WITH the opening of Sands Cotai Central yesterday, Macau has welcomed the addition of three international hotels brands – Conrad, Sheraton and Holiday Inn – to its hotel mix.
The trio, located within the integrated resort, will offer a total of 5,800 rooms. They are also the largest in the world for each of the three brands.
The Conrad Macao, Contai Central, which is the brand’s fourth hotel in Greater China, occupies a 39-storey tower, with access to leisure and entertainment facilities on the Cotai Strip. The hotel offers 636 rooms and suites, as well as four restaurants and bars including Conrad’s signature restaurant, Dynasty 8, which serves high-end Chinese cuisine.
Martin Rinck, president, Asia-Pacific, Hilton Worldwide, said: “The opening of the largest Conrad hotel to date signals our firm intent to extend and deepen our presence in Greater China.”
The Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central offers 1,224 guestrooms including 65 suites.
Keith Barr, CEO Greater China, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), said: “With the opening of Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central, we are targeting the growing Chinese middle-class and mainstream consumers. This particular market segment wants consistency, a high quality product at a good price and value, and they want international standards. We believe that the price positioning of the Holiday Inn product is a great fit for the middle-class in China, and will address the lack of value positioning in Macau previously.”
Barr pointed out that Holiday Inn was among the first international hotel brands “to make its debut in China, and has been here for the last 28 years”. There 57 Holiday Inns in Greater China, offering 17,938 rooms. Another 41 hotels are in the pipeline.
Barr added: “China is the fastest growing market for IHG globally. We have about two million loyalty programme members in China alone.”
The last of the trio to open is the 4,000-room Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central, which is slated to welcome guests in September this year. It will have extensive meeting and convention space spanning over 20,000m², with one of the largest ballroom in Asia that can cater for up to 4,000 guests.
Josef Dolp, the hotel’s managing director, said, “Macau will now have an edge with the additional rooms and MICE facilities combined in one location.”
Additional reporting by Deborah Cornfield
