Wynn, Encore Lead Las Vegas Casino Rankings, New Properties Make the Cut
Experts from Travel + Leisure voted Wynn and Encore from Wynn Resorts as the best two casinos in Las Vegas, and two recent additions to the Sin City gaming scene were included in the publication's top ten list.
For Wynn's Las Vegas venues, topping Travel + Leisure's various rankings is nothing new. In a reader survey conducted last July, Wynn Las Vegas was named the best casino hotel in the city. That was the property's fourth consecutive year of winning that distinction. Although Wynn and Encore feature large casinos, their non-gaming amenities—such as entertainment venues, spas, and fine dining establishments—make them some of the most prestigious in all of Las Vegas.
"Adjacent to the Wynn Las Vegas, Encore Las Vegas has its own casino spanning more than 70,000 square feet. The elegant space features 95 table games and 860 slot machines. High rollers can head up to the Sky Casino for sweeping views of the Sin City skyline — keep in mind you’ll need at least $300,000 to bet here,” reports Travel + Leisure.
Over 4,700 hotel rooms and roughly 180,000 square feet of gaming space are shared by Wynn and Encore.
Durango, Las Vegas's Fontainebleau Join List Right Away
Only a few months have passed between the opening of Southwest Las Vegas' Durango Casino & Resort and the Strip's newest addition, Fontainebleau Las Vegas. However, both were listed among the top 10 casinos in Sin City by Travel & Leisure.
Even with a slow start and a string of departing executives, Fontainebleau held fifth place on the list. The north end of the Strip, where the property is situated, is a notoriously difficult place for new properties. This reporter was there last Saturday night, and anecdotally, some staff members remarked that business is beginning to pick up.
For a local casino that is only a little over three months old, Red Rock Resorts' Durango did well enough to come in ninth on the Travel + Leisure list. Only two non-Strip locations made the list; the other is Ellis Island, which came in at number seven. Durango is one of them.
Ellis Island, a local favorite, is "just a block away from the glimmering Strip." Travel & Leisure wrote, "Yet its cozy, vintage vibes make it feel worlds away."
MGM Leads the Operators
It is hardly unexpected that MGM Resorts International, the biggest operator on the Strip, has the most properties according to the Travel & Leisure rankings. Cosmopolitan led that group in the third position, with the recognizable Bellagio coming in at number four.
Aria, another MGM theater, came in at number nine. According to the magazine's rankings of Las Vegas casinos, the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, which is managed by the massive private equity firm Apollo Global Management, came in sixth.
Only MGM is larger than Caesars Entertainment as a Strip operator; only Caesars Palace, at tenth, made the Travel + Leisure list.