The Wynn Hotel

A few weeks ago, Bob had a meeting in Las Vegas. Me? Why sure, I’d love to go!  The first several years we were married, we attended the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas as software exhibitors. We stood on our feet and talked to thousands of people for 10 hours each day. Although we were young, it was still exhausting, and for some reason, I felt compelled to wear heels.

Our hotels back then were okay, and although we stayed at nice places like The Luxor and The MGM Grand, there were a few others that weren’t so spiffy. So, my only request this time was, since we’re only going to be there two nights, let’s get an awesome hotel. My darling replied, “Then, you’ll love The Wynn.” Age has it’s benefits.

But before I get to the hotel, can anyone please tell me what these circles are on the ground? We were about 30 minutes away from landing in Las Vegas, and they weren’t buildings, they weren’t plants (I don’t think there are any plants in the entire state). I felt like a goof-ball tourist taking a picture out the plane window, but after I did, the lady behind me also snapped a few shots. So, I’m not the only one.

Okay, so The Wynn is fabulous. We stayed on the top floor, just beneath the “W.” The Encore, just behind The Wynn is also owned by the same company.

The main floor displays a breathtaking floral installment by Preston Bailey, who I just happened to meet years ago in Fairhope. No, the flowers aren’t real, except for a few stunning arrangements, including one that had more orchids than I’d ever seen before.

The floral carousel was fun. Little ponies made of carnations.

Our room was beautiful with a floor to ceiling window, looking out over all the twinkling lights of the city. In the distance were majestic mountains, which I can’t stare at long enough, since my town’s so small we don’t have room for mountains.

There weren’t really any shows that appealed to us — we’ve seen Cirque du Soleil several times before, and although I love Donnie Osmond, it wasn’t a unanimous vote, so instead, as our treat, we feasted at the resort’s premier restaurant, Costa di Mare.

I know it’s rude to discuss $$$, but, for journalistic reasons of amazement, I think it was the most expensive dinner we’ve ever had. In my Southern-Protestant guilt of always thinking of the missionaries, I wasn’t happy about it at first, but then I remembered the Sunday school lesson where God said to kill the fatted calf and dance, so then I relaxed and  realized it was ahh-ma-zing!!! You know, every now and then you need to celebrate life’s little victories, right? (but I’ll put double in my Lottie Moon envelope next year – some of you know what I mean).

The featured seafood is flown in twice a day from small fishing villages in Italy. It’s rolled out on a little cart to say hello, so you can meet your dinner before you eat it. Since we’d just dined on seafood straight from the Mediterranean in Italy a few months before, we were pretty good judges of the freshness, and I can tell you, it was perfect. Everything was beautifully prepared and the service was probably the best we’ve ever had. Our server, I think her name was Margaret, had even lived in Italy and was able to tell us about their authentic dishes and where the ingredients originated.

This was our view out the window of Costa di Mare. We didn’t know to ask for a cabana table outside, but it was a little  chilly anyway.

Thanks to the power of social media, we realized we had three friends from Fairhope who were all in LV at the same time! One for a pharmacy meeting, one for a software seminar, and one for a chef’s show. Conventions run this town, and if we were all there at the same time from our small Fairhope, I question whether anything that happens in Vegas really and truly stays there!

And what’s Las Vegas without a buffet? The morning we left, we stopped by the Wynn’s stunning breakfast buffet, once again, designed by Preston Bailey. The buffet had everything you could possibly dream of for breakfast, and if you follow me on Instagram, you may remember that in addition to mounds of other things, I also had a tiny gourmet ice cream cone for breakfast. They had everything! If you think I’m exaggerating (me?) about EVERYTHING, they also had breakfast sushi.

While we were in LV, there was a terrible wind storm. The TV stations were going crazy, reporting 80 mph winds, with several 18 wheel trucks being blown over on their freeway. From our room, we could see the cloud of sand rolling in. (I just noticed, you can also see my reflexion. Kind of like a spooky vision in the sky. Oooo! Every time a tree was blown over, they’d show it on the news. They have so few trees, I guess it’s a big deal. Our window was rattling, and a window in the adjacent Encore hotel blew out! Yikes! It was like a tropical storm without the rain.

Small town girl also loved seeing a curved escalator. What will they think of next?

The entire hotel is exquisite with high-end shopping throughout the complex, just in case you hit the jackpot and want to buy a . . .

$3,000 tricycle. Geez! And I felt guilty about dinner!

We were on the 60th floor, but if you look closely, there are no floors in the 40’s. It seems that Asians love to visit and drop money in Las Vegas, and they are superstitious about any number beginning with “4.” And of course, there’s no “13” either. As close as we could tell, our 60th floor room was actually on the 49th floor.

“You know they have cameras in here.”

“Well, you should get me out of the house more often.”

I had fun at the Wynn. Can you tell?