Intrigue bucking DeeJay trend to focus on guest experience

In April, Intrigue replaced Tryst as the upscale flagship nightclub of Wynn Las Vegas. The new 14,000-square-foot venue is built to look different from month to month, meriting multiple repeat visits, and features an ultra-private club-within-a-club for celebrity guests. But perhaps most significantly, Intrigue bucks the recent trend toward deejay-centric nightlife.

We spoke to Wynn Las Vegas COO Sean Christie, who helped revolutionize Las Vegas Strip social life with Blush and Encore Beach Club, about his latest co-creation.

LVG: Tryst was such a staple of Vegas nightlife — why change an apparently winning formula?

SC: Tryst was going on 10 years old, so … you become a victim of your own success in the sense that people have been indulged so many times that, although the place may be good, the product may be good, and there might not be anything wrong with it per se, people just want something new. And, in nightclubs, new always wins.

How will Intrigue compare and contrast with Tryst?

One of the main things that separated Tryst from everything else is that it had a 90-foot waterfall that is the backdrop of the nightclub, and that has remained.

[Tryst] was not a deejay-driven club … and I think that we’re going to keep that theme, although we’ll be more dynamic in terms of entertainment and production.

Intrigue’s focus is firmly on guests having fun. Can you elaborate?

A lot of the focus over the past six to eight years in Las Vegas … has been the onslaught of star deejays taking center stage and being the main attraction. Although we recognize that that is extremely important to some people … we’re focusing on engaging and activating our customers that are in the room.

How are you doing that?

It goes back to the culture of the property overall, the Wynn culture, of it being very detail-oriented. So everything from the things that we might give away to you at the table, to surprise performances, to the level of servers, to the way that we present our staff with their uniforms.

Can you paint a picture of Intrigue for Las Vegas Guide readers?

It has a lot of golds and creams and neutral colors that are, we feel, upscale and elegant. And we purposely did that because we also have a video and lighting system that can transform the club.

One of the biggest strengths of the club is that there is a very dominant indoor-outdoor element, so all of the windows and walls open onto our lake that has a waterfall behind it.

— By Paul Rogers, LA Times Content Solutions