Conrad Macao, Cotai Central brings to global travellers “The Luxury of Being Yourself.” For the first time on April 11, 2012, Conrad Macao opened its doors to welcome the public as part of the elegant and exciting opening of Sands Cotai Central.

The porte-cochere of Conrad Macao, Cotai Central. The luxurious contemporary hotel, featuring 636 rooms and suites, opened on April 11 with the launch of Sands Cotai Central.

“We are extremely proud of this significant milestone both for Conrad and for Macao,” said John T.A. Vanderslice, Global Head of Luxury & Lifestyle Brands for Hilton Worldwide. “Conrad’s entry into the Macao market sets a new benchmark for luxury accommodation on the Cotai Strip.” General Manager Troy Hickox added, “Sophisticated global business and leisure travellers to the city now have a hotel where they can enjoy the ultimate luxury of being themselves in a world of style, service, and connection.”

Colourful Chinese lions, including a vibrant purple one representing Conrad Macao, dance during the opening ceremony of Sands Cotai Central on April 11

The Conrad Club Lounge, one of the hotel’s three-bay suites and the restaurant Do Mar played host to some of Asia’s most well-known actors, musicians and models in the afternoon, as media representatives were taken on a celebrity mystery tour. The star-studded line-up of surprise interviewees included Kuraki Mai, Park Min Young, Vivian Xu, Rene Liu, Richie Jen, Jaycee Chan, Kenny Bee, Annie Wu and Hey Girl.

The highlight of the day was the 5pm opening celebration. The China National Symphony Orchestra Choir gave a stirring performance, followed by a lion dance featuring a colourful purple lion representing the Conrad brand. After a coin ceremony, sky walkers 500 feet overhead began carefully traversing the 1,700-foot distance between The Venetian Macao and the top of the Conrad Macao tower at Sands Cotai Central, while balancing on a wire less than one-inch thick. Vanderslice participated in the culminating moment of the ceremony, along with other key executives and dignitaries, bringing together a large golden traditional Chinese knot, which then ascended to hang above the crowd in attendance, symbolising the union of both sides of the Cotai Strip.

he Reception Desk of the new Conrad Macao, Cotai Central. The luxurious contemporary hotel opened its doors on April 11, featuring 636 rooms and suites and offering its signature flawless service at integrated resort Sands Cotai Central.

Thousands of members of the public, who had been queuing outside during the ceremony, were given their first look inside the one-of-a-kind Conrad Macao when doors opened at 6pm.

In addition to the uniquely-designed lobby, which features a Himalayan theme, Conrad Macao offers guests a host of services and amenities in a contemporary luxury environment. Each of the 430 exquisite rooms and 206 magnificent suites provides luxurious comfort, along with the latest technology, in a spacious environment. The Conrad Club Lounge is Macao’s largest and most elaborate, and features a magnificent view of the Cotai Strip. Guests have an exquisite variety of dining options at hand, including Dynasty 8, Conrad’s signature restaurant, headed by the esteemed and experienced Chef Wong Man. Conrad’s world-class meeting facilities are impressive, with three junior ballrooms in house providing 16,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. Conrad Macao specialises in bespoke wedding experiences, and also has comprehensive athletic and wellness facilities, including heated pools, a state-of-the-art fitness centre by Technogym and the luxurious Bodhi Spa.

Conrad Macao further provides guests with easy access to an extensive variety of dining, retail, entertainment, gaming and MICE offerings, as part of a fully integrated resort city at the heart of the Cotai Strip.

Conrad Macao, Cotai Central is just minutes from all of Macao’s major points of entry. It offers convenient access to all parts of the territory, including UNESCO heritage sites, with limousine service, plus the added convenience of complimentary shuttle buses.

Conrad Macao, Cotai Central accepts reservations online at www.conradmacao.com and at www.sandscotaicentral.com. Or visit Conrad Macao’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/conradmacao.

Copyright sandscotaicentral.com

In a grand celebration filled with thrills, elegance and culture, Sands China Ltd. (HKSE: 1928), a majority-held subsidiary of global integrated resort developer Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS), opened the doors on the latest milestone in the company’s vision for the Cotai Strip® Wednesday – Sands® Cotai Central. The massive, three-tower resort joins its sister Cotai properties to form an unprecedented fully integrated resort city, offering a uniquely diverse mix of accommodation, entertainment, dining, retail, gaming and MICE events. Sands Cotai Central now puts the millions of business and leisure travellers that visit Macao each year at the absolute centre of the Cotai Strip, providing pathways to adventure, fun and fortune.

“We are witnessing a historic moment with the opening of Sands Cotai Central,” said Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Sands China Ltd. Chairman Sheldon G. Adelson. “The Cotai Strip is the largest tourism project on the planet. And it all began with a vision that started with a reclaimed area of sand and mud and has arrived to where we are now – one giant step closer to establishing Macao as one of the world’s top leisure, entertainment and business destinations. People said it couldn’t be done; but we have shown that nothing is impossible. We made a promise to Macao to develop integrated resorts with non-gaming attractions to bring in a more diverse demographic of visitors; and that’s exactly what we’ve delivered.”

Edward M. Tracy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sands China Ltd. remarked, “Our company’s goal is nothing short of firmly establishing Macao as Asia’s must-visit business and leisure destination. The opening of Sands Cotai Central goes a long way toward realising that goal, made possible on a multitude of levels because of our integrated resort model. Looking at accommodation as just one example, the addition of our approximately 6,000 new rooms and suites to the market represents a 26 per cent increase in Macao’s hotel capacity. And those 6,000 rooms represent a new diversity of accommodation offering on the Cotai Strip, opening the way for a much wider demographic of overnight visitor and meeting and convention attendee.”

Sands China has touted the long-anticipated opening of Sands Cotai Central as Asia’s Biggest Launch Party in 2012, and the company didn’t disappoint Wednesday, with an elaborate and impressive full day of ceremonial opening events. The morning saw the unveiling of the auspicious central feature of the resort’s Paradise Gardens –a 16-foot-tall, 5,500-pound bronze and gold God of Fortune statue. Designed and created by Professor Sun Jiabin, one of China’s top three most influential and reputable sculptors, the larger-than-life masterpiece is set amongst the 12,000-square-foot, 50-foot-tall indoor area of lush gardens, cascading waters and natural light, and is likely to become an iconic attraction and favoured stopping point for visitors looking to boost their luck.

Michael Mecca – President and COO, Galaxy Entertainment Group from INSIGHTS: Inside Asian Gaming on Vimeo.

Constance Hsu – President, Mocha Clubs from INSIGHTS: Inside Asian Gaming on Vimeo.

Grant Bowie, chief executive of MGM China, appears to be on a PR counter-attack. After the land department director came out a few weeks ago with a statement that only two out of three of the Cotai applicants would likely get their land this year, speculation mounted that MGM was likely the odd man out. But Bowie has made a valiant attempt to dispel such notions, telling reporters at the company’s media spring dinner on Friday that the Cotai project application is well advanced, and can be easily supported by existing cash flows, even after the payment of a special dividend announced last week.

We admire Bowie’s confidence. It might not be misplaced, either. Why should anyone assume that Wynn will get their land before MGM? What is the substantive difference between the two, anyway? They are both controlled by Americans. Okay, so only one of them has a parent facing an FCPA enquiry by the SEC and possibly the DOJ, but still.

Unless, of course, Jaime Carion wasn’t thinking about either of them when he made his statement about two out of three. Hang on, let’s adjust our thinking a bit here, people. Who exactly is in line for Cotai approvals, come to think of it?

It depends, we suppose, on how one defines “approvals” and how one defines “projects”.

Strictly speaking, we would have to assume that Lawrence Ho needs some kind of approval to get going on Macao Studio City. He doesn’t need a full-scale land grant, but he does need some pretty big modifications “approved” to the original land concession he inherited by buying out Peter Lam and David Friedman from the project.

Then there is his fellow princeling across on the other side of Cotai – but wait, sorry, Francis Lui and Galaxy don’t need any “approval” for their land development plans from Carion; they can do pretty much what they like on on the biggest single parcel of land in Cotai, as long as the MGTO and the DICJ “approve” their designs.

Swinging back across to this side of Cotai, we see two SJM projects earmarked for development, one for each side of the SJM family. Who would like to be the government official that decides whether Wife No. 2/3 or Wife No. 4 can go first with their projects? And isn’t there another parcel there that was slated for development by Shun Tak and Jumeirah? Now that Pansy is a minority shareholder of MGM, we would love to see some bright and diligent analyst do a calculation of which company Pansy has a bigger financial stake in – Shun Tak, SJM, or MGM.

There is also no way we could get a Cotai land party started without you know who, who likes to remind us every now and then that he still has a piece of land sitting in the center of it all (sorry, west of center, now that Lot 5&6 has been declared the center). What is there to suppose that the grand master of Cotai, the one who created the original vision for it all, can’t get his final project approved before the end of the year?

Oh, and did we forget the table cap? Silly us. Grant says he wants 500 tables. Steve says he wants roughly that amount. Lawrence says he wants at least 400, but we guess he’s probably hoping for more. Francis isn’t going to build his second phase without some tables in it, surely? SJM would be looking for a number commensurate with its scale and ambitions, and those wives are not likely to settle for anything less than 600 each. Sheldon will have to up the ante, surely, by asking for more tables in Lot 3.

We don’t know about you, dear readers, but we stopped counting long ago. Because it doesn’t add up. Everyone wants their approvals. Everyone feels entitled to them. What a change from the days when Stanley, Steve, and the rest of them laughed at the Cotai club. We wish them all the best of luck in their endeavors today. Copyright and used with permission IntelMacau.com

We wish we could ask Clint Eastwood’s character in the movie “Heartbreak Ridge” for an assessment of the Wynn-Okada fight right now. “What’s that you say, Gunney?” we would ask. And he would reply, “What we have here is a clusterf*%$, sir!”

Truly, it is hard to see how anyone comes out of this mess with a morsel of reputation intact.

For those of you just tuning in, the story is as follows: Wynn Resorts’ board of directors – whom Kazuo Okada calls a “Star Chamber” – has suddenly grown a conscience about the pachinko king who co-founded their company with Steve Wynn. They have decided to kick him out for “suitability” reasons. They gave him no trial, no chance to explain himself. They commissioned a report on his business dealings in the Philippines, judged it, and then summarily executed him as a shareholder, redeeming his shares at a 30% discount and promising to pay him US$1.9bn in 10 years, at an annual interest rate of 2%.

If we were back in the Coliseum with Bruce Lee, this would be the equivalent of Chuck Norris pulling out a sawn-off shotgun, blowing the little guy away, and then saying, “Never bring a sword to a gunfight.”

Okada has issued a press release calling the decision “outrageous”. (We wonder if there is a similar word for it in Japanese.) He has said he will fight on, which probably means he’s going to seek an injunction. But that doesn’t seem to matter to some people in the investment community, who really must be living on another planet. They pushed Wynn Macau up 3% in Hong Kong trading today – we will have to wait until Tuesday to see what the stock does in New York. This is good for the company? Really?

Meanwhile, the jurisdiction where Wynn’s report has focused its attention has also suddenly developed a conscience about Okada, with the president, Benigno Aquino, asking the gaming authorities to provide information on Okada’s business activities. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the most scandal-ridden, corruption-rife country in Asia is the one that actually brings an indictment in this sordid affair? But to be completely fair, this president is not the previous one. And his Pagcor chairman is not the previous one, to whom Okada is alleged to have given bribes by the Wynn investigators. So it might actually be likely that someone wants to make something stick.

There are some more sober people in the media community, fortunately. Reuters carried a good article quoting someone serious as saying this doesn’t mean the SEC is likely to go away quietly. Someone at marketwatch.com has pointed out this is a big gamble on corporate governance being politely assessed by the necessary regulators, and that everyone is likely to be smeared in this mess.

We couldn’t agree more. We are starting to understand much better why the Feds had to step into the gaming industry all those years ago in Las Vegas and put in place special regulations governing casino companies. They clearly attract the worst kind of people. Stay tuned to see the smoke clear from that sawn-off shotgun and find out whether the little Asian guy is still standing.  Copyright IntelMacau.com

Wishing everyone a Happy & Prosperous Lunar New Year of the Water Dragon !  In Macau and Hong Kong region, this LNY is one of the coldest in 16 years! The average temperature is below 10 degree with the first few days at 5 to 8 degrees…Brrrr!

Still, this is not a showstopper for visitors and gamblers to Macau!

Here goes for our Top 10:

1) We won’t see more than one new monthly gaming record

We called the MOP27bn mark for monthly GGR a year ago. We scraped the underside of that in October, at MOP26.8n. We don’t think that mark can be broken until possibly October 2012, despite recent trends in the mass market. The junkets are facing a macro picture in which their customers are grappling with a property market where transactions have fallen by as much as 70% recently, and prices are being slashed by developers in a brutal struggle for survival. Without the junkets firing on all cylinders, MOP27bn is like Mission Impossible, only harder.

2) Bad debt will be a challenge

This is not 2008 all over again. Sheldon Adelson is back in the Forbes Top 10, worth US$20bn. His company, and all the others, are well cashed-up. They could take a bad-debt hit or three. Many of the leading junkets have similarly improved their capital bases by loading up on private equity rather than debt. But little is really known of the way the junket world functions, despite the best efforts of Nick Niglio and the boys at AERL. These people, who still account for three-quarters of GGR, “own Macau” (to quote Adelson). And yet no one can reliably say how they manage their cash flows.

Here’s an educated guess: As in any industry, we see a period of consolidation for the junkets in 2012, as the good consume the bad and the ugly disappear. Relationships between concessionaires and junkets will be put to the test as this process unfolds. Once bad debt levels get to alarming levels for Western-trained casino managers, the question is whether they will pull in their credit lines, and stomach a drop in rolling-chip volumes, or accept the inevitable and write off the debt that they should have seen as a by-product of keeping Wall Street happy anyway.

3) Beijing will keep its grip on the property market, and tighten its grip on Macau

Frankly, we are surprised the Politburo Standing Committee has been able to hold its nerve this long. It’s not quite conflagration yet, but the negative effects of the country’s tight credit policy are being felt sharply across China. The SCMP had a great feature story this week about how the property market is in crisis, with the number of developers expected to be cut by a third this year as nearly a trillion yuan in private-lending loans fall due to people who cannot repay. Prices are being cut by as much as a half in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai as the survival of the fittest is played out, and hundreds of thousands of homeowners are being plunged into negative equity. Land sales have dried up, which means local cadres are having a hard time financing their development plans.

And yet there is no more than a slight change in rhetoric evident in regular dispatches from behind the walls of Zhongnanhai, plus a few cuts in the banks’ reserve ratio requirements. It is clear that the party leadership is united on the need to bring the property market under its thumb, and it may take some time yet. All of which is not good news for Macau’s VIP market.

We obviously wonder how much of this is really about bringing prices to within affordable levels for China’s middle class, and how much is about the center stamping its authority on the periphery. Regardless, we also see a year ahead in which it will be that much harder for Macau’s chief executive to get a sympathetic hearing in Beijing about Cotai land allocations or the table cap.

4) Mass will continue to grow, yet margin assumptions must change.

The equivalent of the junkets in the mass market are the travel agents. Although still smaller as a percentage of arrivals compared to FIT visitors, people who come to Macau via agents will be increasingly important as the longer-distance market grows. These agents need to be paid. But they will do their jobs well and, as long as there are enough hotel rooms available, they will continue to help grow the visitor market beyond Guangdong.

5) The opening of Lot 5 will disrupt the market.

Speaking of buying the mass market, the opening of Lot 5 in April 2012 will likely see an influx of visitors on tour groups as a big new hotel tower comes online. This is what you can do when you have around 1,200 new budget rooms and around 600 luxury rooms at your disposal: hand them out to the best-yielding suppliers. We are less bullish than many other analysts about the impact of these new rooms on gaming revenues for Sands China, simply because we think it’s harder to break a gamblers’ loyalty than it seems (as noted in the case of Galaxy Macau’s opening). However, Sands China does have an important weapon in its arsenal, which is the Venetian brand. Even without the necessary tables at Lot 5, there is still the Venetian across the road. Many predictions for what Lot 5 will do in the VIP market are way off, we believe, but the mass market will undoubtedly flock to the new property.

6) The opening of Lot 5 will benefit COD and hurt Galaxy Macau.

As noted, it takes time to build up the mass business. COD had two years to do it before Galaxy Macau opened; Galaxy Macau will have had only one before Lot 5 opens. Moreover, COD is right next door to the new hotel tower, whereas Galaxy Macau is a long walk away. The center of gravity will undoubtedly form around the other side of Cotai this year. It will be tough for Galaxy Macau’s marketing team to cope.

7) Gingrich will get the GOP nomination, thanks to who?

Newt Gingrich didn’t come up with the line that the Palestinians are an invented nation on his own, we suspect. We don’t really care what his views on the Middle East are, to be honest, but we do care about what he might do to the balance of power between the US and China if he somehow makes it all the way to the Republican Party nomination for the US presidential election. With a certain person’s financial backing, that seems eminently more possible in 2012 than it was in 2011. But that certain person will also make it more likely that the incumbent and his Democratic Party choose to make China the central issue of the presidential election. Would that be good for Macau’s American concessionaires, and one in particular? Hard to imagine, but it might be worth the gamble for a certain person, because if Gingrich somehow makes it all the way to the White House, then the ball game would likely change for him in Macau overnight.

8 ) Jacobs will get his day in court, the question is when

There is little doubt that 30GB of data means the lawyers will be making all the money in 2012 as their billable hours stack up while they wade through tens of thousands of documents submitted into evidence by former Sands China CEO Steve Jacobs against his former employers. But it also means, to our educated guess-prone minds, that he must be pretty confident of having his claims verified. The only question is whether Judge Gonzalez wants to get Jacobs in court and be done with it asap, or whether she will keep allowing the case to be dragged out.

9) SJM will wake up and get moving

SJM management used to take delight in pointing out that Sands China was building on quicksand out in Cotai, and that real gamblers still preferred the peninsula. That complacency cost it dearly when the Venetian opened. Nevertheless, after a few years of struggle, the former monopoly operator regained the upper hand and widened its lead over the upstart. But as 2012 approaches, it is becoming clearer again that Lot 5&6 will tilt the playing field back in Sands China’s favor. Only this time around, it’s obvious that SJM’s brain trust are no longer resting on their laurels. In short, we expect to see SJM move aggressively against its American rival in the coming year.

10) Manila will be on everyone’s radar

A third regional force will arise in the gaming industry in 2012, led by Filipino tycoon Enrique Razon, who has employed an all-star cast to open and manage his new Bloomberry integrated resort in Manila Bay. Bill Weidner, Brad Stone, and Garry Saunders are obviously determined to show that the success of Sands China in Macau and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore wasn’t only due to the chairman’s vision. They have hired an exceptional team already, including Dennis Andreaci and Joe Valdez (who helped get Galaxy Macau open), and we understand one of the best senior executives in Macau, who has been hibernating for the past year, will run the property.

They will be joined in the neighborhood by the Henry Sy-owned integrated resort run by another former Galaxy stalwart, Ciaran Carruthers.

Will Galaxy’s loss be Macau’s loss as well in 2012? It’s hard to make predictions now about the impact of these two new resorts opening in Manila, which is not exactly known as a Chinese tourist-friendly destination. But if the brain drain is any indication, it ought to be competitive.

And that’s it for 2011, folks. As always, please stay tuned, and here’s wishing you all the best for 2012 and beyond. Used with permission and copyright IntelMacau.com. 

2012 ushers in the Water Dragon! Baccarat Great Learning is pleased to share with all players and students of the grand game of Macau.  Lesson 33 will be about the shoe rejection methodology that increases the effectiveness of Xuxu Siyou master play. The accompanying Hongbao will be simple but vital! Access Lesson 33 here. 

In ancient China, the celestial Dragon represents an emperor and  power. Today, it  is the ultimate auspicious symbol signifying success and happiness. May the celestial Dragon bring great good luck to everyone! 

A Merry Christmas from Macau! It’s 12 degree here with the winter just starting. I will be here for a couple of week and will be shooting footages of Macau as well as enjoying the festive seasons. We visited Senado Square on Xmas eve to immerse into the atmosphere before heading for supper. Besides the tons of casinos in Macau, do take some times to visit the parks, museum as well as Macanese food. Wishing readers of MacauCasinoWorld.com a Merry X’mas and Happy New Year 2012 !