Jan. 22--Casino developer Steve Wynn admitted to attendees at the 2003 International Builders' Show on Tuesday that it is growing harder to beat people's high expectations for his new projects. 

"Now whether we're building homes or hotels, the challenge to create a better mousetrap is ever more daunting than it was before," Wynn said to a capacity crowd inside the 7,000-seat Aladdin Theater. "In 26 months we'll unveil (Le Reve) and everybody's going to say, `OK. Now what?' " 

The 60-year-old chairman of Wynn Resorts, who joked that he suffers from "terminal developers disease," helped open the builders show with a lengthy preview of his latest project, Le Reve. 

Despite the challenge of topping its last project, Wynn said Las Vegas remains popular among travelers because it continues to build new projects that provide visitors with unique and exciting experiences. 

"The town never had any real geographic or natural beauty," Wynn said. "It was just a desert and was all about entertainment and its ability to stimulate you. It does a wonderful job." 

These days, Wynn is working to continue that tradition with Le Reve, a $2 billion resort under construction near the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard South and Spring Mountain Road. He hopes the project will redefine the Las Vegas experience much like his former projects, The Mirage and Bellagio, once did. 

Unlike his previous Strip developments, which lure visitors inside using street-side attractions such as a volcano, pirate battle or fountains, Wynn said Le Reve has been designed from the inside out. As a result, its signature theme won't be visible from outside the property. 

"It's beautiful, but you can't look in. The audience in this hotel is in the hotel," Wynn said of Le Reve's faux 150-foot-tall mountain that will hide a 100-foot-wide waterfall, lake and choreographed musical water show. 

Once Le Reve's proposed outdoor water and light show has finished, Wynn said he hopes his guests will feel as though they have recently experienced a dream. "Le Reve" is French for "the dream." 

Wynn has previously stated he plans to hire many of the city's best employees to staff Le Reve. On Tuesday, he again repeated his belief in the value of good employees. 

"When this place (Las Vegas) really grabs you ... it will be because something nice happens between you and some of the people in the hotels in which you are housed," Wynn said. "It will be about human resources. 

"The buildings that we build help to make that (positive visitor experience) happen, but it's the people that cause the chemical reaction to take place." 

Wynn also demonstrated a sense of Las Vegas' past Tuesday. Before Wynn's speech, impressionist Bob Anderson and a handful of Strip performers gave a musical tribute that highlighted the Strip's rich history of casino-based entertainment. One of Anderson's backdrops included replicas of two former hotel signs that stirred bittersweet memories for Wynn. 

"I saw the signs for the Dunes and Desert Inn and had a pang of guilt," joked Wynn, whose companies imploded both longtime Strip icons to make way for Bellagio and Le Reve. 

Shares of Wynn Resorts closed Tuesday's Nasdaq trading session at $13.72, up 24 cents. 

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