The St Regis Macao Hotel is the newest addition to the Cotai landscape panorama. The five-star hotel made its debut on December 18, opening its doors with renewed hopes that the economy has reached its lowest point already and that 2016 will be a year of recovery. The new unit, comprising 400 rooms and suites, is the last to open its doors from the “Cotai Central” project.
At the press conference, held at Sheraton Macau’s function rooms, the Chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, Sheldon Adelson, revealed that with the completion of this project, he is one step away from completing his “vision” for what the “Cotai Strip” should be. “When it opens, in eight or ten months time, the Parisian will complete the plan, making it possible for our visitors to walk around all our premises in a controlled environment where they can have different experiences and 1000 retail shops,” he said (see more on page 20).
At the same event, the President and COO of Sands China, Dr Wilfred Wong, also expressed his hope that 2016 will bring “slow and steady” growth for Macau, sharing the hopes of the company’s CEO.
For Stephen Ho, who heads Asia Pacific Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the new unit is an important milestone for the company in this region. According to him, it is expected that more “business travelers” will soon come to Macau.
The idea is also shared by Mr Adelson, who said that the upcoming HK-Macau-Zhuhai bridge will be an “important boost” for the local economy. He said it will also mark an important step in the internationalization of the territory regarding the MICE sector. “When completed, the bridge will make it faster to come from the HK airport to Macau, then to reach Central [district in HK]. It will be like having an extra airport in Macau,” Mr Adelson said, adding that MICE will be an important sector for the future.
Besides the retail area, which will continue to have a strong focus on luxury items and brands, entertainment has not been put aside, with a new theatrical acrobatic show named “The Monkey King” announced to debut soon.
“The luxury market is the kind of market that is always going to be there, no matter what,” Sheldon Adelson said. He justified his idea of recreating several iconic world locations in Macau with the fact, “That’s what Asians want to see: iconic places and replicas of the most famous places of the world.”
‘st regis’ property to sell serviced apartments
Sheldon Adelson has said that, similar to what has happened elsewhere, the St Regis project in Macau will also include a number of serviced apartments for sale. He stated that he has the “word” of the MSAR’s Chief Executive that this will be possible and he fully trusts that verbal agreement. Questioned about the same topic but regarding another premises in the Four Season’s property, which presents a similar situation, Mr Adelson said he expects that the problem will also be resolved although it is “a little more complex.”
no candidate picked
Questioned by the media on the sidelines of the grand debut of St Regis Hotel about which candidate he would support in the run for US presidency, Mr Sheldon said: “We do not know yet which candidate we are going to support. There are several good candidates and we are still discussing that matter inside the Adelson family.” He concluded by saying that “any candidate is better than the one we have today as president.”
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