What is new in the Macau luxury hotel world?

There is always something new in Macau, and the gal wanted to be up-to-the-minute. The mighty Wynn Palace, on Cotai, is still four months away from opening, but the ‘original’ Wynn has not stood still. It originally opened September 2006, on 16 acres of prime  land bordering Nam Van Lake, and since then it has added Wynn Encore, and more.

The latest wow factor of this luxury hotel, says the gal, is a redo of Mizumi restaurant. Not only is Roger Thomas‘ design, with gold leaf-covered brick walls, totally sensational, but the food theatre is out of this world. The Wynn team, led by President Ian Coughlan and VP Food & Beverage Olivier Bonard, travelled to Japan to talk to three Michelin-starred restaurateurs, all of whom have become involved here at Mizumi.

Sushi specialist Tsutomu Shimamiya, of Sushizen in Tokyo, has sent his disciple Hideki Fijikawa to head the sushi here (this guy is also a non-stop comedian, by the way). Tempura Motoyoshi restaurateur Kazuhito Motoyoshi has loaned Mizumi tempura specialist Kazuya Shimomura, and teppanyaki is looked after by a disciple of Junichi Yoshida, of restaurant Ishigaki Yoshida. This restaurant really does take eating Japanese to a new height. We started with saké, and look – big image above – at the presentation of chilled saké glasses. That was a nice beginning to a meal that went on to a salmon amuse, under dry ice-filled glass domes, and then came sashimi, and tempura, and bites of wagyu.

It was just such a beautiful theatre of a meal, from beginning to end. I was staying in a Wynn Club room, 2006, and look down at the resort’s famous water ballet. As always in a Wynn room I had so much space, and the bathroom, apparently designed by Mrs Wynn, is almost unique in being perfect. Everything is exactly where you might expect it to be were you designing the bathroom yourself. Which other company is so thoughtful when it comes to bathrooms? Actually Peninsula is excellent, too, and I like Park Hyatt Zurich. Anyway, after a good night’s sleep I was able to walk some of the copious shopping mall area of the entire Wynn Macau complex. Of all the beautiful brands it was definitely Chanel that won my top prize.

I was enroute to another of this fabulous luxury hotel‘s restaurants, Café Esplanada, for breakfast. It continues out to the resort’s quiet inner garden but today it was too cold, so I sat inside in a palette of oranges, pinks and reds, a riot of colour – yes, it is another Roger Thomas masterstroke. The main rush for breakfast, said a keen young Indian manager, is eight to nine. When I was there it was quiet, so I was able to admire the dozens of muffins (the dark chocolate ones looked really good) and take a slow panning video of the whole. See below.