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Conrad Macao, Cotai Central (Conrad Macau) {MAC}

Conrad Macao, Cotai Central (Conrad Macau) {MAC}

Old Jul 11, 2012, 7:26 am
  #31  
Moderator: Mileage Run, InterContinental Hotels
 
Join Date: May 2004
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Had a very pleasant two-day stay here. Great upgrade, friendly staff, excellent lounge. A very positive experience considering (a) it's Macau and (b) the hotel opened very recently. ^

Upgraded to a club executive suite, probably 1200sqft, on the 37th floor. Well appointed, with a great view (on a clear day) of Macau downtown (Grand Lisboa, MGM, etc). Make sure to ask for 'city view' as the other side looks directly at another hotel tower that's part of the same Cotai Central development (Sheraton).

The lounge is spectacular. Probably the best HHonors lounge I've seen. Full breakfast, afternoon tea, and happy hour, all with an excellent spread of hot and cold items.

Staff very friendly, outgoing, and eager to please. English skills surprisingly good, and certainly on par with Conrads BKK, Tokyo and HK. A lot of the staff members seem to have come from other Sands properties (I met several from the Venetian), and things were running very smooth for such a new hotel. I also encountered a few newer team members with rudimentary English skills, but all friendly and helpful. The only (minor) problem I had was when I requested a late check-out and the club staff told me I had to be out of my room by noon (the hotel is running at high occupancy).

The arrivals procedure is weird. The driveway looks like you're arriving at some tribal casino in the US, not sure if they they went for that look on purpose. Buses from Porto Exterior and Terminal Taipa drop off just outside the Holiday Inn check-in area, and it wasn't intuitive to find the Conrad front desk. Ferry was hellish, 68 minute immigration wait on arrival. I would recommend taking the ferry from HK to T.T. (shorter lines) and returning from P.E. (more organized departures and airconditioned waiting areas). In both cases, pick the lines next to the Macau residents and/or Senior/Disabled lines; these are very lightly used and the immigration officers will waive people over from the adjacent line.

Overall it's a great property, with a lot of potential. A shame it's located in soulless and boring Cotai strip. I wish some of the chains had gotten their foot in the door in downtown Macau.
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Old Jul 11, 2012, 9:25 am
  #32  
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Orange County, CA
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I'm excited to visit this property in early August. Those of you getting upgraded to suites, what category is your original booking? I'm using points because I'll be there on a weekend and the rates are pretty high and the room I booked is a city view room.
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Old Jul 11, 2012, 9:37 am
  #33  
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Originally Posted by NW-A332
I'm excited to visit this property in early August. Those of you getting upgraded to suites, what category is your original booking? I'm using points because I'll be there on a weekend and the rates are pretty high and the room I booked is a city view room.
I had a base room booked on some insanely cheap 900 pataca rate that popped up a few weeks ago. I think upgrades depend on occupancy/length of stay/etc. No doubt in my mind that they will give you a suite if one is available. ^
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Old Aug 9, 2012, 3:33 pm
  #34  
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Orange County, CA
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I finally had my stay in Macau. This place is awesome. I was given a club suite on the 32nd floor and it was incredible. By far it was the best upgrade I have ever received from any Hilton family property. I stayed on points for two nights, Sunday to Monday and there was definitely a difference in the hotel from weekend to weekday. The executive lounge is incredible. I think it must be the nicest one I have ever seen. Since it is the entire floor it is huge. The staff are amazing and seem to fall over themselves trying to be helpful.

I personally don't like that the hotel is connected to the casino because the vibe changes completely once you leave the Conrad. The staff in the restaurants in the casino obviously cater to the Chinese because it was difficult to find anyone who spoke English, unlike every Conrad-proper employee. My suggestion would be to stay completely in the Conrad if you want the 5 star experience. As soon as you leave the elevator it is clear you are in the Sands Cotai Central. However, it is truly an amazing place.

A tip about transportation: Sands Cotai has buses to the other Sands properties and the Galaxy property. The transport center in the rear of Venetian is a colossal fustercluck with buses going every which place. I avoided that place at all costs. Use the buses at Cotai Central instead that are behind the casino. Also, the City of Dreams buses go to MGM and elsewhere. I used a taxi once while there and used the buses the rest of the time. In the future I would avoid this place during the weekend when most of mainland China is in Macau.
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Old Aug 9, 2012, 9:29 pm
  #35  
formerly known as daveland
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
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Originally Posted by MrColdShower
I've been to Macau twice, and spent three days there each time without dropping a dime in the casinos. There are a number of sites to see -- temples, St. Paul's Cathedral, Coloane, etc. I used Strolling in Macau as my guide. (The author doesn't focus at all on the gambling; in fact, he seems a little hostile to it. That said, I found the casino restaurants to be fantastic; I highly recommend il Teatro at Wynn if you like Italian.)

You beat me to it! Coloane alone is half a day - and quite interesting. And the town of Macau has lots of walking streets and interesting things to see.

I day tripped from HKG without an overnight and regretted not staying over for a night and having another half a day to a day there. Happily at least the Wynn paid for the ferry and meals on Macau ;-)
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Old Aug 20, 2012, 2:29 pm
  #36  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
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I can't see the Executive Rooms when trying to make a reservation

Just Deluxe + Deluxe city view

2 Q's -

Would a gold get upgraded to an Exec room (space available)?
Anybody tried?

Whats the gym like?

Thanks!

Been recently to MO Las Vegas - this will be a different experience!!^
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Old Aug 20, 2012, 8:41 pm
  #37  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
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Originally Posted by terminalfive
I can't see the Executive Rooms when trying to make a reservation

Just Deluxe + Deluxe city view

2 Q's -

Would a gold get upgraded to an Exec room (space available)?
Anybody tried?

Whats the gym like?

Thanks!

Been recently to MO Las Vegas - this will be a different experience!!^
If you book the basic rooms (Deluxe or Deluxe City View) as Gold you should be upgraded to the Club Suite, which is 1200 sqf, 2 washrooms, and is pretty sweet. If you can, ask for the "City View" side as the view is so much better. You will also get free breakfast for two - choice of eating in the Club Lounge (continental) or in the Grand Orbit restaurant in the mall (full breakfast buffet).

The gym looks great from the outside as its brand spanking new but I did not use it.

Enjoy your visit, its a great property.
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Old Aug 21, 2012, 3:38 pm
  #38  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
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Conrad Macau

Thank you very much toplayer!! Very kind
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Old Aug 28, 2012, 1:25 pm
  #39  
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
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Originally Posted by huegli
We stayed there a couple of weeks ago. The rooms (we had a Club suite), the public areas and especially the Executive Lounge are very nice. They can't pour you enough champagne in the lounge

What was a disappointment though was the restaurants. We dined at their Chinese restaurant. They gave away half of our pre-reserved Peking Duck, couldn't find the white wine we ordered, couldn't find the red wine we ordered and generally spoke hardly any English. I have to say though that the situation was handled very professionally by management of the hotel afterwards.

I think this is a general issue in Macau nowadays: the place now almost exclusively caters to Chinese customers, so they don't (or can't) hire personnel which has the skills to cater to international customers.
Stayed there at the beginning of the month. The staff was incredibly courteous and capable in English. Sorry you had a negative experience.
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Old Aug 28, 2012, 5:09 pm
  #40  
 
Join Date: May 2007
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Originally Posted by Cityhawk
Stayed there at the beginning of the month. The staff was incredibly courteous and capable in English. Sorry you had a negative experience.
Had the same experience last week. As a gold member, I booked a cheap "deluxe" room during the great getaways promo, got a room on the 34th floor, free lounge access on the 39th floor, but no suite. I found out the next day that the hotel was close to sold out. I was escorted by the front desk agent to my room upon check in, which I've never had happen before... not sure if this is standard for this hotel. I would definitely stay there again if I'm in Macau in the future.
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Old Sep 25, 2012, 5:17 pm
  #41  
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Stayed at this property back in May just after it had opened. You can find two videos; one of the suite I had and one regular room + photos at http://bit.ly/ConradMacao.

Overall, I was very satisfied with my stay over by birthday weekend. I came from the neighboring Grand Hyatt where I had completely disastrous stay.

The club lounge was probably the biggest I have ever seen at ANY Hilton or other property. The evening cocktail hour was tastefully done. You could choose between two champagnes and couple of sparkling wines and number of cocktails. I had a nice breakfast there in the lounge as well.

Normally, I try to avoid hotels that were just opened. Usually there are number of service issues but I didn't encounter any after I found my way to the hotel/lounge.
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Old Oct 24, 2012, 8:08 am
  #42  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Currently staying at the hotel and the room is wonderful (upgraded to a suite) and the service has been excellent, however, sad to report that there is no executive lounge. The lounge has been converted to a high rollers gambling area invitation only called the Apex. Was told by staff there would be a lounge sometime in 2013. Was really disappointed after hearing all the rave reviews and had been looking forward to enjoying it. It's currently breast cancer awareness month so received special pink rubber duck and pink bear which are cute. Will try to post full review later.
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Old Oct 24, 2012, 9:45 am
  #43  
 
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Wow. That is a serious DOWNGRADE for the property. Guess we won't be making a run over to Macau when we are in Hong Kong next month. Shame on Hilton for letting that happen. But the yuan rules in Macau.
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Old Oct 24, 2012, 11:12 am
  #44  
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Originally Posted by AICML
Currently staying at the hotel and the room is wonderful (upgraded to a suite) and the service has been excellent, however, sad to report that there is no executive lounge. The lounge has been converted to a high rollers gambling area invitation only called the Apex. Was told by staff there would be a lounge sometime in 2013. Was really disappointed after hearing all the rave reviews and had been looking forward to enjoying it. It's currently breast cancer awareness month so received special pink rubber duck and pink bear which are cute. Will try to post full review later.
That is really sad. The lounge was truly fantastic and huge.
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Old Oct 24, 2012, 12:35 pm
  #45  
Moderator: Mileage Run, InterContinental Hotels
 
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What a shame! When we stayed there, my travel companion made a comment that she thought the lounge looked like an ideal retreat for high rollers. Wonder if this was always the plan?!
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