New Global Casinos:

Russia | Azov City Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:10:02
Atlantic City | Borgata?s Water Club Opens Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:47:18
A new website: DailyDoseofVegas.com Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:10:21

Jun

29

Cotai Casino News post on Macau Casino World

Filed Under Macau, Macao, Cotai, OTHER, ENTERTAINMENT | Leave a Comment

I recently wrote a post for Martin Chua over at MacauCasinoWorld.com. It is entitled “Is Cotai the Next Vegas” and it discusses the entertainment aspects of the Cotai Strip®. Read through the post on his blog if it sounds interesting. If my post sounds boring to you and you decide to pass, you should still go to his blog and check out his website.

He has been very successful over the past year giving updates to his readers on the construction taking place in Macao, and his site is by far the best place on the web for on the ground photos of the Macau and the Cotai Strip® casinos and hotels. His site also offers baccarat lessons plus Martin has a newsletter that he sends out to his readers so make sure you sign up for it.

Jun

28

Its official: Playboy hops on to Cotai

Filed Under Macau, Cotai, ENTERTAINMENT, Macau Studio City, Nightlife, Playboy Mansion Macao | Leave a Comment

Book me at the Heff!

Back in February, I wrote about the rumor that Playboy would launch a club in the Cotai area as part of the Macao Studio City hotel and casino complex. Well, the company finally confirmed the rumors yesterday in a press release.

The new club, called Playboy Mansion Macao, will feature approximately 40,000 square-foot of numerous nightlife and entertainment options, dining, specialty retail elements and a Hugh M. Hefner Villa.”

The gaming section of the club will be an extention to Macao Studio City’s casino floor, and will offer the “ambiance of a luxurious private residence.” When you’re done losing at the baccarat tables and giving the bunny dealer way too much in tips, there will be a contemporary intertpretation of the famous Playboy pool and grotto if you need to take a dip and cool off. If you hit it big at the tables, or enjoying the ambiance of Heff’s house is not enough, you may want to splurge on the ultimate overnight accomodation, the Hugh Heffner Villa.

This will get alot of attention when Macao Studio City finally opens in Cotai, but if Macau is anything like Vegas, there will be alot more half-naked women running around the Hard Rock at The City of Dreams.

Jun

26

Changes to Galaxy’s Cotai Mega Resort

Filed Under Macau, Macao, Cotai, Galaxy, Cotai Mega Resort | Leave a Comment

er…make that GalaxyWorld Resort?

Galaxy Entertainment provided an update to investors that can found on their website. I notice three changes to their Cotai strategy.

The most noticeable is what appears to be a namechange to the casino resort. I’ve seen it called Galaxy Mega Resort or Galaxy Cotai Mega Resort in the past, and it still appears that way on their website. On their presentation however, it clearly looks like the name is GalaxyWorld Resort. I guess they’re trying to keep the brand more in line with their StarWorld casino hotel on the peninsula.

Second, it looks like they have added a second hotel tower to phase I and have increased the number of hotel more rooms. There is now a second tower listed on the presentation that will provide an additional 1,000 rooms. In the past, the company has said they will open with “a hotel” that will have 1,500 rooms. The fact that Galaxy must feel comfortable enough with their outlook on Cotai and Macau to increase their hotel capacity by 67% should probably be viewed as a positive for the hotel market, expecially in light of Wynn’s decision to push back his Wynn Macau expansion and Wynn Cotai plans. The counter argument though could be that Galaxy was concerned that they may not get enough mass and foot traffic to fill that “mega” casino of theirs, so they had to build more rooms.

Finally, it looks like they are planning on getting a separate hotel operator to manage the new tower #2 of the Cotai resort’s phase I. Looks like they’re doing what everyone else has already decided to do. That’s probably smart as it will open them up to a broader customer base through their partner’s already existing database.

The details of their Cotai project are now…

Twin towers with 2,500 rooms, suites, and villas. Tower 1 will be contain 1,500 rooms and will be operated by Galaxy while tower 2 will have 1,000 rooms and be operated by a yet unnamed hotel company.
250,000 square feet of gaming space with 350 table games and 1,200 slot machines with room to expand to 700 table games and 4,000 slots.
An additional 70,000 square feet of VIP and high limit gaming club (70 tables with space for up to 120 tables)
Shopping, entertainment, spa, F&B, theatres, rooftop garden, wave/pool and cabanas

Feel free to discuss the changes in the Cotai Mega Resort forum or the Galaxy Entertainment forum.

Jun

21

City of Dreams’ “inferior” Cotai condos

Filed Under Cotai, Melco PBL, City of Dreams | Leave a Comment

SMH did a small piece on City of Dreams’ plans for two block of residential units on Cotai. Here is the meat of it:

The apartments on the City of Dreams site are expected to be sold in 2010.

They are clearly inferior to apartments selling at rival casino the Venetian, because Melco PBL is selling for $US850 ($1000) per square foot, versus $US1350 at the Venetian.

If you want to compare these prices to the Las Vegas Strip, take a look below:

Vdara will be the only condo hotel at (MGM’s) CityCenter (on the LV Strip). Vdara will have 1,543 residential units ranging from 500 square feet to 1,850 square feet. Unit pricing starts at around $500,000, or about $1,000 per square foot for the smallest units on the lowest floors.

Jun

17

Melco PBL updates Cotai City of Dreams

Filed Under Macao, Cotai, Melco PBL, Wall Street, Hard Rock Macau, City of Dreams, Grand Hyatt Macau, Crown Towers Hotel | Leave a Comment

(3 of 3 Melco PBL postings today)

Up, up and away!

Melco PBL issued a press release that it has secured a US $2.75 billion loan that includes two sub-headings about its Cotai City of Dreams that i’ll talk about. Take a look back at my posting from March after Melco PBL raised its budget for Crown Macau. At the time, I couldnt help but wonder how much City of Dreams was going to end up costing. I’m guessing there’s more increases to come.

1) Announces Substantial investment in Cotai Serviced Apt Hotel Units

The budget was raised from US$96 to $US353 due to a significant change in scope. The company does believe however that the proceeds from the sales of these apartment hotel units will end up reducing the net capital investment of the Cotai City of Dreams.

2) Completes Cotai’s City of Dreams Project and Program Review

Budget raised 23%, from US$1.5 billion to US$1.849 billion due to an increase in scope. The thing with the “increased scope” excuse is that its always tough to determine how much is really “increased scope” and how much is poor planning and rising construction costs. To the company’s credit, the do say that the rise in costs is almost proportional to the increase in gross square feet (3.6 million to 4.2 million), with only 6% of the increase is from inflation.

The company also gives an opening date of March 2009 for its Phase I City of Dreams with the following description:

…consists of substantially all of the 420,000 square foot casino and approximately 85,000 square feet of retail space, as well as the 366-room Hard Rock Hotel and the 295-all-suite Crown Towers Hotel, Cotai. The 1,005-room Grand Hyatt Macau twin-tower hotel is scheduled to open in September 2009.

The entire press release can be found here

Jun

17

Crown Macau Hotel update

Filed Under Macao, Cotai, Melco PBL, Crown Macau | Leave a Comment

(2 of 3 postings today)

Almost there.

Melco PBL announced that the Crown Macau casino has opened 60 hotel rooms to the public and is on track to open the remaining hotel rooms by the end of July 2007.Regarding the casino space, Crown Macau said, “…management has confirmed thatapproximately 70% of the VIP and all of the premium mass gaming facilities are now completed at the property. Five of the six restaurants at Crown Macau are currently in operation. ”

When complete, the 36 storey hotel casino will “…contain approximately 183,000 square feet of gaming space. The full gaming table configuration includes 80 VIP tables, 54%more than initially planned, reflecting Crown Macau’s strong positioning as the only casino in Macau designed and built to specifically cater to the VIP patron. “

Jun

17

Melco PBL Slides

Filed Under Macao, Cotai, Melco PBL, Crown Macau, Wall Street, City of Dreams | Leave a Comment

(1 of 3 postings today)

Here is a link for some slides that Melco PBL used for a presentation to investors. Nothing really new, but there are some pretty nice pictures in there.

Jun

14

Wall Street Journal discusses Cotai

Filed Under Macau, Cotai, Venetian Macao, Wall Street | Leave a Comment

Will there be any room for the taxis?

The Wall Street Journal had two articles discussing the casinos and hotels being built on the Cotai Strip® and the Macao peninsula. I wouldnt say that either was particularily flattering, but both seemed fair.

I already discussed the advertising problems the Crown Macau had back in May, so i wont get into it, but do recommend reading the WSJ article here.

Regarding the WSJ’s Cotai article, I’ll just copy a few items that i found interesting:

“The high-end retail shops by themselves will employ 16,000 people and occupy one million square feet of space, an area big enough to host simultaneous football games by all 32 teams in the NFL”

“…the Asian version will be 30% bigger, and its vast casino floor almost three times as large, at 325,000 square feet”

“As many as 550 tour buses will drive guests right to its doors each day”

My one big comment is, 550 tour buses per day! That’s, on average, 24 each hour, or about one every three minutes.

If this takes time to ramp up, that 325,000 square foot casino is going to look really empty.

Jun

13

Venetian Macao opening August 28th!

Filed Under Cotai, Las Vegas Sands, Venetian Macao | 3 Comments

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) today announced that The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, Asia’s first fully integrated resort and the anchor property of the company’s Cotai Strip(TM) development, will open on August 28, 2007.

“This is truly a defining moment for Las Vegas Sands Corp. as our work to open Macao’s first multi-use integrated resort comes to fruition and our vision of creating “Asia’s Las Vegas”(TM) comes one step closer to reality,” said Sheldon G. Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp. “As this one-of-a-kind destination resort opens, and our development of the Cotai Strip continues, Macao will begin its transformation into the type of business and tourist destination only dreamt of in the past and in doing so fulfilling the desire of the government to turn Macao into a premier leisure, entertainment, and meeting and convention destination.”

At 10.5 million square feet, The Venetian Macao will be the second largest building in the world and the largest in Asia. It will feature 3,000 all-suite rooms, 1.2 million square feet of meeting, convention and exhibition space, an 1,800-seat Cirque du Soleil theater, world-class entertainment in a 15,000-seat arena, and 1 million square feet of retail space, which will be home to 350 stores and many of the world’s most renowned brands.

“With the opening of The Venetian Macao, we are now uniquely positioned as the first destination resort in Macao to offer all the integrated amenities necessary to attract a multi-night visitor,” said William P. Weidner, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands. “By appealing to a wide-array of travelers with our complete set of dining, shopping, leisure and entertainment offerings, we are repositioning Macao as a premier destination for shoppers, diners and entertainment-seekers, as well as the ideal location for businesses to hold their group meetings, conventions, or exhibitions.”

The launch of the Venetian Macao also marks the opening of the first property on the Cotai Strip in Macao. The Cotai Strip is a master planned development of hotel and resort properties being constructed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. and intended to recreate the success and excitement of the Las Vegas Strip. Upon completion, the Cotai Strip will feature 20,000 hotel rooms, more than 3 million square feet of retail space, and more than 2.5 million square feet of meeting and convention facilities, including hundreds of individual meeting rooms.

While LVS will construct and own each of the properties on the Cotai Strip, they will be operated by some of the most prestigious names in the hotel industry, including Four Seasons, Sheraton, St. Regis, Shangri-La, Traders, Hilton, Conrad, Fairmont, Raffles, Swiss Hotel, Intercontinental, Holiday Inn and Cosmopolitan. All of the properties will be connected via enclosed pedestrian walkways. The Cotai Strip will also be home to six Las Vegas-style showrooms and a large arena used for a wide variety of sports and entertainment content — in all the Cotai Strip will be home to more than 25,000 seats of live entertainment.

“World-class entertainment offerings are an important component of Macao’s future as an international tour and travel destination and The Venetian Macao is pleased to lead the way in bringing these events to Macao,” said Weidner. “The first example of this comes on July 23, about one month before the opening of The Venetian Macao, when we will sponsor The Venetian Macao Cup featuring the Manchester United Football Club in a match with the Shenzhen Xiangxue Eifiti in Macao. In fact, the Manchester United and Shenzhen teams will be the first honorary guests of The Venetian Macao, which will provide their accommodations during the Cup.”

Weidner said additional events to be held in conjunction with the grand opening of The Venetian Macao will be announced shortly.

Jun

10

Sheraton Macao & St Regis Macao Opening Dates

Filed Under Cotai, Sheraton Macao Hotel, St Regis Macao | Leave a Comment

Sheraton Macao Hotel

The Sheraton Macao Hotel is set to open on December 1, 2008, according to the company’s website. Located on Macao’s Cotai Strip® site number 5, the massive 3,985 room hotel resort will feature 3,728 standard rooms and 257 suites.

The hotel’s amenities will include:

Five restaurants
Two health clubs
Two swimming pools
Extensive spa facilities 13,000 square meters of conference space

Sheraton Macao Hotel contact info:

Pre-Opening Office:
Sheraton Macao Hotel
Room 907-908 Shanghai Times Square No. 93 Huai Hai Zhong Road
Shanghai, 200021
China

Actual Property contact info in Macao:

No. 5 Cotai Strip · Cotai, Macau SAR · China

Phone: (86)(21) 6391 8251
Fax: (86)(21) 6391 0243

The hotel requests that anyone interested in career information to contact the property directly. (*more below*)

St Regis Macao

Also on the Cotai Strip®’s site #5, the much smaller, but more luxurious, St. Regis Hotel & Residences Macao is slated to open on January 15, 2009. With 460 guest rooms and 429 residences, the St. Regis’ “Butlers” will surely be busy as they “address your every specification”.

Not alot of details are given on their site, but I think this blurb says it all:

“Meticulously decorated with luxurious fabrics, furnishings, and amenities, each of our guest rooms and meeting rooms will welcome guests with unrivaled magnificence and incomparable elegance.”

St Regis Pre-opening office:

St. Regis Hotel & Residences, Macao
1808 Shanghai Time Square
93 Huai Hai Zhong Road
Shanghai, 200021
China

Actual property contact info in Macao:

St. Regis Hotel & Residences, Macao

No. 5 COTAI Strip
Cotai,
China

Phone: (86)(21) 63918251
Fax: (86)(21) 63910243

Jun

10

WYNN delays Macao expansion

Filed Under Macau, Macao, Cotai, Wynn Macau, WYNN Cotai | 1 Comment

Puts the breaks on WYNN Cotai too?

Cant blame the guy for being cautious, especially when the Chinese government can be so dumb sometimes. If I were to read between the lines, I’d guess that an announcement for WYNN Cotai won’t happen anytime soon.

Here is part of WYNN’s press release…

“…we are wary of the future effect of newly restrictive visa requirements imposed by the central government in China which have, in the past few weeks, restricted visitation to Macau from Guangdong province. In addition, management recognizes and will continue to monitor the effect on our business of the dramatic expansion in supply represented by the openings of the Venetian Cotai in August and the MGM Grand Paradise in November. In light of this uncertainty in the marketplace, we have elected to open only a portion of our Wynn Macau expansion in the third quarter of 2007 and to opportunistically provide the additional supply available in the remainder of the expansion.” (*more below*)

The Company intends to open approximately 25,000 square feet of additional gaming space at Wynn Macau in the third quarter of 2007, which will include approximately 25 table games and 200 slot machines, along with an additional restaurant. The remaining portion of the expansion will be opened subsequently. Design and budgeting for the Wynn Diamond Suites hotel tower previously announced for Wynn Macau continues, with an early 2010 opening anticipated.