Las Vegas -- The casino mogul who brought to this desert oasis such over-the-top hotels as the Mirage and Bellagio kicked it up another notch just after midnight Wednesday with the opening of the world's most expensive casino resort, a $2.7 billion behemoth that had guests' mouths agape as they filed through an ornate front hallway bedecked with more than 10,000 flowers.
Thousands rushed into the Wynn Las Vegas as its creator, Steve Wynn, personally stood at the entrance shaking hands, posing for pictures and thanking the rich and the common folk alike for coming to witness what Wynn has modestly likened to the Great Pyramids of Egypt.
"Oh my, God!" gasped Georgina Fields, 34, of Manchester, N.H., who had waited in line for four hours. "Just look at the molding, the tile, everything."
Even by Las Vegas' larger-than-life standards, the scale of the curved, copper-colored 49-story structure attains new heights of sorts.
A 180-foot man-made mountain covered with full-grown Aleppo pine trees looms like a regiment of guards blocking the hotel's entrance from the street, forcing visitors to come inside to see, for instance, the 100 parasol light fixtures hanging from the ceiling that mechanically dance up and down to music.
The mountain also provides the backdrop for a series of what Wynn calls "experiences" such as a water-and-light show, a 70-foot waterfall and a 3-acre lake.
"The idea of this building was to create extended spaces, to bring the outdoors inside and to transport the guest into another realm," said spokeswoman Denise Randazzo. Such ambition doesn't come cheap.
The 217-acre property is more than twice as expensive as the proposed 1,776-foot Freedom Tower to be built on the site of the World Trade Center disaster, and just under the $3 billion price tag of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai -- which, among other services, squires guests to a hotel restaurant via submarine.
The cost to build the 2,716 rooms -- minimum size 630 square feet and each appointed with multiple flat-screen LCD televisions -- was $1 million each. That eclipses the previous world record of $775,000 per room at the Grand Wailea Resort in Maui, Hawaii.
Naturally, there's an 18-hole golf course -- designed by Wynn and famed golf course architect Tom Fazio -- plus the only Manolo Blahnik shoe store outside Manhattan, a Ferrari-Maserati dealership and 18 restaurants. Some of Wynn's own collection -- including paintings by Picasso, Cezanne, Gauguin, Vermeer and Rembrandt -- is part of the hotel's art gallery.
Wynn is no stranger to such extravagance. He opened the Mirage in 1989 with a waterfall that transforms into a volcano every 15 minutes along the sidewalk in front of the hotel. Treasure Island opened four years later with a fiery live-action pirate show out front that is performed every 90 minutes. Among the entertainment at uber-elegant Bellagio is a mammoth dancing fountain show on a 9-acre lake.
But with the actual getting inside the hotel posing something of an obstacle course, and the prices being on the luxurious side -- the minimum room price is approximately $230 a night -- some observers wonder how much everyday foot traffic the hotel will attract.
"Mr. and Mrs. Omaha will walk in and say, 'OK, fine.' Then, they're going to say, I can't afford the $7 ice cream," said Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Adviser newsletter. "And they'll leave."
Perhaps, but not Thursday, when most of those present were determined to be enthralled.
"I come to every casino opening," says Debra York, 40, from San Mateo. "I just love Vegas, and I come here all the time. All I can say is that I want to stay at the Wynn now. I'll save up some money -- or maybe I'll win some!"
Wynn, 63, who is known to micromanage his properties in matters great and small, and whose name is on the slot machine in the hotel's casino, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday that his latest creation is "more complex than any other structure in the history of the world."
Not everyone was quite as impressed. Rick Garman, who operates a local Web site, Vegas4Visitors.com, wondered what Wynn spent $2.7 billion on.
"It's nice. It's pretty," said Gorman. But I was not blown away. Everybody I spoke to would say, 'It's nice,' but that was it. If my expectations were too high, then Steve Wynn set them too high."
But Wynn doesn't appear worried. He's currently working on the $700 million Wynn Macau in Macau, China, and building the Encore, a $1.4 billion hotel-casino scheduled to open right next door to the Wynn Las Vegas in 2008.
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The hotel stands nearly fifty stories above the Las Vegas valley, with a 180-foot tall mountain in front of the main entrance.
The world's most expensive hotel-casino ever has opened in Las Vegas, Nevada. The casino, which was designed and built over a period of five years, cost US$2.7 billion to construct. The hotel stands nearly fifty stories above the Las Vegas valley, with a 180-foot tall mountain in front of the main entrance.

Numerous lavish touches contributed to the high expense of the development. The sign in front of the Wynn property has an unusual mechanical design, with a large piece containing the ''Wynn'' logo, which can move vertically up or down as different announcements are presented.

"I think it's going to start a shift of power. It's been the south for a long time. Things will start moving to the north because of Wynn Las Vegas, Sheldon Adelson with the expansion of the Venetian, the New Frontier -- that whole area will become the new hot area of Las Vegas for the next decade or so," gaming expert Anthony Curtis told ''Las Vegas KLAS TV''.

As the property opened to the public, developer Steve Wynn greeted visitors at the front entrance.

"It's always fascinating to watch people enter the thing and get their first moment after we open the doors," Wynn told the ''Las Vegas Review-Journal''.

===Concern about the cost===

Analysts are not too concerned about the cost of the Wynn development. Wynn paid off the cost of ''The Mirage'' hotel-casino in 18 months, much earlier than the planned seven years for which the debt had been scheduled for repayment.

"If you remember the opening of The Mirage in 1989, Wynn needed to make a nut of $1 million a day. Everyone thought he was nuts; 'couldn't be done,' they all said," Las Vegas history department Chairman Hal Rothman told the ''Las Vegas Review-Journal''.

Wynn sold his interest in Mirage Resorts to MGM Grand (which became MGM Mirage and is now run by Kirk Kerkorian) for US$6.4 billion back in 2000, then turned around and purchased the property for the Wynn hotel-casino for US$275 million. The property was previously the home of the Desert Inn.

The hotel has 2,359 rooms, and a few hundred deluxe suites and "parlors" for high rollers. The casino has 1,960 slot machines and 137 table games on a 111,000 square foot casino floor. A Ferrari-Maserati dealership and the ''Le Reve'' stage show, featuring a million gallon water tank, round out the expensive offerings.

A round of golf will go for US$500 on the elaborate golf course located behind the main building.

All of these specifications add up to a record construction cost of over one million US dollars per room. Other expensive Las Vegas properties cost a fraction of the price, such as the Bellagio, which cost half the price at US$533,000 per room. The most expensive hotel property in the world was previously the Grand Wailea Resort in Maui, Hawaii, which cost US$775,000 per room.

"Yes, (Wynn) may be in over his head, but then he has found ways to survive before," Las Vegas professor Bill Thompson told the ''Las Vegas Review-Journal''.

===Reaction from the competition===
The ''Le Reve'' stage show features a million gallon water tank.
Several of Wynn's largest competitors spoke with admiration of the property and looked forward to its impact on Las Vegas.

"I've never understood the hand-wringing about something new, especially in Las Vegas and Atlantic City," Harrah's Chairman and CEO Gary Loveman told the ''Las Vegas Review-Journal''.

Other casino bosses from the Mandalay and the MGM Mirage had positive comments as well, hoping to pick up some new business from the development.

"It's a positive in terms of bringing more visitors," Mandalay Resort Group President and CEO Glenn Schaeffer told the ''Las Vegas Review-Journal''.

"Steve will build a great property and bring new people to town. If we're doing what we're supposed to be doing, then we'll pick up some of that business also," MGM Mirage Chairman and CEO Terry Lanni told the ''Las Vegas Review-Journal''.

===Reaction from the public===
Thousands of visitors gathered for hours in front of the property before it opened. Security guards had to monitor the number of visitors entering the building.

"I think it's spectacular," David Schwartz, coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas told ''Reuters''.

"People were pushing and shoving," Las Vegan Kathie Anderson told ''Associated Press''.

"There is nobody in the world who creates such entertaining and beautiful casinos," British billionaire Richard Branson told ''Associated Press'' from the casino floor. "I would say every other casino must be nervous. He's lifted the bar dramatically," Branson said.

"This would be hard to top," Las Vegan Marlene DeMarco told ''Reuters''.