No one thought Steve Wynn could top the Mirage, but he did with the Bellagio. Then came his self-titled Wynn Las Vegas and Monday night, his Encore performance debuted.

The $2.3-billion resort opened at 8 p.m. with 2,034 suites (Resort Suites are 700-square feet, Tower Suites over 5,000!); five signature restaurants; a Todd-Avery Lenahan-designed spa with 37 treatment rooms; trendy nightclub XS; 11 boutique shops; 60,000-square feet of meeting space; two centrally located pools with views of the casino, restaurants and bars; and a uniquely intimate casino with gaming areas separated by columned pavilions, canopies and draperies.

If the hotel industry as a whole is hurting, it’s safe to say the economy’s impact on the Las Vegas gaming industry has been almost crippling: MGM Mirage Inc, which owns 10 hotels on the Strip, including former Wynn properties the Mirage and Bellagio, has laid off about 3,200 workers since October 2007, according to a recent Associated Press story, and Harrah’s Entertainment has cut 1,800 since January. Many construction projects have been delayed or halted.

While his competitors have struggled, Wynn has persevered. The Encore opens at a time when Wynn Resorts stock is trading at more than $40 a share, well above his counterparts. Wynn has admitted concerns over the economy in recent interviews, but he’s also made it clear he’ll do what it takes to fill his hotels and keep his employees on the payroll. He’s recently dropped room rates at both the Wynn and Encore, where mid-week rates of around $150 a night can be found.

“If I lay off employees, I cause a ripple effect of insecurity and fear that is much, much more difficult to overcome than is raising the price when business is good,” Wynn recently told the AP.