We stayed at the Encore when we were in Vegas in December 2011 to run the half marathon and our experience was fantastic, so I thought I would write about it here.
The Wynn and Encore definitely want to be known as separate hotels, but they are attached and are very similar, and the locals call it the Wynncore, and it certainly seems like you are indeed staying at the Wynncore when there!
ROOM:
But our room, was indeed at the Encore and it was beautiful!
Here are some interior shots:
This is the living area – office desk to one side and the couch is next to it
The tv revolves to face the bed or the couch. The mini bar is next to the bed.
However, the view wasn’t very nice:
The deserted Eschelon Casino
Deserted Eschelon, The Adventure Dome and the Hilton that is now LVH.
This photo that looks like a drawing is the private golf course for resort guests.
The view was a little better at night, thanks to the bright lights of the Riviera and Circus Circus. Yes, my camera is horrible at taking night shots. They are kind of super imposed on top of each other.
But I guess it could be worse, because the other side of the tower probably only has views of the Wynn Tower? I don’t know for sure, cause I wasn’t over there. And I certainly have had worse views at hotels, and in Vegas. The super suites on the end appeared to have good views.
The view should not take away from the luxury of the room. Because we were race participants, the first night we came back to our room, we found goodies on our desk, which included arm bands for the the exclusive party in the nightclub (we didn’t go), bottled water and knit hats for keeping our heads warm during the race. Thanks!
Also, they had the electronic control panel that controlled the lights and the curtains, like the Aria, only these worked. YAY. So that was a plus.
HOTEL/CASINO AMENITIES ETC
One of the things I like the Wynn and Encore is that the casinos themselves are not that large. You can find your way around it easily and the casinos are not usually that busy, so you can generally find your favorite slot machine and sometimes even a table game in your budget. Sometimes. This IS an upscale hotel, so after dinner, the table games are a little rich for our tastes and the minimums are usually $25 and so we have to go down the street a bit for that (or up to the Riveria or Circus Circus).
You can however get lost in the hallways connecting the hotels and in the shops. If you love to window shop in the expensive stores, this is a nice place to do. Don’t wear slippery shoes, or you risk falling on the shiny floors!
Another really nice thing about the hotel is because it is new, it doesn’t have the embedded cigarette smoke smell that so many of the casinos have. Eww. It is still new. And these hotels are still the most beautiful hotels I have ever seen, and that includes the even newer Aria and Cosmopolitan, also beautiful. You can see plenty of pictures of the hotels online, but you must see it to believe it. Here is some of the Christmas decor:
The best thing about the Wynn and Encore? The FOOD!
Of course, this comes from a vegan leaning vegetarian, and the owner of the hotels is a vegan, but I can assure that even the non-specifically vegan food in this hotel is wonderful. We always came here for the pancakes (always vegetarian!) and they are the BEST PANCAKES on the Strip. Every restaurant had a vegan menu. Even room service. Check this out:
This is a vegan’s dream come true. Usually, the choices are a salad and maybe a dinner roll. I could have stayed in the room and never come out and not had the same thing twice! And that was just room service. Every time we ate at a restaurant in the Wynn or Encore, I chose from the vegan menu. Even a non-vegan or vegetarian will eat well, because there is plenty of food for omnivores and also for those who are trying to eat less meat in general – and I know you are out there!
This was one of my breakfasts – a tofu scramble on flatbread – Yum!
One day, we ate at the buffet and I had a vegan alfredo that made me moan in joy and I plan to try to recreate that at home. Oh yeah, I do. I have a bunch of recipes and I am going to go through them all. I have one that is by the chef that creates the meals at the Wynn, although I am not sure if it is THAT one. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to eat at the steakhouse, because I wanted to see what the vegan menu would have been like. But seriously, I never ate so much good food as I did as when I stayed at the Wynn/Encore.
LOCATION
But there is always a downside, isn’t there. And location is it. It is pretty far down on the North End of the Strip. You can see that the next two properties – the Riviera and Circus Circus – are the neighbors and that is pretty much the end. The Stratosphere is about another mile away. The Strip pretty much ends here. If you are the kind of person who pretty much stays close to home base, then great. Because with Fashion Show Mall, the Palazzo, Venetian, TI and The Mirage close by, you will still have plenty to do, but if you like to venture to places south, as we do, then you will have some walking to do. So just prepare for that and you will be fine.
On our last full day, we went to see Michael Jackson’s Imortal (see it – it’s a must) and we walked the whole way down to Mandalay Bay and back in one day and stopped at all our favorite places along the way, and made a day of it. We didn’t mind and we planned for it. So just be aware of that. Bring cab fare or be prepared to walk to monorail station, since the Wynn discontinued the shuttle to LVH for the monorail.
FINAL VERDICT:
I definitely recommend staying at the Wynn and/or Encore!
Here are some bonus pictures of the Christmas Decor of Bellagio Garden and the Venetian!
The Venetian’s Walkway
The Venetian’s Spectacular Tree that changed colors and in which
photos can’t do it justice.
The rest are from the magnificant Bellagio
