THN Design
Trent Nguyen · Portfolio
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Back to Wynn design work Wynn | Encore Las Vegas · Journey Mapping

Guest journey map: discovery to departure.

Every touchpoint a Wynn guest encounters from first inspiration through checkout, with specific opportunities at each stage to close the gap between the physical luxury experience and the digital one.

Property
Wynn | Encore Las Vegas
Stages
8
Focus
Physical / Digital Gap
Method
Journey Mapping

Where does the digital experience fall short?

Wynn's physical spaces (the lobby, the casino floor, the Esplanade, the pool) communicate luxury through restraint, intention, and making the guest feel seen. The digital experience rarely does the same. It tends to be transactional where it should be atmospheric, generic where it should be personal, and silent at the moments that matter most.

This journey map lays out every stage a guest moves through, what they currently encounter at each touchpoint, and where the digital experience has the most to gain. The opportunities in gold are not feature requests. They are the places where closing the gap between physical and digital would most directly affect how the brand is perceived and how guests behave.

Scope: These explorations assume a direct booking relationship — guest to wynnlasvegas.com. That is where design has the most leverage and where Wynn has the most to gain. Third-party booking platforms (Expedia, Kayak, Priceline) are a distribution and revenue management problem, not a UX one, and are addressed separately in the Booking stage below.

Digital touchpoint
Physical touchpoint
Both
↑ Luxury opportunity
01 Discovery & Inspiration Digital
Touchpoints
  • Google / social media
  • wynnlasvegas.com homepage
  • Room & amenity browsing
  • Competitor comparison
  • Travel review sites
Current Experience
  • Corporate homepage feel
  • Generic photography
  • Flat list of promotions
  • No editorial voice
  • One-size-fits-all content
Luxury Opportunities
  • Full-bleed editorial hero that sets tone before a word is read
  • Personalized entry based on guest tier or referral source.A guest arriving from a Wynn Rewards email should not land on the same page as a first-time visitor from Google. Recognizing the source and adapting the entry point (featuring relevant offers, surfacing member tier) signals the site knows who they are before they say a word.
  • Copy that sounds like a host, not a brochure.Brochure copy describes. Host copy anticipates. "Our pool is open daily" versus "Reserve your cabana before they're gone. Weekends fill by Thursday." The second line has a voice, creates urgency, and treats the guest as someone worth talking to directly.
  • Video and atmosphere over static grids.A slow ambient loop of the casino floor at golden hour, the pool at dusk, or a suite with floor-to-ceiling windows communicates more than eight static thumbnails ever could. Motion creates atmosphere. Atmosphere creates desire. Desire converts.
02 Booking Digital
Touchpoints
  • Room selection page
  • Third-party booking engine
  • Date & rate selection
  • Add-on services
  • Confirmation email
Current Experience
  • Handoff to generic booking engine
  • 12+ rooms, hard to compare
  • "View Rates" CTA with no context
  • Resort fee disclosure creates anxiety
  • Generic confirmation email
Luxury Opportunities
  • Room storytelling before selection, not just specs.Most booking flows lead with bed type and square footage. Luxury guests are buying a feeling first. Leading with a cinematic description and photography before the spec sheet keeps the guest in an experience mindset, not a comparison one.
  • Seamless visual handoff into booking engine.The current flow drops guests into a generic engine that looks nothing like wynnlasvegas.com. That visual break signals a system change and introduces doubt. Consistent typography, color, and language across the handoff maintains the trust the marketing site built.
  • CTAs that invite: "Reserve your suite"
  • Confirmation email designed like a welcome letter

What about third-party bookings (Priceline, Kayak, Expedia)?

When a guest books through an OTA, Wynn loses control of the visual experience entirely. The suite gets the same card template as a budget motel. This is a distribution reality across the luxury hotel industry, not a design problem with a design solution.

When a guest books through an OTA, Wynn loses control of the visual experience entirely. The suite gets the same card template as a budget motel. This is a distribution reality across the luxury hotel industry, not a design problem with a design solution.

The bigger strategic lever

The real answer is rate parity and direct booking incentives. Most luxury properties actively push guests away from OTAs by offering:

  • ·Best rate guaranteed on direct booking
  • ·Perks only available direct (room upgrades, late checkout, F&B credits)
  • ·Loyalty points only on direct bookings

The goal is to make Priceline the worse option. If guests learn that booking direct gets them more, OTA volume drops over time. Wynn can also reclaim the experience after any booking: once a reservation exists, pre-arrival outreach, the app, and every touchpoint from Stage 3 onward are fully ownable regardless of where the booking originated.

03 Pre-Arrival Both
Touchpoints
DigitalPhysical
  • Pre-stay emails
  • Wynn Rewards app
  • Concierge outreach
  • Dining reservations
  • Transportation arrangements
Current Experience
  • Transactional reminder emails
  • App not integrated with stay planning
  • Guest initiates all pre-planning themselves
  • No digital concierge before arrival
Luxury Opportunities
  • Anticipatory outreach: "Your suite is being prepared"
  • Curated pre-stay guide: dining, shows, pool hours
  • Digital itinerary builder with Wynn-recommended experiences
  • One-tap access to a real concierge via app
04 Arrival & Check-In Physical
Touchpoints
  • Valet & arrival
  • Front desk check-in
  • Room key delivery
  • Bellhop & escort
  • Welcome amenities
Current Experience
  • Physical arrival is strong
  • Digital check-in underdeveloped
  • App not used as arrival companion
  • Welcome amenities not personalized at scale
Luxury Opportunities
  • Mobile check-in that feels premium, not just functional
  • Personalized welcome in the app: guest name, room, host contact
  • Digital room key with branded in-app experience
  • Preference on file: champagne vs. sparkling water at arrival
05 On-Property Stay Physical
Touchpoints
  • In-room experience
  • Pool & cabana
  • Spa
  • Casino floor
  • Room service
  • Concierge requests
Current Experience
  • Physical experience is world-class
  • In-room digital (TV, tablet) feels generic
  • Room service ordering not elevated
  • No unified app experience across amenities
Luxury Opportunities
  • In-room tablet designed to match the property's tier
  • Cabana and pool reservations with real-time availability
  • Room service menu designed like a restaurant experience
  • Casino host accessible in one tap for qualifying guests
06 Dining Both
Touchpoints
DigitalPhysical
  • Restaurant discovery on site/app
  • Reservation booking
  • Dining experience
  • Bill & payment
  • Post-meal follow-up
Current Experience
  • Restaurant pages text-heavy, low atmosphere
  • Reservations via generic third-party tools
  • Physical dining experience is strong
  • No digital bridge between dining and the stay
Luxury Opportunities
  • Restaurant pages that sell the experience, not just the menu.A paragraph of description and a PDF menu link don't earn the reservation. Full-bleed photography, a line about the chef's point of view, and imagery that makes the guest feel the room before they sit in it. That's a page that does the job.
  • Reservation flow that feels like Wynn, not OpenTable
  • Chef profiles and signature dish stories as editorial content
  • Charge-to-room with digital receipt in app, not paper
07 Shopping Both
Touchpoints
DigitalPhysical
  • Esplanade discovery
  • Shop listings page
  • In-store experience
  • Personal shopping services
  • Purchase & delivery
Current Experience
  • Physical Esplanade is curated and world-class
  • Digital shop listings read like an outlet directory
  • Personal shopping not surfaced digitally
  • No pre-arrival browsing of in-property stores
Luxury Opportunities
  • Editorial store cards: full-bleed image and evocative copy, not logo + label.The Esplanade is world-class retail curated to match the property. A logo and one-line category communicates none of that. A full-bleed card with a line that captures each boutique's character elevates discovery before the guest sets foot in the Esplanade.

    Current

    LV

    Louis Vuitton

    Fashion & Accessories

    Editorial

    Louis Vuitton · The Esplanade

    The bag you've been thinking about. The one worth the trip.

  • Curated collections: "For the occasion," not category filters
  • Book a personal shopper or private appointment via app
  • Pre-trip browsing: see what's available before arrival
08 Checkout & Departure Both
Touchpoints
DigitalPhysical
  • Folio review & payment
  • Express checkout
  • Valet & departure
  • Post-stay email
  • Loyalty points update
Current Experience
  • Checkout functional but not elevated
  • Post-stay email is a generic survey request
  • No closing moment or farewell experience
  • Loyalty points update delayed and uncelebrated
Luxury Opportunities
  • Folio review in-app: clean, itemized, no surprises
  • Departure as a moment: "Until next time, Trent."Most checkouts end with a receipt and a handshake. Closing the stay the same way the property opened it, with warmth and recognition, is what guests remember. A simple, personalized message at checkout costs nothing and lands differently than a survey request.
  • Post-stay email that curates highlights, not just asks for a review.A survey is a request from the hotel. An email that surfaces something from the stay (restaurants visited, a note from the host, a detail worth remembering) is a gift to the guest. It extends the memory of the stay and gives them something worth sharing.
  • Loyalty status update framed as an achievement, not a number
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