The opening of the $2.7 billion Wynn Las Vegas in 2005 marked a further lifting of the bar in terms of high-ticket design and expensive offerings for Las Vegas, where themed resorts such as the Paris Las Vegas or the Wynn-built Mirage, had become the norm.

SUNLIGHT, SINATRA

That track record has earned Wynn a big fan base.

"The fact that Encore is another Steve Wynn hotel makes it intrinsically exciting," said David Schwartz, head of the gaming studies research center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Features of the new resort include plenty of natural light, an Italian restaurant named Sinatra and Wynn's signature mosaics and abundant use of luxury fabrics and flowers.

But spending on the Strip has been falling as consumers hunker down amid tighter credit, higher unemployment and a slumping stock market.

"Consumer confidence has fallen dramatically ... For the majority of the state, we are seeing double-digit declines in spending," said Frank Streshley, a senior research analyst at the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

In October, Las Vegas Strip casinos won 26 percent less money from gamblers than a year earlier -- the biggest such decline ever.

"Economics 101 -- it's going to be tough for prices to hold at the levels they are now," said Matthew Jacob, an analyst at Majestic Research.