MACAU Galaxy Macau, an integrated resort on the Cotai Strip from Galaxy Entertainment Group, has officially opened. The US1.9 billion complex includes three hotels with 2,200 guestrooms.
The resort marks the debuts in the world’s largest gaming market for both Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts and Okura Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. The development’s third hotel is managed by Hong Kong-based Galaxy. Banyan Tree Macau offers 250 suites and 10 “floating villas,” while Hotel Okura Macau features 500 guestrooms. The 1,500 Galaxy Hotel becomes that company’s flagship.
Banyan Tree also brings with it the first Banyan Tree Spa in the Pearl River Delta. At 2,800 sq. m, Banyan Tree Spa Macau—the biggest in the company’s portfolio—will include 21 treatment rooms, as well as a private spa floor for its hotel guests.
The 550,000-sq.-m Galaxy Macau features a 52,000-sq.-m Grand Resort Deck, where a 350-ton white sand beach frames the 4,000-sq.-m Skytop Wave Pool, the largest of its kind in the world. Several pools, tropical and Japanese gardens, a traditional Japanese tea pavilion and private cabanas dot the Grand Resort Deck area. The resort features more than 50 international dining outlets, more than half of them serving Asian cuisine.
Rounding out Galaxy Macau’s resort offerings include multiple live stages and clubs, including the ultra-exclusive China Rouge, a hybrid private membership club, performance theater, bar and restaurant conceptualized by renowned Hong Kong designer Alan Chan to evoke a modern vision of 1930s Shanghai.
“From the beginning, our vision has been to develop and operate a resort that delivers both international-caliber standards but also captures the heartfelt service culture and unique flavor of Asia—something we call world-class Asian heart,” says Galaxy Chairman Lui Che Woo. “This is especially critical for success in a market where Asian travelers are so dominant. In this way, we can make guests from around the region feel right at home, whilst at the same time provide an authentic Asian resort experience for visitors from around the world, as well.”
More than 97% of Macau’s almost 25 million visitors in 2010 were from Asia, according to Macau Government Tourist Office statistics. Visitors from mainland China and Hong Kong, which are considered the primary feeder markets in the immediate term, together totaled 22 million, or 81%.
