Wynn Macau: Part 1 – Familiar Luxury

The Wynn sign with an ad for the property's Kwiat boutique, as seen from the bedroom of our suite

There were a number of reasons I felt it important to take one day and night out of our Hong Kong stay and spend them in Macau.  Among these are the fact that I was dying to see what the retail culture was like, that I was curious to see how a property with which I was familiar (in this case, Wynn Las Vegas) translated itself for a foreign market, that so many of my friends have been that I was beginning to feel out of the loop (not a position with which I am familiar nor of which I am fond), and also that my only visuals of Macau came from a scene in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, and I needed to reconcile this with the current reality.

When we finally got to Macau, we hailed a taxi and asked for the Wynn.  The guy had no idea what I was saying.  So, like any foolish American, I tried saying it louder and more slowly.  "Wwwwyyyyyynnnnnn!"  This prompted Jacob to shoot me a glance that said both “What the hell is wrong with you?” and “No wonder they hate Americans!” – but for whatever reason, it worked, because the driver figured it out and in about 3 minutes we were at the hotel.  Granted, he dropped us off at the Casino Entrance, not the Main Valet, so we had to walk all the way through the Wynn Macau’s version of the Esplanade Shops to get to Registration.  The branding of the vendors at Wynn Macau is like that of Wynn Las Vegas, only on steroids (and a bit of LSD).  Think of it like this: take the Esplanade Shops at Wynn, lower the ceilings, narrow the halls, dim the lighting, and triple the number of shops – all the while keeping the ultra high-end level of the brands, including Chanel, Bulgari, Vertu, Ermenegildo Zegna, Christian Dior, Alfred Dunhill, Rolex, Tudor, Cartier, Fendi, Versace, Piaget, Gucci, Kwiat, Ferrari, Giorgio Armani, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Prada, Hugo Boss, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Miu Miu.  Even dripping in sweat, exhausted, and limping (I’ll fill you in on that in a future post), I was blown away by the luxe-plus retail experience.

Hallway at Wynn Macau

Finally, we get to the Front Desk, and we were face to face with one of those amazing design elements that can only come from the mind of Roger Thomas: metallic gold ivy covered walls.  Talk about gilding the lily!  Now, this might come as a surprise to many, but I’m not a huge fan of gold leaf.  But here, it totally worked.  Thomas has the Midas touch, and Wynn Macau is no exception.  We checked-in (a pleasantly hassle-free experience) and were escorted up to our one-bedroom suite.  Upon entering, Jacob gasped and I laughed.  You see, it was so foggy, that it appeared as though our floor-to-ceiling windows were mirrors reflecting in.  Even though we were directly over the Wynn sign, we couldn’t see it to save our lives.

Living Room of our suite at Wynn Macau (that's Jacob in the bar)

The suite was done in a signature Wynn style with chocolate brown walls, brown marble floors with streaks of cream, and bright red sofas.  A curved bar on one side of the living room, with a massage room on the other.  The bedroom featured a large king bed with one of the signature pillow-top mattresses for which the Wynn is so renowned, a large flat-screen TV, and more floor-to-ceiling windows; while the bathroom – well the bathroom was a special haven in and of itself.

The bathroom was larger than many New York studio apartments, and featured an enormous bathtub, a gigantic shower/steam in black granite with a fantastic rain shower set high in the ceiling, as well as a number of wonderful Wynn touches, like bud vases with orchids, a plentiful supply of amenities, deep his/hers closets, and the luxury of wide-open space.

Jacob used the long tub to its full advantage

Since we were having dinner that night at Il Teatro (you can read all about that wonderful experience in its own post) we decided to take a quick spritz and run back downstairs.  Later, after dinner, we returned to the suite, where I took advantage of the high-speed Internet and Jake took a long soak in the long tub.  I guess that when you are six-and-a-half feet tall (as Jacob is) finding a bathtub where you can completely stretch-out is a noteworthy experience.  Let me tell you – Jacob was in heaven.  Then we watched some television (Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop II with subtitles in Chinese – I wonder how “Yo Baby, yo baby, yo!” translates…) and drifted to sleep on a cloud of fine Egyptian linens.

The next morning, the fog had cleared away and we got to observe the fabulous view from our rooms.  Then, on our way to check-out, we passed the pools and I noticed these two incredible cloisonné camel statues which I decided were my favorite examples of the decorative arts on the property.  Checking-out was another quick and easy experience (my favorite kind), and before we could say “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” we were on the ferry, heading back to Hong Kong.  There’s something inviting in the familiar, and Wynn Macau makes prime use of this for its international clientele, while adding some particular details that make it more user friendly for its Asian patrons.  The result is a successful mélange of two cultures served in one very sumptuous package.