In 2027, luxury gets a new address — Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE, where Wynn Al Marjan Island is poised to debut as the most ambitious resort the country has ever seen. 

Get ready for Wynn Al Marjan Island

So, what does Ras Al Khaimah need to do to finally step out from the long shadows of Dubai‘s towering skyline and Abu Dhabi’s heavyweight tourism scene? Introduce the biggest, the never-been-done, and then actually pull it off. It is no small feat to find such a thing when competing with cities known for breaking records and backed by oil-based economies. But Ras Al Khaimah has found its trump card, and it is playing it well!

It’s on the verge of launching the first-ever gaming resort in 2027, which is also the largest hospitality project the Emirates has ever seen. These words are enough to raise curiosity and eyebrows alike.

Wynn Al Marjan entrance
A grand welcome: the entrance to the Wynn Al Marjan Island

A little about Wynn Resorts

The clever move was bringing in Wynn Resorts, the OG’s who have historically shown the world how it’s done. They owned the most prominent chunk of the Las Vegas skyline long before the Wynn brand existed. From The Mirage, the first mega-resort that redefined the Strip in the late 1980s, to Treasure Island, Bellagio, and eventually Wynn Las Vegas, the resort where Steve Wynn, the hotel mogul, finally decided to put his name on the door.

When Steve said, ‘Maybe, just maybe, this time we will get it right,’ after his six Wynn resorts, it also raises a question to ponder about what is not so right until now.

The six Wynn Resorts are both a benchmark and a case study in luxury hospitality. For instance, several of the 22 restaurants at Wynn and Encore in Las Vegas have already earned Michelin stars. Their spas have been consistently ranked among the finest in the world by Forbes. The guest rooms are among the most luxurious in the industry; every detail, from the thread count of the linens to the curated artwork on the walls, has been meticulously considered to serve a greater purpose for the community.

But what about Wynn Al Marjan Island?

Occupying a staggering five million square feet, Wynn Al Marjan Island will be the culmination of everything the team has learned from their experience to date. Built on a purpose-developed island, the resort features all these quintessential trimmings of the Wynn brand:  casinos, beach clubs, high-end accommodations, world-class dining, and luxury retail, but with the bar raised even higher.

Wynn Al Marjan enclave king bedroom
Enclave’s king bedrooms offer a hotel within a hotel experience for VIPs

Wynn Al Marjan Island’s most unique feature is a hotel within a hotel called Enclave, catering to the crème de la crème of the Middle East, for those seeking deeper privacy, seclusion, and ultra-luxury. Complete with private entrances, lobbies, and restaurants, Enclave is a groundbreaking concept in hotel design. At the very top are two royal apartments, each 15,000 square feet, facing opposite directions. Four freestanding townhouses add to the elevated offering.

Wynn Al Marjan enclave bathrooms with a view
The Enclave king bathroom is like being out at sea

Making a mark in the UAE

Wynn Al Marjan Island comes with the responsibility of shaping how Ras Al Khaimah wants to be perceived, not just as a quiet coastal alternative, but as a place rewriting the luxury playbook. The hotel is no longer just about brand perception. It is about reshaping a destination’s global identity.

It’s no surprise that Todd-Avery Lenahan, President and Chief Creative Officer of Wynn Design and Development, is treating every square metre like sacred ground. As he puts it, unlike chefs or musicians, architects cannot endlessly tweak their work. These buildings must endure. They must be right the first time.

Wynn is one of the rare brands that designs everything in-house. From the architecture to the cutlery, it all bears the Wynn mark. So does the food on your plate.

Wynn Al Marjan shops
Wynn Al Marjan Island’s impressive shopping promenade was designed in-house

Back on the Las Vegas Strip, just a few levels below the floral installations and the buzz of slot machines of the Wynn lobby, sits a full-scale production unit churning out thousands of artisanal loaves of bread and award-winning cakes each day. There’s even an in-house floristry team that imports and arranges flowers with such precision that it could make a royal wedding planner break into a sweat.

A few miles beyond the Strip, Todd’s 200-strong design team from across the globe are immersed in bringing Wynn Al Marjan Island to life from their desert-facing development centre.

“Even after choosing the most fitting plan based on the constraints, goals, and opportunities of the site, there’s always that bittersweet feeling that other worthy concepts had to be set aside,” contemplates Todd.

The design story

To gain a deeper understanding of global sensibilities and perspectives, Wynn Al Marjan Island has assembled a distinguished roster of international designers. Jacques Garcia, who famously revamped Hotel La Mamounia in Marrakech, is curating an Indo-Persian dining experience, while Anouska Hempel, known for her iconic designs of Blakes London and The Hempel, is conceptualising a Lebanese restaurant. Each is shaping specific areas of the resort, allowing them to take on their own unique identity within the vast footprint of the property.

The design philosophy is meditative. Inhale the public space. Exhale the private. The lobbies and reception halls are gallery-grade, showcasing rare art and collectables sourced over decades, some dating back five or six centuries. In contrast, the guest rooms are hushed, earthy and minimal, designed to fade into the background and let the Gulf waters outside do the talking.

Wynn Al Marjan Island also tells a larger story. Drawing on historical moments when Europe looked eastward for inspiration in art and design, found it exotic, and sought to bring some of it back to their own turf. Over time, the artists and inspirations travelled and fused Eastern, African, and Oriental artistry with classical European structure, evolving into a unique style of its own.

Wynn Al Marjan by the beach
Wynn Al Marjan Island towers over the beach

At its core, the resort is subtly reclaiming Middle Eastern art narratives that have long been scattered globally, bringing them back home in a full circle. Throughout the property, references to Egypt, the Mediterranean, and the minimalist precision of Japanese aesthetics are combined with European sophistication to bring out the best of both worlds, while keeping it rooted to the land.

Gaming, interestingly, is not the focus. In contrast to the loud spectacle of Las Vegas, the casino here is compact and discreet, quietly integrated among the broader experience. 

Nowhere in the hotel industry has spatial planning been so meticulously considered down to the emotional level before. Visitors are received on their own terms, allowing beachgoers, shoppers, diners, and hotel guests to move through the property without overlap. There is a separate arrival space for check-ins, buzzing with bright anticipation. Departures, by contrast, are handled in quieter zones, dialled down to match the reflective tone of those saying goodbye.

The entertainment is being envisioned as a fantasy garden, a continuous spectacle featuring drone-powered butterflies and mythical creatures flying. Inspired by the legend of a rare flower that blooms once in a lifetime, it is a dreamlike reinterpretation of what a nightly show can be.

So, when the doors to Wynn Al Marjan Island finally open in 2027, and the world arrives to witness what Ras Al Khaimah has created, maybe, just maybe, the team will be able to say: we got it right.

Learn more about Wynn Al Marjan Island

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