Wynn Magazine - Las Vegas
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/39920
that blends the world's best massage tech- niques and ingredients into a body-bending, soul-mending delight. "A lot of spas are cold and minimalistic, but The Grand Court when you enter The Spa at Encore, you are just so overwhelmed with beauty, it literally makes you exhale and relax," Stimpson says. "The reac- tion I hear most from guests is, 'This is the most stunning spa we've ever experienced.'" Just as Lenahan peppered his texturally rich design with elements from around the globe— North African lamps, Asian statues, European furniture and chandeliers—massage therapists employ an international array of techniques from Thailand, Japan, China, India, Polynesia and Native-American culture. The Escape pack- age covers practically every inch of a weary traveler's body, beginning with heated Thai poultices—made from lemongrass, kaffi r lime, tamarind, turmeric, prai, patchouli and cam- phor—that are rolled over your muscles, open- ing pores and pulling toxins from the skin. The therapist then gently stretches your arms and legs before launching into a personalized mas- sage with oil made from mandarin orange and cloves and applying acupressure and shiatsu. As if this weren't enough to inspire utter bliss, the Encore Escape also includes refl exology on the feet and lomilomi ("massage" in Hawaiian), which untangles knotted muscles with a rock- ing, wavelike motion, using hot and cold stones pressed on the skin. The treatment concludes with Encore's adaptation of the shirodhara oil ritual from India: A cold stone is placed in the middle of your forehead as a blend of sweet almond oil, sunfl ower oil, lavender, jasmine and brahmi is drizzled onto your hair and gently massaged into your scalp. Good-bye, stress. Hello, Nirvana. While "Encore Escape" refers to the treatment itself, the escape really begins when you step off the elevator, far removed from the bustle one fl oor below. You walk down a sedate hallway, past sculptures and objects d'art. "It's a decompression from the high energy of the casino," Lenahan says. Before arriving at reception, you're treated to what Lenahan calls a "great sense of embrace and welcoming": the Grand Court, a sky-lit foyer with vaulted cross- beams and backlit glass on the ceiling, sofas, chairs and tables. "It's intended to be a living room with a fantastical assembly of things "WHEN YOU ENTER THE SPA AT ENCORE, YOU ARE JUST SO OVERWHELMED WITH BEAUTY, IT LITERALLY MAKES YOU EXHALE AND RELAX." one, scene two, scene three," says Lenahan, who comes from a cinematic background, having worked for a major Hollywood studio as a designer. The most dramatic—and unexpected—scene unfolds as you are led to your treatment room from the relaxation area. A door opens, and there's a grand corridor—15 feet wide, 120 feet long—that's perfectly symmetrical. It's a visually stunning moment, reminiscent of legendary fi lm director Stanley Kubrick's signature shots. On each side are North African lamps and tower- ing seven-foot vases, custom made in Las Vegas. Venetian chandeliers run the length of the hallway's ceiling, while the other end is dominated by a large golden statue of Guanyin (Kwan Yin), the Buddhist goddess of compassion. "There's a hallowed quality to walking down the hall—you feel revered, like from all over the world," says Lenahan. "It lets your mind escape and wander. You can't focus on any one thing." At the room's center is a large orb made of solid onyx. "It's a gem," he says. "Just like you have a beautiful stone set in a ring, you have this gem in the middle of the room. It's elemental, of the earth, like so many things in the spa." After being checked in by a receptionist, spa guests are led to locker areas by an attendant. On the way, guests stop in a salon area that evokes a study, with a fi replace and seating area, while the attendant off ers something to drink. "It's a transitional space," Lenahan notes. From there, it's on to the spacious locker room, the wet areas (steam room, sauna, hot tub, cold plunge pool and experience showers) and the relaxation room, a quiet area with chaises, rich carpeting and heavy drapery on the walls, where massage therapists greet clients before their treatments. "There's a progressional quality to the design, an intentional idea of scene you're royalty," Lenahan says. "It reawakens your senses and reinspires you. It elevates you to experience your treatment at a higher level." Lenahan says he didn't give the corridor a formal name, but he enjoys hearing the labels people come up with. "Robin Leach calls it the Hallway to Heaven," Lenahan says. Stimpson calls it the Temple to Spa. I call it the Path to Enlightenment. After my treatment, I felt like I was fl oating toward a higher plane as I walked back to the relaxation room. On the way in, guests see the big Guanyin statue, but on the way out there's a large mirror on the opposite end of the hall. It visually stretches the corridor, and Lenahan agrees that the idea was to create a sense of infi nity. "I wanted to convey the sense of having the experience go on and on. I did everything I could to mitigate the reentry into reality," he explains. As I lingered in a chaise in the relaxation room for the next hour, my body and mind rejuvenated and reenergized, reality never felt so blissful. ■ WYNN 45 PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT MILLER