The Wynn Hotel - Macau

Macau has been a legal gambling spot for many years now. But it was only recently that they opened their doors to Internation investors. Prior to this the only person who held the license to own and operate casinos in Macau was Mr. Stanley Ho. In the first year that the international companies ran operations in Macau they reported a collective annual turnover that surpassed that of Las Vegas… Think about it. I have not got the patience to draw it out for you, but that is fucking insane. So it is no surprise that all the big casinos are scrambling to get in on the game, currently the Venetian in the front line who has built the world’s largest casino in Macau. But before the MGB, the Venetian, or the Sands showed up in the Macau, the Wynn was the first to land on the scene. But I guess Steve was lacked the foresight because he built a scaled down version of the Las Vegas Wynn in Macau. Had he known how lucrative the Asian market was, I am sure he would have gone bigger. Nonetheless, during my most recent venture to Macau to celebrate my cuzins bachelor party, we elected to stay at the Wynn.

I have never been to Las Vegas myself, but my friends who have told me that the Wyn n Macau is an exact replica of the one ion Las Vegas, down to layout and fittings, just on a smaller scale. I have stayed at some pretty luxurious hotels and villas in South East Asia, so for the amount we were forking out per room, I was not too impressed. I mean they were spacious and all but nothing extraordinary.

The bathrooms were also quite large but nothing that made me step back and say DAMN!!! What was a notably cool feature in the WC was the fact that there were no taps on the tub. There are just some obscure knobs covertly tucked away and hidden spouts that fill the deep rectangular tub.

The TV set up was also very normal, as was the work desk, cupboards and beds. But next to the bed they had a cool ipod deck. I think any hotel that does not make provisions for guests to play their own music is just plain stupid. Also we had to pay for internet service in 24 hour segments. Even the cheap ass motels I frequent in China provide free internet. This is a major turnoff and totally distasteful of the Wynn.

The in room bar is also very basic with the usual amenities. But the snack selection in the room is all custom Wynn gear. And it does not come cheap. And for some reason the snacks are protected with some serious high tech gadgetry. I saw some wires coming out of the deck that holds the in room snacks. At first I thought it was some sort of new age device to keep the Fiji water cool. My friend Manna and I even spent a few good minutes passing the bottle back and forth while we discussed the function of these strange new electronic devices.

We later figured out that these black discs are actually super sensitive weighing scales, each set to balance the particular brand of snack placed on them. If the programmed weight is displaced for more than 60 seconds, you will be billed for the said item. And you got to check the really small print on the card in front of the snacks to figure this out. It is an extremely stoopid system in my opinion.

So over all, on my scale of 1 to 10, as compared with all the other hotels I have stayed in, the Wynn Macau only gets a 7… And that’s being generous! I think the service was shit, the hotel amenities were shit, the staff was not friendly, and the pool was tiny. But in their defense, they are a casino, catering to foggers who want to spend most of their time at the tables. But I still think they should have a tourism desk in case the families of the gamblers want to go out and see the city. Also logistically, they do not have a very impressive location. If the Wynn is planning on running against the new and younger hotel casinos in the market, I think they are going to have to turn things up a notch, starting with entertainment. Build a nightclub in your complex for fucks sakes!!