Wynn Encore Gambles $67M on Adults-Only Nightclub, Pool

The new $67 million, adults-only Surrender nightclub and Encore Beach Club, a 60,000-square-foot complex with shipped in sand, three tiered pools and 40-foot palm trees and 26 cabanas, will open for business Memorial Day in hopes of luring jaded gamblers (yes, gambling will be poolside) and men eager to see women in skimpy clothing. The beach club closes for business at 7 p.m., while Surrender opens at 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

While pools at clubs are nothing new, even adults-only pools with - ahem! - European-style sunbathing (that means topless in case anyone had any doubts) the pool season seems to begin on Memorial Day. I don't know why, it's probably 95 degrees in March but the big splash seems to closer to the sauna-like atmosphere of a desert in June. Hotels already held "castings" for "daylife" workers who must show up with a swimsuit to audition to be a server, bartender, bus staff and the like.

The nuder pools, like MGM Mirage's Bare pool lounge, Moorea Beach Club at Mandalay Bay or the Caesar's Palace Venus pool, still tend to charge gawking men more than women (their bread and butter.)

However none seem to have the problems of the now defunct Sapphire Pool at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, which was closed after they arrested eight women for prostitution. The company then decided to suspend nude sunbathing, which included strippers from a nearby strip club.

It's unknown if the new club or pool side action will increase business with so much competition, and $67 million is a lot to risk. Nightclubs in Las Vegas can be known as losing propositions because a night spent clubbing is as expensive as any Vegas show. Las Vegas nightclubs now thrive on luxury and well-heeled customers, (Victor Drai's XS has a $10,000 cocktail) and certainly not the budget traveler. Just the Bare pool lounge costs $40 for men on weekends (women are free.) With the need for high rollers to break even on a $67 million investment, Wynn Encore may find itself out of luck.

Photo: Bare