Until my last trip to Las Vegas I only visited Wynn once and didn’t really enjoy it. It felt like old money. Cold and stuffy. That feeling changed on my last trip. My first night was spent enjoying a nice dinner at SW steakhouse. The next night I gambled at both Wynn and Encore and had a visit to XS.
XS
Generally, I’m not a club guy but it’s always fun to check out a new spot. I grabbed a drink and took a walk through XS and had a great time. I can’t believe that people wait in lines half the night to get into clubs. Thankfully, I know people and didn’t have to deal with the incredibly long lines. We walked in and up the stairs into the club. It was early (around 11pm) and they club was already packed with people drinking and dancing.
I took a walk around the perimeter of the club stopping at the bar for a moment before heading outside to have a waitress get a drink. $14 for a Grey Goose & Soda feels like club prices to me. One of the nice parts of XS is that the club is both inside and outside. Being from the east coast, I didn’t feel cold outside like the locals.
After watching girls dancing on stages (some went commando) I looped around the club and headed out to gamble. It was a nice quick trip through XS and I’m glad I took a spin.
After walking out of XS into the Encore casino my friends and I sat down at an empty $10 blackjack table. It was a great spot – we were close to the drink station, close to a rest room and had a great view of clubbers leaving XS.
We played blackjack for about 4 or 5 hours and closed down the pit. Everyone at the table had plenty of drinks and everyone at the table walked away with more money than they started with. It was an impossible run. Entire tables rarely win. I think I finished up either $300. The end of the night was fuzzy. I was in the middle of the winners and I was happy for it.
This was a special night filled with tears of joy and vodka fueled laughter. I had so much fun. The dealers, pit bosses and cocktail waitresses were all fantastic. I knew I had to start drinking water when I stopped at the urinal and took a picture of the antisplash above. It’s the one photo I took that night and it’s the sole reminder of the laughs that night.
At Encore I learned that my earlier loss at switch blackjack (at Wynn the night before) was rare. Evidently most people win at switch blackjack. I’ll try switch again before I drink. Unfortunately my gambling at Wynn was filled with losses and a small video poker victory.
My two nights at Wynn and Encore changed how I felt about Wynn. I think the addition of Encore has added a little youth and energy to the complex that wasn’t there when Wynn first opened.
This is a good reason not to hold one visit against a casino/hotel forever – especially when hearing opposite impressions from others. That’s something to keep in mind as CityCenter and Aria develop.
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Nice! I know what you mean about first impressions. The first time I ever visited Bellagio, I couldn’t picture myself ever staying there. It felt too “snooty.” But by the time I did stay there, I had visited the property a few times and gotten more comfortable with it and really fell in love with it. I sat in the East Side Lounge at Encore on my last trip to Vegas, and I thought it was a wonderfully relaxing spot, with a nice view of the pool area. I’d stay there.