When my mother and I first moved from the Philippines to the United States in 2003, we came to settle in Las Vegas. Among the entertainment capital’s flashy and over-the-top hotel offerings, my mother—and her preference for refined elegance—most often led us to the Wynn, which opened in 2005 as, in my childhood memory, the first nonthemed resort on the iconic Strip, where facsimiles of Venice, Paris, and Caesar’s Rome dominated the landscape. At the roughly 4,700-key property (which includes the original building and its sibling, the Encore, added in 2008), the theme, if I must name one, seemed to be luxury itself. To return to it now, as it gears up for its 20th anniversary in 2025, feels like a homecoming: Its casinos, high-end shops, and myriad dining and drinking outlets (29 of them, not including the three nightclubs) are better than ever, entertaining guests who’d rather indulge in high thread counts than days—or nights—of Sin City debauchery. As such, the rooms have gotten a significant upgrade in the last few years. My Tower Suite on the 40-something-th floor was tastefully designed, recently renovated in 2022, dressed in warm neutral tones, and equipped with easy-to-use tech like window shades that can open at a specified time and bring in the desert sun as I rose in the morning. The drapery, the bed, the small section of carpet in the bathroom—they all offer the body a rest after a day of taking in the sensory explosion that is the city far below. This place is in a league of its own, unbothered by the gimmicks and stunts of its peers. It is not without its light shows (this is still Vegas, after all), but sheer quality was, is, and always will be the Wynn’s calling card. From $426. —Matt Ortile
