As of Friday, December 18, the Jeju Dream Tower in South Korea opened for business. At 38 stories, it is the tallest building on Jeju Island. The US$1.4 billion integrated resort includes a retail mall, 14 restaurants and bars, an outdoor pool deck, a skydeck with lounge and two spas and a 1,600-suite hotel, reported Inside Asian Gaming.
Operator Lotte Tour Development Co. will apply to relocate its current foreigners-only casino from the Lotte Hotel Jeju after a casino impact study is complete and local authorities hand down their approval. The new casino will be almost five times larger than the current gaming hall, increasing from 1,175 square meters (12,648 square feet) with five table games and 51 gaming machines to 5,367 square meters (almost 58,000 square feet) with 150 tables and 300 machines, IAG reported.
The complex has been a long time coming; the 75-acre land parcel was purchased by Lotte Tour predecessor Dongwha Investment and Development Co. in 1980. Though groundbreaking took place in 1984, it soon stopped due to a lack of funding. The project was revived in 2008 and construction resumed in May 2016 following alterations to the design.
The Jeju Dream Tower includes the largest Hyatt Hotel in the Asia-Pacific region. According to RusTourism.com, the “iconic twin-tower landmark … embodies the modern Korean lifestyle, offering leisure guests, business travelers and locals an impressive selection of world-class culinary, leisure and entertainment experiences under one roof.” The Grand Hyatt Jeju is a 10-minute drive from Jeju International Airport.
The guestrooms start at 700 square feet and feature floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the ocean, the city and Halla Mountain, the highest peak in South Korea.
According to GGRAsia, Jeju Island will remain at Level 2 of Covid-19 measures until January 3. Level 2 requires that all Jeju’s foreigners-only customers must suspend operations until the viral threat eases. Even so, earlier this month four of Jeju’s eight casinos told the media outlet they would keep their casino doors open, though reduce their hours of operation. They included Gongzi Jeju; Paradise Casino Jeju Grand; Landing Casino; and Casino Lotte Tour at Lotte Hotel Jeju, the operation which will eventually relocate to the Dream Tower space.
At the end of November, Jeju had recorded 81 Covid-19 infections and no fatalities. But by December 17, it had recorded 79 new cases. As of December 18, South Korea had recorded 1,062 new cases in 24 hours, for a total of 47,515 cases and including 464 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
