Steve Wynn is probably looked up to more than any other casino developer and operator in the past 30 years. His vision has brought Las Vegas such iconic properties like the Golden Nugget, The Mirage, Treasure Island, and Wynn Las Vegas. He has a touch for creating unique casinos and hotels that are ahead of everyone else.
A couple of months ago he was meeting with Jeff Bezos who owns Amazon. He was telling him about his love for the Amazon Echo, Amazon’s hands-free voice-controlled speaker, and how he uses Alexa in his villa at Wynn. In an interview with KTNV, the ABC affiliate in Las Vegas, in October he revealed that he would like to install Amazon Echo in all rooms at Wynn and Encore.
“Turn on the lights”
“Open the curtains”
“Turn on the TV”
What a great idea. Well, the hotel actually confirmed this in a news release today. This morning Wynn and Amazon announced plans to equip all 4,748 hotel rooms at Wynn and Encore with Echo. This isn’t just a long-term vision. Speaker installation will begin this month.
Steve Wynn further commented, “As we have moved through the years, technology has always played an important part in our resorts. The thing that Amazon has done with Alexa is quite perfect. If I have ever seen anything in my 49 years of developing resorts that has made our job of delivering a perfect experience to our guests easier and help us get to another level, it is Alexa. The ability to talk to your room is effortlessly convenient. In partnership with Amazon, becoming the first resort in the world in which guests can verbally control every aspect of lighting, temperature and the audio-visual components of a hotel room is yet another example of our leadership in the world of technology for the benefit of all of our guests.”
Alexa will be fully operational in all Wynn and Encore hotel rooms, suites, and villas by summer 2017. They will initially control room lights, room temperature, drapery and the television. In the future, there will be more features such as personal assistant functions introduced.
Steve Wynn has always been a visionary and forward thinker. Some hotels have previously used remote controls and mobile apps for each of these tasks. Introducing Alexa to hotel rooms is a natural evolution. As he is so often, Steve Wynn is ahead of the curve.
