Sands Cotai Central (Chinese: 金沙城中心)^[1] is a casino resort on the Cotai Strip, Macau, China. On 5 August 2011, Sands China announced that the $4 billion property^[2] long referred to as parcels five and six is now officially named Sands Cotai Central. It opened on 11 April 2012.^[3]

From the Macao International Airport: Only 5 minutes away via the complimentary Sands Cotai Central shuttle bus. From Hong Kong International Airport: A direct express ferry whisks you to Macau within an hour, and you need not go through Hong Kong Customs. Located in Cotai, Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central is in the business district, a 5-minute drive from The Grand Canal Shoppes and 6 minutes from Cotai Strip. This 4-star hotel is 2.7 mi (4.3 km) from Macau Olympic Complex (Macau Stadium) and 4.5 mi (7.2 km) from University of Macau. Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central, Macau: 1,810 Hotel Reviews, 1,854 traveller photos, and great deals for Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central, ranked #31 of 101 hotels in Macau and rated 4.5 of 5 at TripAdvisor.

• 1History
• 2Features

History[edit]

Background[edit]

On 24 March 2011, Las Vegas Sands announced it had terminated a hotel-management agreement with Shangri-La International Hotel Management for its new casino resort development being built on plots 5 and 6 in Cotai. Las Vegas Sands was allegedly in talks with InterContinental Hotels Group PLC to manage the two hotel towers at its USD 4.1 billion expansion project.^[4]

Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central Casino Las Vegas

Sands China also decided to manage the hotel tower on site 5 that was supposed to be operated by Shangri-La.^[5] Sands China signed a franchise deal with Hilton Worldwide and InterContinental Hotels to brand over 1,800 rooms at Cotai site 5 and 6. The resort would officially be named Sands Cotai Central, the company announced on 5 August 2011. The site would include more than 300,000 square feet (28,000 m²) of meeting space, 11 food and beverage establishments and 106,000-square-foot (9,800 m²) of gaming area but also 13,700,000-square-foot (1,270,000 m²) of non-gaming facilities.^[6]

Construction[edit]

Architecture firm Aedas were the lead architect for all Las Vegas Sands projects on the Cotai Strip and were responsible for employing all local consultants and for developing, coordinating and implementing the design.^[7]

Construction of the project was slowed and complicated at least in part by government restrictions on the amount of foreign workers companies in the labor-starved territory can hire. According to the main contractor: 'Work started in 2006 but the project went through a period of suspension due to the global economic crisis. During this period, work on the project came to a complete stop and it was therefore quite a challenge to restart the project. Staff had to be recruited and contractors engaged. Over 130 contractors were involved in the project. The imported labour quota restrictions have also been challenging.'^[8]

The number of gaming tables at the resort was a thorny issue as well since the local government imposed a cap on tables until 2013. The company said in early August 2011 that Sands Cotai Central would have up to 530 tables versus the 670 it was planning previously.^[9]

Opening (2012-2015)[edit]

Venetian Macau

It opened on 11 April 2012.^[3] The opening ceremony was announced as 'Asia's Biggest Launch Party in 2012'. It was marked by the feat of the high wire walker Jade Kindar-Martin and his wife Karine Mauffrey, the duo attempting to traverse the 525 meter (1,700 feet) distance between the top of the Venetian and the new Conrad Hotel, whilst balancing 150 meters (500 feet) above the ground on a wire less than one inch thick. The spectacle was accompanied by the China National Symphony Orchestra.^[10]

The second phase opened on September 20, 2012.^[11] The third phase (St Regis Macao) was opened on 17 December 2015.^{[citation needed]}

In 2017, Las Vegas Sands announced plans to renovate Sands Cotai Central with a London theme and rebrand it as The Londoner Macao, due to disappointing results at the property.^[12] The conversion was expected to be completed by 2020.

Features[edit]

Development[edit]

The lead consultant for the project was architecture firm Aedas, who were responsible for employing all local consultants and for developing, coordinating and implementing the design.^[7] Main contractor for construction was Hsin Chong Construction Group Limited.^[8]

The first phase of Sands Cotai Central opened on April 11, 2012, featuring the Holiday Inn hotel with more than 1,200 rooms, and the Conrad hotel with more than 600 rooms. Eventually, the complex will offer close to 6,000 rooms across the Conrad, Sheraton and Holiday Inn brands.^[8]

Hotels[edit]

Cotai Central has combination of 6,000 rooms and suites from the Conrad, Sheraton, St. Regis and Holiday Inn brands. It will also have meeting and convention space, and retail outlets, entertainment and dining options. There are two casinos, the Pacifica casino and Himalaya casino.

Hilton Worldwide's five-star Conrad Macao, Cotal Central, Cotai Strip opened at Cotai Central in the first quarter of 2012 and will have more than 600 rooms and suites.

The four-star Holiday Inn Macao, Cotal Central by IHG is also opened late first quarter 2012. It will features more than 1,200 rooms and suites.^[13] When built, the Holiday Inn Macau Cotai Strip was the world’s largest Holiday Inn.^[14]

The five star Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel, Cotai Central, had nearly 1,800 of Starwood's Sheraton-branded hotel rooms opening for the Sky Tower in the third quarter of 2012, and another 2,000 rooms of Earth Tower in early 2013, the casino operator said in July 2011.^{[citation needed]}

The 3,863-room (still expending) of the Sheraton Hotel is both the largest hotel in Macau and in the over 1,000-strong portfolio of hotels and resorts globally operated by the company. Recreational facilities include a Spa, three pools surrounded by 12,000 square metres of deck space, as well as fitness and kid’s entertainment programmes. The signature Xin restaurant, a seafood hotpot restaurant, will launch in April 2012.^[15]

The St. Regis Macao, Cotai Central and branded residences opened on December 17, 2015. It is the fourth tower of the Sands Cotai Central.^{[citation needed]}

MICE and non-gaming facilities[edit]

The site includes more than 300,000 square feet (28,000 m²) of meeting space, 11 food and beverage establishments and 106,000-square-foot (9,800 m²) of gaming area but also 13,700,000-square-foot (1,270,000 m²) of non-gaming facilities.

The resort will provide thousands of new non-gaming jobs, grow non-gaming revenues and expand a variety of non-gaming business segments, specifically the Meetings, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition industry, Sheldon Adelson stated.^[16]

Macanese first[edit]

Many companies have opened their first Macau store in Sands Cotai Central:

Marks & Spencer - August 2014

Zara Home - August 2014

Lady M - July 2018 ^[17]

The Cheesecake Factory - TBA ^[18]

Gallery[edit]

• Cotai Strip in 2008

• Conrad The Lounge 2013

• Conrad Macao Lobby 2013

• Holiday Inn Macao Swimming Pool

• Shoppes at Cotai Central Interior

• Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central

• Holiday Inn Macao Lobby Lounge 2013

• Holiday Inn Macao Lobby 2013

• Sands Cotai Central

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^金沙五六期命名'金沙城中心'Archived 2012-04-05 at the Wayback MachineMacao Daily. 28 October 2011.
2. ^Sands China Signs Deal With Hilton, IHG for Cotai Project By KATE O'KEEFFE. Wall Street Journal online AUGUST 5, 2011, 9:16 A.M. ET
3. ^ ^abMacau casino owners bet everyone wins as Adelson expands By Vinicy Chan. Macau Daily Times. 30 March 2012.
4. ^Sands China, Shangri-La end agreement for Cotai Macau Daily Times. 25/03/2011 07:08:00 Tiago Azevedo
5. ^Sands may push back Cotai site 5 to 2012 19/05/2011 08:25:00 Macau Daily Times. Vítor Quintã
6. ^Sands signs Cotai deal with Conrad, Holiday Inn Macau Daily Times. 06/08/2011 09:23:00
7. ^ ^ab'.Frank McGoldrick, Managing Director of Aedas Ltd on World's Biggest Casino'. aedasasia.
8. ^ ^abcHsin Chong Construction Group Ltd. (2012-04-12). 'Sands Cotai Central Opens in Macau'. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
9. ^Sands China Signs Franchise Agreements With Hilton, IHG For Cotai Project Fox Business. By Kate O'Keeffe Published August 05, 2011
10. ^The final opening preparations by Paulo Barbosa. Macau Daily Times. 10 April 2012.
11. ^Hsin Chong Construction Group Ltd. (2012-09-21). 'Sands Cotai Central Second Phase Opened'. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
12. ^Farah Master (25 October 2017). 'London comes to Macau as Las Vegas Sands revamps casino resort'. Reuters. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
13. ^Conrad and Holiday Inn Newest Additions to Sands Cotai Central in Macao S.A.R.^{[permanent dead link]} CNN Money. August 05, 2011: 12:01 AM ET
14. ^World’s largest Holiday Inn to be in MacauArchived 2012-10-01 at the Wayback Machine Japan Today. TRAVEL AUG. 10, 2011 - 05:58AM JST
15. ^Sheraton Macao Hotel recruiting staff for opening in September 2012Macau Daily Times. 22 February 2012.
16. ^Sands signs Cotai deal with Conrad, Holiday Inn Macau Daily Times. August 6, 2011 09:23:00
17. ^https://insideretail.hk/2018/07/10/lady-m-macau-store-opens-at-sands-cotai/
18. ^https://lifemag.cyberctm.com/zh_TW/blog/Ivan/6409/【澳門必試甜品】歡呼吧！芝士蛋糕迷%E3%80%82The%20Cheesecake%20Factory%20將會在金沙城中心開張

Cotai Central

External links[edit]

Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central Casino Map