Las Vegas of the East - Macau
(photos, from left to right: fortaleza do monte, ruin of st. paul , casina lisboa, )
Macau, is a small city of China just next to Hong Kong (only 45 mins travelling distance on sea). It used to be a quiet town with some old style casinos and lots of European style architecture under the Portugual governance. But it has changed to a new born superstar and has been receiving lots of spot lights and flash lights since the end of 2006.
Macau is an interesting place with its special background. For 442 years it was ruled by Portugal, making it the oldest European colony in the history of East Asia. It has been returned to the China government in the end of 1999.
After the return to the China government, the small town has attracted many international investors for high end hotels and grand casinos and the city has been growing fast in the past few years. And this city has been marked with a new page with the opening of a Las Vegas investment project, a newest and largest hotel development, the Venetian Macau, on 28 August 2007.
Apart from the Venetian Macau, there are still lots of other gorgeous and luxury casinos and hotels newly opened in Macau. I would let you have a brief idea of what are the up and coming talking points in this brand new “Eastern Las Vegas”.
Opened on August 28, 2007 under the developer: Las Vegas Sands. The development consists of hotel, casino, arena, stadium, shopping mall, restaurants and convention and exhibition centres. Other from being the largest and newest development, the focal point is that the setting of the shopping mall is in elegant streetscapes reminiscent of Venice, with small rivers and canals. The room charge is around US$200 - 330 per room per night.
Opened in 19 Oct 2006, the Star World Macau is a hotel, casino and perfomance development under the Galaxy Entertainment Group. It combines travel, entertainment and recreational services together. After its opening, it has been the most attractive entertainment hot spot in Macau. The room rate is around US$250 per room per night.
Opened in 12 May 2007, the Crown Macau is the first extension of Australia’s iconic Crown brand in Asia. It is a luxurious and contemporary hotel and casino that is primarily devoted to the high-end gaming market. The room rate is around US$250 per room per night.
Opened in end 2006, the Wynn Hotel Macau is a hotel and casino development under a Las Vegas Wynn Group. The Wynn Macau is just as sleek and sophisticated at its Las Vegas counterpart. Tasteful decorations, an enormous casino, and plenty of great shopping and restaurants are making the Wynn Macau one of the most popular Macau hotels. The room rate is around US$200 per room per night.
There are some more 6 stars hotels to come in 2007 and 2008 and Macau surely is the Las Vegas of the East. Maybe you could now plan to trip to visit Hong Kong and Macau in one go.
16 Responses to “Las Vegas of the East - Macau”
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Macau will change forever. No longer a gambling heaven. There will be much more fun for family.
With the injecton of American investors and simulation of Las Vegas, there may be more fun but Las Vegas is unique, so as Macau. People go to Las Vegas for fun while still hundreds of Chinese bring billions to Macau for gamble of their lives! That’s why Americans building Casinos in Macau as they can recover all the costs in just a few months, rather than in terms of years.
Dear Odysseus,
You are right, Macau has changed forever. I really miss the “old” Macau.
Dear Anthony,
I think Mcacu is very successful in building up a new identity in gambling and entertainment, where they earm lots of income from the mainland visitors.
these buildings are so beautiful both in color and architecture. I will definitely make this a place to come visit when i have both the extra time and money…though it is sad to see more and more places becoming so commercialized.
Do people see Macau as being taken over by American interests or are they happy about the development that will bring in new opportunities?
Dear Miki,
The feelings of Macau people to the international investors are quite complicated. Of course they treasure and benefit from the ecomonic growth, but they certainly miss the “old” Macau, where things were more simple.
These new buildings are grand and luxury, while the little and old buildings are really pretty and artistic. I shall share more in future. : )
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[…] next to Hong Kong in these two weeks’ travelling posts here: Macau - the good old days and Las Vegas of the East - Macau). It gives us a very artisitc account of the change of governance of Macau from Protugal to […]
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