Wynn’s morphing Blush putting on the ritz
The blueprints are sprawled out on dusty blocks of wood, and Sean Christie traces their dimensions with his fingertips, like he’s deciphering some shop-worn treasure map that’s led him to this maze of sawdust and scaffolding.
“I started with this,” explains the managing partner of the new Wynn nightspot, Blush, pointing to the spot on the layout where an illuminated onyx dance floor now rests, occupying the center of the room.
Christie is standing in the middle of what used to be Lure, a chic hang that’s being remade into a new lounge/club hybrid.
At a cozy 4,500 square feet, Blush is a smaller space awash in natty flourishes, like 270 silk lanterns with intelligent lighting suspended from the ceiling, walls lined with fine art paintings and bathrooms tiled with thousands of small glass squares.
“It’s like peeing in a disco ball,” Christie chuckles.
The patio has been re-imagined as well with an outside bar, geometric statues and a facade of polished chrome mirrors.
It’s a ritzy place, but also a bit more personal and less overwhelming than some of its high-watt counterparts.
“The thing about Vegas is, if you go to clubs, you’re inundated with all these bells and whistles, which are great,” Christie says. “But my thing is, I don’t necessarily need to have a hook if I provide great service and a great atmosphere in a more classic environment.”
And it’s an environment that shifts throughout the evening, transforming from a laid-back ultra lounge to a booming club as the night progresses.
“At 10 o’clock, the TVs go off, the tables get removed, the music goes up, the lights come down and it transforms into the club aspect of it,” Christie says. “The space morphs about three times a night.”
With a small menu of finger foods like spring rolls and dim sum, hidden lockers for clubgoers’ belongings and a free-flowing layout with no dead ends, Blush, which opens tonight, aims to cultivate a more patron-friendly air, to be an approachable supermodel, if you will.
“Our goal was to make something very complicated seem simple,” Christie says. “If the big nightclub experience isn’t your thing, now there’s another option.”
