Swanky hotel rises on Las Vegas strip

LAS VEGAS — Modest men do not build hotels that cost $2.7 billion, and so it is no surprise that Steve Wynn compares his new resort and casino to the place where the pope was elected.

"Michelangelo took four years to complete the Sistine Chapel. Your room took five," says one of the pitches for the new Wynn Las Vegas, which opened Thursday.

Wynn, 63, who helped create the Strip — including The Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio — is back, with a resort boasting 2,700 rooms, 18 restaurants and a 110,000-square-foot casino.

You can buy a Ferrari or a Maserati in the lobby; pick up a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes and an Oscar de la Renta dress. There's a golf course with a waterfall and two marshlands.

The doors to what is among the world's most expensive hotels opened one minute after midnight, and hundreds of people poured into the 50-story, chocolate-colored structure. The crowds were growing as dawn broke over the nation's gambling capital.

By midday, groups of people were being given guided tours of the lobby and casino where slot machines clanked and people wagered on everything from blackjack to horse races.

Most of the people in the lobby and casinos were not guests, but folks such as Irene Frank of northwest suburban Fox Lake, Ill., who came to wander about and gawk. "From what I've seen it's OK," she said of the new hotel, adding that she has been coming to Las Vegas for decades. This time she had come with her son to celebrate her 90th birthday.

Told rooms ranged in price from about $315 to more than $850 a night, she said: "Oh my! Even if I could afford it I wouldn't pay that kind of money."

That was not the case for John and Catherine Stihl from Coronado, Calif., who wandered over from the Bellagio to check out Wynn's new palace.

"Three hundred and fifteen a night for a world-class hotel," John Stihl said. "We'll stay here next time," his wife said.

"It's one-stop shopping," said Meg Miller, a visitor from Los Angeles. "I didn't know about the place until yesterday."

One-stop shopping indeed.

Four minutes after the hotel opened, a Maserati Quattroporte was sold for $116,000. A "pre-owned" Ferrari sold for $269,000 a few hours later.

Chanel, Dior and Cartier also have shops in the hotel.

If you are looking for show girls, Wayne Newton, or Céline Dion, you're in the wrong place. Here is how Wynn Las Vegas describes the principal entertainment — Le Rêve. "A small collection of imperfect dreams" and "an aquatic spectacular performed in a domed theater in the round."

Le Rêve is French for "the dream" — if that helps explain the concept. You will have to pay $121 for a ticket. The resorts promise that no seat is more than 40 feet from the action, whatever it is.