The Wynn Las Vegas is surrounded by other lavish properties on the Strip, each of which attempts to one-up the other with trendy shows, world-class restaurants, dazzling art and luxury accommodations … not to mention the actual hotel rooms.

High-tech arms races have recently dictated in-room control of audio, video, motorized shades, lights, thermostats, room service and other niceties for guests.

City Center Las Vegas recently opened down the street from the Wynn, with two hotels featuring in-room amenities from Control4. Crestron automation graces high-end suites at the MGM and elsewhere. And other leading brands provide automated amenities up and down the strip.

So when the Wynn decided to renovate its five-year-old property, you’d think the hotel would invite a major automation brand into its refurbished guest rooms. Instead , it focused on simplicity.

For automating its 2,716 rooms, Wynn selected Evolve Guest Controls.

Evolve who?!

Founded in 2008, Evolve Guest Controls sprang from Mason Contract Products, LLC, an established manufacturer of bedding, window treatments and motorization for the hospitality industry. Len Horowitz, CEO of both companies, decided to enter the guest-room automation business after several visits overseas left him intrigued by the European keycard system. Over there, when a card is slid into the keycard reader inside the room, the system automatically sets the space to HOME mode. When the keycard is removed from the reader, the system sets the room into an energy-saving AWAY mode.

Photos: How an Automation Newcomer Won the Wynn Hotel

“We wanted to bring an enhanced concept to the U.S.,” says Horowitz. “Evolve created a more technologically advanced, wireless keycard system designed for retrofit situations.”

Horowitz says the Evolve solution has been installed in “numerous” hotels, but the company is still an infant compared with the established control vendors used by hotels and other multi-dwelling units (MDU).

“All of them competed for the Wynn job,” says Evolve vice president Avi Rosenthal. “We got it.”

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About the author

Julie Jacobson - Guest Writer,

A co-founder of EH Publishing in 1994, Julie is editor-at-large of CE Pro, sister publication of Commercial Integrator. An authority on home automation, networking, integration, digital convergence and the CE pro channel, Julie speaks often about these subjects at industry events. She graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan, and received an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player.

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