Today in Macau I am on a visa run of sorts. I had to leave Hong Kong in order to re-enter so that I can initiate my work visa. I have just come for the day and decide to check out the new casinos that are making the news. The Wynn has just opened, down the street from the gargantuan Sands resort.
It is all in the news how Macau is beating Vegas in table revenues each week. That seems pretty amazing as Vegas is so much huger and popular than Macau. Vegas has several more hotels and casinos and has the business down pat!
A visit to the new casinos sheds some light: There is a palpable difference in the ambiance here. First of all, the casino floor is PACKED with Chinese people crowding around the tables, smoking, and, on one instance, spitting right there on the floor in front of me. These are serious gamblers.
The hotels have a few attempts at entertainment, but the awkward dancing girls and second-rate magicians are all but ignored as the potential for making money gathers all attention.
The décor is what Vegas was like in the 70's- seedy, low-rent, dingy, and all about the gambling. These places have not wasted money on secondary pursuits of happiness that has made Vegas so popular with all walks of life, including non-gamblers. The casino is only that- a casino. The place makes me uncomfortable.
The Wynn is not as bad as some of the others. It has a little more of the feeling of sumptuousness that the others are lacking. Indeed, there is a different target audience here. If I were to stay in one of the new hotels I would stay here. Cleaner, brighter, less smoky, more welcoming.
I know that more hotel/casinos are planned. Stanley Ho, the grand poo-bah of gambling in Macau, the guy who has owned the only casino for a generation, is also planning on opening a new hotel and casino next to the old one. His offspring also have their hands in several ventures as well. The Venetian, which will open later this year on a peninsula of reclaimed land out between the two outlying islands- also promises to be a behemoth.
Macau has changed practically overnight from a sleepy fishing village most famous for its old temple and charming colonial square into a major destination.
It is all in the news how Macau is beating Vegas in table revenues each week. That seems pretty amazing as Vegas is so much huger and popular than Macau. Vegas has several more hotels and casinos and has the business down pat!
A visit to the new casinos sheds some light: There is a palpable difference in the ambiance here. First of all, the casino floor is PACKED with Chinese people crowding around the tables, smoking, and, on one instance, spitting right there on the floor in front of me. These are serious gamblers.
The hotels have a few attempts at entertainment, but the awkward dancing girls and second-rate magicians are all but ignored as the potential for making money gathers all attention.
The décor is what Vegas was like in the 70's- seedy, low-rent, dingy, and all about the gambling. These places have not wasted money on secondary pursuits of happiness that has made Vegas so popular with all walks of life, including non-gamblers. The casino is only that- a casino. The place makes me uncomfortable.
The Wynn is not as bad as some of the others. It has a little more of the feeling of sumptuousness that the others are lacking. Indeed, there is a different target audience here. If I were to stay in one of the new hotels I would stay here. Cleaner, brighter, less smoky, more welcoming.
I know that more hotel/casinos are planned. Stanley Ho, the grand poo-bah of gambling in Macau, the guy who has owned the only casino for a generation, is also planning on opening a new hotel and casino next to the old one. His offspring also have their hands in several ventures as well. The Venetian, which will open later this year on a peninsula of reclaimed land out between the two outlying islands- also promises to be a behemoth.
Macau has changed practically overnight from a sleepy fishing village most famous for its old temple and charming colonial square into a major destination.
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