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The boss of one of Las Vegas' most expensive and famous resorts admitted his hotel is not meant for penny-pinchers. Craig Billings, the CEO of Wynn Resorts Ltd., made the confession to analysts and investors during a recent conference call discussing the luxury casino resort's third-quarter results. When asked what he thinks about the recent chatter from people about what a rip-off Sin City is, Billings said it's not Wynn customers who are agitated by the surge in prices that have sparked a slump in tourism. 'Wynn Las Vegas is not necessarily built for those visiting Las Vegas on a tight budget,' Billings, who is worth an estimated $61.5 million, told an analyst. 'Our customer generally isn’t the customer who focuses on cost alone. 'But they are the type of customer who is unrelenting when it comes to value for their dollar. Right? Their expectation of that perceived value could not be higher,' he stated, referring to the company's high-end patrons who are likely more concerned with financial markets than what people are gossiping about online. He remained humble, stating that Wynn Las Vegas, known for its fine dining, stellar entertainment, night and beach clubs and luxurious accommodations, is not at all safe from a drop in tourism, but still, 'we deliver a whole lot of value.' The 'value' he spoke of made an impact in the resort's earnings recorded in August, which brought in $621 million in operating revenues and $203.4 million in adjusted earnings for the quarter - both higher values than the company made in 2024, Yahoo Finance reported. 'I think the summer activity, or the summer business environment, has been well publicized, maybe to the extreme here in Las Vegas,' Billings said, adding that the company has chosen to focus more on maintaining room rates as opposed to trying to pack the resort full. It costs about $1,000 to $8,000 a night to stay at Wynn Las Vegas during the summer season and approximately $375 to $1,800 a night in the off season, depending on the room choice. When explaining why Wynn's outcome was different for his company Billings turned to a recent complaint a customer made. He said they were upset over how hard it was to peel the complimentary oranges in the spa - highlighting just how small his company's issues are and how that show's patrons are satisfied in areas that truly matter. 'While we are unapologetic about premium pricing, we don’t ambush patrons with unexpected charges, so contrary to what you might expect, our mini bar prices are a fraction of some others in the market,' Billings said. 'We held out as long as we possibly could in charging for parking and really only began to do so when we were at risk of becoming the neighborhood parking lot. Even now, hotel guests park free, by the way.' The CEO added: 'Yes, our customer pays a premium room rate, but we don’t want them to feel nickel-and-dimed. 'So because of that, we haven’t seen that pushback in pricing that others in the market might have, or at least that we’ve seen on social media.' Next year might tell a different story as the company will lose 80,000 rooms while it renovates the Encore tower. But still, Billings is optimistic about Las Vegas as a whole and does not buy into all the negativity the city has received. 'Las Vegas is actually chock full of low-price options and values. It really is. But historically, it has also been a town where one could escape one’s worries for three days and experience world-class service and beautiful environments. 'In other words, a town of really high perceived value. Any erosion of that perceived value will manifest itself in a mantra against the cost of the experience itself. But read through the underlying messages and you will see that much more has been about the value for dollar and not the dollar itself per se, and that’s just not us. That’s why we haven’t seen that pushback.' Billings continued: 'If rates compressed 50 percent in Las Vegas tomorrow, would we feel that? Sure we would. 'But we will always be at a pricing premium and the reason is because we deliver a whole lot of value.' The Daily Mail reached out to Billings for comment.
