
As I'm sure you have all witnessed, some invited guests have a sense of entitlement that seems to exceed what the casino believes that they actually deserve. That was the unfortunate case this morning, as the two high rollers ahead of us in line, hassled the very pleasant agent about the suite to which they had been assigned. Finally, grumbling, they accepted the original suite offering. By the time that transaction was concluded, we had stood in line in excess of forty minutes.
We also noted that there was no place to sit down in the entire front desk "lobby" area. I presume that management has done this purposefully in order to keep an "undesirable" element from "camping out" in their public rooms. In my opinion, hotel guests would be better served by the addition of chairs, couches and the presence of more security personnel.
I didn't think that the check-in procedure at Encore was indicative of the type of service that one would expect in a 5* establishment.
Walking to the guest elevators, we were amused to see prominent signs, near each bank of elevators, stating that "No food or drink, which had not been purchased at Wynn, was permitted in the rooms." This was followed by an ominous warning: "Purses and packages are subject to search!" Since I don't believe that this was meant to ward off a terrorist attack, but rather to insure that any food consumed in an Encore suite, had been purchased at the highly inflated prices charged in every Encore eating establishment, I found it particularly distasteful.
The Suite:
We were given a Resort Suite on the 23rd floor, near the elevators, as I had requested. We were offered a suite on a higher floor, but the very thoughtful agent commented that it did not have as good a view, and was much further from an elevator.
The suites at Encore are quite different in style than the rooms at Wynn. Because my taste in decorating runs more towards traditional than modern, I preferred the appearance of the accommodations at Wynn.
In the Wynn room which I had occupied, the interior designer had employed a pastel color palette, featuring pale yellow, mint green, peach and coral upholstery and drapes, together with traditional style, light colored wood furniture.
By contrast, the Encore suite was decorated in avante garde modern design. Very stylish pale blond furnishings, stood out boldly against a cream, black and white color scheme, which was reflected in the upholstery, drapes and wallpaper. A stunning visual effect.
The "suite" was not much (if at all) larger than the room at Wynn. It was designated as a suite because of a partial half wall that separated the bedroom from the sitting area. A large cutout area in the middle of the wall contained an HD TV on a swivel base. The TV could be turned so that TV viewing was possible from either the bed or the sitting area.
The sitting area contained a desk and two beautiful leather chairs, an oval leather "hassock/table", placed in front of a sectional sofa, part of which was a chaise lounge.
The bed was fantastically comfortable, and dressed in beautiful linens. One of the bedside tables held a remote device that closed and opened both sets of drapes which covered the wall to wall, floor ceiling windows, as well as controlling all of the lights in the suite.
I give Encore an A+ in lighting! Every area of the suite was extremely well lit, and every lamp and light fixture contained a feature enabling the light to be dimmed, if so desired.
On top of the stocked mini-bar, I noted the same sign that I had observed at Wynn. It had a printed warning stating that any product that was picked up and not returned to the bar top within 60 seconds, would be charged to the guest's room bill. The sign further cautioned that just opening the refrigerator door could engender charges to the room bill. They suggested that a different refrigerator would be provided, on request, for the storage of personal food (purchased in their store, of course!)
After noting the $5.00 soft drinks and $7.00 pretzels, we decided to avoid further contact with the mini-bar and it's contents.
I did have an urge to take the warning sign home with me. I was going to put it in my guest room at home, next to a lovely tray filled with various small snacks. EH talked me out of this by suggesting that when my favorite son in law was in residence, he would surely request a refrigerator.
The bathrooms at Wynn and Encore are almost identical. I believe them to be among the best bathrooms to be found in any 5* hotel in the world. They are very large and contain a toilet room on one side, and a spa tub and separate glass enclosed shower stall on the other side. There are dual sink areas, set far apart, in a very long counter. The counter also contains a make-up area complete with a bench and a large magnifying mirror. All of the fixtures, tile, flooring, lighting, towels and amenities are lovely and of very high quality.
This is one of just a handful of hotels at which I did not have to request additional towels. A bountiful supply was available in the bathroom of the suite each day.
There is a wall of three large, gold framed, full length mirrors, opposite a commodious closet, containing a safe deposit box. An abundance of wooden and satin covered hangers are provided.
Turn down service, including ubiquitous chocolates and much rarer fleece slippers were provided each evening. A copy of the Las Vegas Journal Review was slipped over the door knob each morning. Very nice service but not unexpected in a 5* establishment.
One aberration of the Encore, which we found most annoying, was our inability to maintain a cell phone connection from the suite. It was difficult to even get a signal sufficient to place a call; once the connection was made, it was quickly lost, as often happens when driving through a "dead zone". EH asked the Concierge about this problem. He was told that Wynn/Encore was aware of it and had requested that all the major cell phone providers "build more towers".
The Encore Employees:
As a group, I give them very high marks. They are pleasant, friendly, smiling and try to be helpful. The one exception to that was a doorman who suggested that we walk down to where the cabs were waiting, rather than beckoning one to pick us up in the front of the hotel.
The Red Card Club:
I have had issues in the past with Red Card Club employees, who have given me incorrect information. I was determined to receive accurate advice on this trip, no matter how far up the hierarchy I had to ascend.
At issue were four buffets, earned last July, during a one night stay at Wynn, when I had earned almost 2000 points. Though the cash value of four dinner buffets is approximately $140.00, and Wynn was comping, at minimum, at least $600.00 of room charges for our Encore suite, I could have just forgotten about the buffets.
However, I was determined to find out why, when I had phoned ahead, prior to our December trip, to inquire if a line pass would be issued with the buffet comps, I had been told that the buffets were no longer in my account.
The answers which I received as to why the buffets had vanished, depended on which of three different employees I addressed with the question. The first one insisted that I had "used them already". The second one suggested that they "hadn't ever been there". The third one, a supervisor, maintained that earned buffets disappeared if they are not used within 24 hours of having earned them. He also stated that this has ALWAYS been the policy since the inception of the buffet promotion. I KNEW that all three of these pronouncements were incorrect.
At the end of November I sent a letter to the president of Wynn, with a copy to Steve Wynn, detailing my concerns. I did not received a return communication from anyone at Wynn, regarding this matter. I was more disappointed than surprised by this lack of response, and probably would have just forgotten about what I consider to be very poor business practices. Now that we were going to be staying at Encore, I determined to see if I could be more persuasive in person, in ferreting out the truth.
The first Red Card Club agent to whom I spoke about the problem, said that the buffets were no longer in my account, and there was nothing that she could about the situation. I politely requested to speak with a supervisor.
A very pleasant young woman arrived almost immediately. After I explained the situation, she graciously agreed to "comp" two buffets, together with a line pass, for the next evening. That was a satisfactory compromise. I thanked her and accepted the offer. She also explained that Wynn had, a few months ago, changed the terms of the offer. Currently, in order to benefit from buffets earned by points, the player must use them within 24 hours of earning them.
Though I was already aware of these facts, Theresa, the supervisor patiently explained that earning a point while playing Video Poker required $9.00 of coin-in, while the same point on reel slots was earned after only $3.00 of coin-in. She also told me that the points could only be used as free play. In other words, points cannot be used to pay the bill in hotel restaurants or for room charges. In my opinion, this makes the value of Wynn/Encore points considerably less those of most other casinos.
Regarding buffets, it now takes 750 points to earn ONE buffet; or 1500 points for two. Unfortunately, I was not able to take advantage of the additional buffets earned on this trip. We just didn't have time to use them.
Three Days Of Video Poker And Dining:
Our gambling plan for this trip was formulated on the basis that there's not much good VP at Wynn and even less at Encore. Therefore, we would enjoy our luxe accommodations at Encore, and cab over to the Palms each day for our playing pleasure.
Our plan was to eat breakfast at the Palms, then spend most of the day playing the FPDW prog. or the FPKBJW bank. Our Son and DIL would pick us up at the Palms in the late afternoon. We'd have dinner together, before being driven back to Encore, where we would play for a couple of hours before retiring for the evening. We did follow this plan, each day of our short LV sojourn.
The first two mornings we ate breakfast at the Palms buffet. Paying with points by using my MVP Palm's Card, with the discount. the price for both of us was <$10.00. Breakfast included all the usual morning staples, and was adequate in most areas in both quality and variety of the items. Where this buffet could use some improvement is in the fresh fruit offerings. They were scant and not very appealing.
After breakfast we played on the FPDW prog. After a few minutes of play, EH said, "Look at my nice quad!" He had popped 4 ducks. We played for a few hours on that bank.
We than played FPJW for quite a long period of time. We ended that session at about 1:30, as EH wanted to have a light lunch.
We went to the coffee shop for lunch. I was still too full from breakfast to eat, but EH had a chicken salad sandwich on a croissant, which he said was excellent.
After lunch we alternated between jokers and deuces, with a short, but not sweet session on the dollar 10/7DB prog. bank. We both wound up our Palms playing day with a modest profit.
After a pleasant dinner at Gordon Biersch, one of our favorite casual restaurants, we went back to the Wynn, where we planned to play for a short period of time, on one of the dollar 9/6JOB banks. We were also interested in playing the one lone .25c Spin Poker, at Wynn, which \offered the option of 9/6 JOB.
The one .25c SP is very popular, and is seldom available. I pointed it
out to EH, and explained that, if he wished to play only the first three lines, it would be akin to playing regular multi-line three play. This option interested him, and he sat down to watch the couple who were currently alternating play on the machine. Though I mentioned that they were probably going to be on the machine for a long time, he wanted to try to wait them out. After awhile, I got bored, and leaving EH to his vigil, found a bank of $1.00 9/6JOB, where I played for about an hour, seeing some nice hands.
When I returned to EH, he was finally seated at the quarter SP. I pulled up a chair and he and I began the same "team-play" in which our predecessors had engaged. After losing a combined $200 in fairly short order, we decided to play dollar 9/6 Jacks, for an hour or so, before retiring for the evening. Fortunately, the force was still with us and we did well again.
The next day, at the Palms, I popped the deuces and EH and I both won a little on jokers. We cabbed back to Encore ($12 including tip) in the
late afternoon, in order to rest a little while, before walking over to Wynn for the dinner buffet.
I estimated the walk from the Encore exit to the Wynn entrance to be equivalent to about one city block. It could have been a bit more. The passage is entirely seamless, marked only by signs inside the casino.
Neither of us are great walkers any more, but we were able to cover this distance with a just a bit of effort. However, the long walk, a couple
of times each day, convinced both of us that traversing the huge strip Mega hotels requires too much of our energy.
The line pass enabled us to avoid a very long line at the buffet entrance. A few minutes after arriving, we were seated inside the dining area.
My biggest criticism of the Wynn buffet, concerns the table placement. In order to cram in the maximum possible number of tables, they are way too close together. Sometimes this can actually provide dining entertainment, if one is into eavesdropping; this evening it was just annoying, as we were forced to listen our immediate neighbors converse in Japanese.
The Wynn buffet food offerings are very much as I remember them from last summer. A wonderful variety of fresh looking and great tasting items.
There is a cold seafood station with shrimp, crab legs, smoked salmon, sushi, sashimi, whole chilled salmon with dill sauce, plus other delicacies. There is also a perpetual long line of diners waiting to serve themselves over-amply from this bounty.
All the usual salad fixings can be found, as well as more exotic
"composed salads", which are served in cocktail glasses. One that I particularly enjoyed contained green grapes, walnuts, goat cheese and greens, dressed with a light balsamic vinaigrette.
All the usual ethnic food preparations are represented, as well as beef, chicken, pork, vegetables, rice, pasta, potatoes breads etc. in all possible incarnations.
The dessert room, while not as extensive as when Wynn first opened, was still replete with almost every sweet item that one might crave.
We were both pleased with this satisfying repast.
After dinner EH went to play BJ (he had NO problem finding $10 tables).
I hit the dollar machines once more with modest success.
The next morning, while waiting for EH to meet me downstairs, I wandered over to the .25c 7/5BP prog. bank. The royal meter was at $1192. "What
the heck", I said to myself. "I'll just play $20.00". I sat down at an end machine, selected BP, and noticed that last hand played had been a dealt four aces. I pushed max. bet, was dealt two aces and drew the other two.
Just another anecdotal lesson in "randomness".
I asked EH if he'd rather go downtown for the day, or back to the Palms. We also considered the Gold Coast, but decided that both of us would fare better in a less smoky environment. I believe that the GC is the smokiest casino in which I have ever played. In the end we decided to return to
the Palms once again. The quality of their VP inventory is unparalleled at this time, and it does seem as if they attract a higher percentage of
non smoking patrons.
Our VP results were similar to the first two days. Nothing too exciting or too depressing. I did have one bad stint on dollar NSUD in the High Limit area, but still wound up a little ahead for many hours of play.
We were once again picked up at the Palms and driven to a local Italian restaurant, "Nora's" (6020 Flamingo Rd.) for a very good dinner with our local son and DIL. The Southern Italian cuisine is not only well prepared but very reasonably priced. We shared "family style" appetisers, a delicious anti-pasto saladand chicken, pizza and calamari entrees. The food was tasty and the company was outstanding.
After dinner we were dropped off at Encore instead of Wynn, since I wanted to play the dollar 8/5BP prog. before leaving for home the next morning.
EH went off to play BJ, and I did a few turns around the casino before locating the BP prog. bank. The royal meter was only at $4600, but I thoroughly enjoy playing BP, so I didn't hesitate to play. After losing my first $100, I had won I hit a few good hands and ended up in the plus column again. Unlike my July stay at Wynn, on this trip, their machines were much kinder to me.
The next morning we ate breakfast at the airport, and actually had to pay for it! }}O:
Our plane departed a few minutes early. After a smooth flight, we arrived at O'Hare about fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, there was no Limo waiting for us at the end of our journey. Instead, we called the cab company we have been using for many years, and were driven to our North Suburban home in a bright yellow chariot, piloted by a talented chauffeur, who was fluent in Bulgarian, if not in English.
Thanks for sticking with me through another long report. For those who long ago feel asleep......WAKE UP!
For all of you, I wish that your worst VP sessions of the new year, are at least as fruitful as the best sessions that I had on this fun trip!
~Babe~