SC Alum

The Westin was the only prop in Macau the last time I was there, which was in 2007. Believe several new properties were being developed in the cotai area, including the largest Sheraton Hotel in the world (6000 rooms), a St. Regis and a W hotel.

I was told Sheraton and St. Regis would be ready in 2008 or 2009, and W sometime in 2010. Due to the crisis, it has been delayed. Anybody know the latest opening dates for the 3 new props? Lurkers perhaps?

Sam P. Goodman

I was wondering about that a few weeks ago, but when I looked under the new properties section of the Starwood website, they weren't even listed. I'm curious if they were canceled or if it's just a delay.

Starwood Lurker II

Estimated year of opening
Sheraton-2011
W-2012
St Regis-2012

However, I do not information as to reports on the delays.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

RiceBear

Cannot wait !!
Hope it is true this time ~
ha

yyzvoyageur

When I was in Macau in December it seemed construction on darn near every project had been halted. Hopefully things have turned around since.

SC Alum

Anybody has the latest news on this? Would love to go to Macau again, but only if the new hotels have opened up. Last I heard the Sands financial situation has improved, and they will resume the construction of Sheraton and St. Regis. Can anybody confirm if it has actually resumed?

Fly Me To The Moon

I go there almost once every two weeks on business, and have not seen construction starting again at the Sheraton nor St. Regis properties. As for the W, the site is still a piece of flat land. Zilch. Nothing at all.

tylorcl

I am wondering how comes there are so many high-end hotels in construction. Will there be a increasing number of people visiting Macau in the future?

CanuckFlyHigh

Go look at Google Street View. They are holes in the ground, with no one working on them. It'll be a lonnnng while.

UA835

I caught a glimpse of the site while on the Cotai Jet shuttle bus last weekend. Still just a plot of dirt with no activity in sight.

Sigh.

Appears to be a great location though, right next to the Venetian and City of Dreams.

snaffled

Not sure of opening dates, but the Sheraton building opposite the Venetian is very advanced, just nothing inside I think. It is only the W that has not yet started above ground. I don't know what changes have happened at the Sheraton since it halted last year, but the Google maps view is way out of date!

yeunganson

There is a property bubble throughout China and Macau is not spared.

The two major industry in Macau is Gambling and the Sex industry. Yep. Chinese love to gamble. There is also a gang related shadow industry in Macau that also keeps the economy afloat unofficially.

Chinese banks have been pumping money into the China's economy as a whole just to keep the GDP increase in a stabling 10%+ each year no matter what happens to economies outside of China.

Macau is no Vegas. It has Vegas style hotels like Venitian, but there is no Vegas-Style pricings. The fancy hotels in Macau like the Venitian charges $US 220/night on the cheapest on-sale lowest possible rate. That is way beyond the "weekend getaway" rate for average Hong Kong people. Forget about the middle or even middle-upper class household in China.

Those $US 220/night prices are more like "once every 2 years Vacation" rates. If an average household in Hong Kong save up for such a vacation, it would be more normal to go to the real Vegas and pay $199 for the real Venetian (or just the similarly good but lot cheaper Treasure Island types). They will still be ahead.

Just to give you an idea... The Asian Development Bank in 2005 give Hong Kong a median household income of $US 31000 /year (husband & wife working and living at family home). That's when times were good - before US's Great Recession or the Europe National debt problem. China - even in the relative richer areas close to Hong Kong's borders - earn nowhere near what Hong Kong people earn...

The land/property values in the country is just out of control and we just saw how these out of control property bubbles look like after they pop. Look at those poorer (but still relatively rich) Americans.

UA-NYC

It was only a few years ago that they opened up the gaming licenses - so a huge gold rush to build casinos. And AFAIK, gambling revenue in Macau now far outstrips Vegas (though entertainment $ is much less I believe).

SC Alum

Good to hear snaffled! Really can't wait to go back to Macau once Sheraton & St. Regis are built. Please somebody keep this thread updated every few months. Use to stay at the Westin, but it is a rather secluded area. Would love to stay at the cotai area next time I'm there.

Starwood Lurker II

Knowing how proactive I am with regards to pre-opening properties, I would not give any promises that there would be a new one within the next 12 months in Macau itself.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd