Lawrence Ho: W Hotel at Studio City to expand Macau’s clientele
The addition of a new chic hotel at his Studio City property will help Macau attract younger and more sophisticated clients, Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited, said over the weekend.
Ho’s property welcomed W Hotel, a hotel that appeals to a sophisticated bourgeois groups of consumers, last Friday.
As the first in Macau, the executive highlighted that the Studio City “has always been about entertainment and fun,” adding that the new hotel will open a new segment in the market.
Both Ho and director of Tourism Maria Helena de Santa Fernandes, who was also present at the opening ceremony, emphasized that after the resumption of normal travel, Macau has seen a shift of clientele. Previously, the market was filled with tourists on group tours and large gamblers. Amid the resumption, independent tourists have become more prevalent, both Ho and Senna Fernandes said.
Ho has also seen greater numbers of young tourists visiting Macau, which he believes is positive for the new hotel. He also believes that the new hotel will create synergies that interact well with the overall Studio City property.
On the other hand, Senna Fernandes said that the “vibrancy and youth energy” that the new hotel boasts will attract a new type of clientele. The brand is also very much sought after and has a strong base of followers, she added, “because the brand has different ways to manifest itself.”
She believes that, with the new addition, Macau can say that it has a wide range of products and attractions for people. “This is a new experience for Macau as well,” she said.
On whether Macau has sufficient attractions to win over this so-called new clientele, she highlighted that with a shift of mode of tour in Macau, the market should see rooms to attract them.
Ho also revealed that there is a plan to gradually renew the hotels currently operating at his properties, in response to a question from the press.
He also said that his company is financially capable of making the additional 20% investment as stated in its contact with the government when gross gambling revenue (GGR) hits MOP180 billion.
Macau sees its first W hotel after 15 years of yearning, as Ho says
W Hotel is the fifth hotel in the city operated by Marriott, the largest hotel group in the world after its acquisition of W’s ex-parent, Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
It was emphasized at the opening event that the W in Macau is the first in the Greater China Region that opens and operates with Marriott’s new positioning and philosophy for the hotel brand.
The brand has long been admired for its post-modern, sometimes defiant, décor and mode of operations. Under this philosophy adjustment, the design-oriented image of the brand will be kept, but the edginess and defiance will be left behind.
The Macau property has a movie-like aesthetic to its décor, deriving ideas from a screen work about Macau produced in the 1960s. It has 557 rooms and suites distributed over a tower of 40 floors designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the firm of the late namesake architect, who designed the Morpheus Hotel in Melco’s City of Dreams in Cotai.
Four dining outlets – Living Room, Hawker Hawker, Diva and Blind Tiger – serve quick bites, sophisticated Cantonese cuisine and drinks, respectively.
The new hotel also has a gym, an indoor swimming pool and a spa, as well as casual meeting and event spaces.
