Las Vegas Sands has unveiled a $1.4 billion plan to remake its Sands Cotai Central resort complex into a “British”-themed attraction called Londoner Macao.
Scheduled for completion in phases over the next two years, the project will add more gaming space to the four-hotel complex, which has underperformed on the casino side compared with its sister resorts The Venetian Macao and The Parisian Macao across the street.
According to news reports citing an LVS media release, the Londoner will offer more than 365,000 square feet of gaming space encompassing “over 450 table games” and “more than 2,000 slot machines”𑁋roughly 60 more tables and 300 more slots than currently at Cotai Central𑁋as well as “exclusive rooms designed for VIP and premium players”.
But the changes will be overwhelmingly non-gaming.
The complex’s Holiday Inn will be remodeled and renamed the Londoner Hotel, but all the existing hotels, the Conrad, Sheraton and St. Regis included, will be part of the transformation, which will feature a “1930s British Art Deco” interior and an exterior façade replicating elements of the Palace of Westminster and the Houses of Parliament, including a 300-foot knock-off of the Big Ben clock tower, and recreations of other British landmarks.
Attractions will include a virtual reality experience, costume extravaganzas such as the Changing of the Guard and daily street shows featuring characters from British history, culture and the arts.
“We want total immersion for our guests,” said Wilfred Wong, president of LVS’ Sands China subsidiary. “You must remember many of our guests have not been to London. Many of our guests are from (mainland China); this may be their first stop” out of the country. “We would like to present as authentic the feel of London to them.”
Plans also call for a 6,000-seat arena, more than 350,000 square feet of MICE space, including 13 ballrooms, more than 20 new dining outlets, including a British-style gastropub by Gordon Ramsay, and more than 200 retail outlets, some of them to be “British heritage brands” described as exclusive to the new resort.
The Holiday Inn’s room complement will be cut from 1,200 currently to 594 reconfigured as an all-suite offering highlighted by new ultra-luxury “David Beckham Suites” on the top floor designed with input from the former English football star and Sands brand ambassador.
Another 368 units dubbed the Londoner “apart-hotel” will be added adjacent to the St. Regis, while the Sheraton and Conrad will feature “an expanded choice of luxury and mid-scale hotel offerings” of 4,001 and 654 rooms and suites, respectively.
In all, the new resort will total a little more than 6,000 rooms and suites.
“The Londoner Macao, with its world-class luxury suites, new dining and spectacular entertainment, will offer guests and visitors alike another reason to visit Macau,” Wong said. “The launch marks yet another milestone in the company’s efforts to support Macau’s development as a world center of tourism and leisure.”
