Wynn Al Marjan Island will open in September 2027, delayed from the spring 2026 timeline originally planned for the UAE’s first gaming resort. Regional geopolitical factors have been cited as a contributing cause of the postponement. The property, developed by the US hotel company behind casino resorts in Las Vegas, Boston and Macau, secured the country’s first gaming licence in 2024 and is expected to substantially lift tourism activity in Ras Al Khaimah.
The scale of what is being built is considerable. Rising 305 metres above sea level across 70 storeys, the resort will contain 1,530 rooms and suites spread across ten room categories, placing it among the UAE’s largest hotels by room count. It sits on its own island, with 420 metres of private beach, 360-degree water views, a marina, 22 restaurants and lounges, a spa, salon, shopping promenade and theatre.
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The gaming component is operationally distinct. Wynn Al Marjan Island holds an exclusive, 15-year gaming licence specific to Ras Al Khaimah, renewable but not extending to the broader UAE. The General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) will oversee access to the gaming area. A hotel representative was clear that gaming constitutes “only one of the many elements of the resort,” a framing that acknowledges gambling remains prohibited elsewhere in the Emirates.
Meanwhile, the entertainment programming is already taking shape. In June, the resort announced a partnership with Punchdrunk, the immersive theatre company behind the global production Sleep No More. Punchdrunk’s founder and artistic director Felix Barrett has created an original show exclusively for the property, combining live music, dance and immersive theatre. Audiences will choose between traditional seated performances and free-roaming backstage experiences that reveal parallel narrative versions of the story. Todd-Avery Lenahan, president and chief creative officer at Wynn Design and Development, described the theatre as “intimately sized” and the opening show as “quite unlike anything we have done before.”
A Sea of Dreams water, animation and light performance will be visible from most of the 22 restaurants and lounges. Delilah, the supper club from Wynn Las Vegas, will operate its first international location at the resort, with nightly live music, exclusive performances and guest DJ appearances across various venues. The Delilah venue here draws inspiration from an entertainment industry icon from Beirut, departing from the Las Vegas location’s 1950s showgirl character.
The dining portfolio is broad. A steakhouse by French chef Alain Ducasse anchors the culinary offer, alongside Indo-Persian, Italian, Lebanese, Indian, Greek and Japanese restaurants, a food hall, pool bars and a lobby bar. The Aft Cocktail Deck adds further beverage service. Lenahan noted that the restaurant collection will capitalise on ocean views throughout the property.
Accommodation spans ten categories, including Enclave, a “hotel within a hotel” occupying the central tower’s upper floors, and townhouse options. Separate entrances serve the main property, Enclave rooms, townhouses and public access points for the theatre, restaurants and shopping. Room design uses warm neutral tones of pink and off-white accented by cool green elements, with Enclave bathrooms featuring spacious wet rooms combining shower and bath.
Beach and wellness infrastructure will run across multiple zones. Adults-only and family-friendly pools, cabanas and beachfront bungalows serve general guests, while a beach club will function as what Lenahan called “its own little fantasy land.” The Enclave maintains dedicated pools, cabanas and lawns. The spa operates as a destination in itself, with wellness floors, men’s and women’s salons, fitness areas, treatment suites, retail and dining. Thermal facilities include hammams, steam rooms and dry saunas incorporating colour and chromotherapy.
An extensive art collection will populate public spaces, guest areas and rooms. Holdings include a 66-million-year-old Triceratops skull and a specially commissioned Light Into Life sculpture by British artist Marc Quinn. A 17th-century wool-and-silk tapestry measuring ten metres has counterparts at the Louvre in Paris and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Works transferred from other Wynn properties include Jeff Koons’s large-scale Tulips from Wynn Las Vegas and a Jaume Plensa sculpture from his Secret Garden series, previously exhibited at Encore Boston Harbor. Eighteenth-century Buccleuch vases from Wynn Palace in Macau and a Victorian cut-glass console and mirror from Wynn Las Vegas will also be displayed.
The curation strategy aims to “reverse a journey of 19th-century Orientalism” by returning historically significant works by western artists to the regions that inspired them, among them paintings by French artists Gustave Guillaumet and Rudolf Ernst depicting Saharan caravans and Islamic culture across North Africa, Turkey and Egypt. Contemporary works by regional artists, including Algerian artist Faiza Maghni, will appear primarily in rooms and suites.
Whether the September 2027 date holds, given the delays already absorbed, is the question the project now carries into its final construction phase.