by Josh Resnek
An interview of a recent hire who has been going through the pre- opening protocols at the casino and hotel reveals a well oiled machine, spending whatever it takes to have the place ready for Sunday’s opening.
“We have been working long shifts to perfect everything we do,” he said to the Leader Herald. “All my bosses, that is, the people above me in managerial positions all know exactly what they are doing. It is a pleasure to work with such people in so grand a place about to be,” he added.
This employee is from the North Shore. He applied like everyone else at a job fair, and snagged himself a $65,000 a year job training other employees how to take care of visitors to the casino and hotel.
It will be a daunting task as the Encore Hotel and Casino is expected to draw as many as 8 million visitors during its first year of operation. “Many of us stayed with our families in the new hotel last week for an overnight. It was incredible,” said the employee. “We stayed on the 27th floor and it was exotic.” Indeed.
The hotel’s rooms start at $650 a night and go to a high of somewhere near $2,000 a night for special suites.
While the fees for rooms are not out of line with Boston’s other fine hotels, the other hotels cannot match Encore’s five star standing in the industry.
The five star standing puts Encore Hotel head and shoulders above some of Boston’s finest and most opulent hotels.
“It is all about the level of service and the magnificence of the setting,” said the employee (who wished to remain unnamed).
“I’ve been around the world. I’ve stayed in some fine hotels…but this is the best, quite frankly, and what makes it all the more incredible and appealing – its located in Everett.”
Much has been made by the major press about a world class casino and hotel complex being located in an industrial wasteland.
Where the properties are located, was among the most polluted places in Massachusetts when Wynn began almost seven years ago.
The complex is surrounded by power plants, junk yards, and an MBTA repair facility.
Aesthetes, those people who think they know better about what it tasteful than anyone else, claim that the Encore building is a monstrosity and that the entire project is woefully out of place with Boston and New England taste in general.
This may or may not be the case. It depends who you are and how you look at it.
This is known and understood – the place as a draw is defined by its might, by the huge amount of money that was spent to build it and how every step was taken by Wynn Resorts to make this project every measure of its two world famous casino and hotel destinations in Las Vegas and Macau, China.
“The night we stayed over at the hotel, we were treated, along with many of the employees, to dinners at some of the leading restaurants. The food was unbelievable. The atmosphere, euphoric. What a place this is and what a venue this project is destined to be for millions of visitors,” said the employee.
“And I must say, the $28 million Popeye sculpture by Jeff Koons is a $28 million draw piece quite like any other,” he added.