Wynn Magazine - Las Vegas
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/225036
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BARBARA KRAFT Wynn President Maurice Wooden talks about what it takes to create experiences that achieve new heights in satisfying, sophisticated indulgence. BY LAURIE BROOKINS M agic hour, Maurice Wooden calls it—in a city like Las Vegas, the mind reels at wondering which moment Wynn's president pinpoints as his favorite on the 24-hour clock. Is it 1 am on a Saturday at XS, when Avicii's turntables have transformed the dance floor into a feverish, pulse-pounding frenzy? Or perhaps 9 pm on a Friday, when a table at SW Steakhouse is roundly considered to be among the most coveted on the Strip? Actually Wooden's answer is far less glamorous—and yet no less important. For more than two decades he has worked by Steve Wynn's side— Wooden was president of The Golden Nugget for five years prior to Wynn's 2005 opening—so he knows more than a little something about upholding the promise made to guests who walk through the doors of a Wynn resort, arriving with everheightened expectation levels honed over years of knowing the "best of the best" vision realized by the man who has affixed his name to the top of the building. That's why Wooden chooses 7 to 8 am on any given weekday as his favorite hour, when he walks through the door and witnesses the prep work that ultimately serves as the foundation for all those high-wattage moments that follow. WYNN 028-034_Wynn_FOB_Maurice_Winter13.indd 29 29 12/6/13 2:44 PM