Investment bank Goldman Sachs said in a Wednesday memo that on “recent tours” of the Galaxy Macau casino resort, the institution “noticed” that promoter Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd had installed gaming tables within the Raffles at Galaxy Macau hotel tower.
There will be on August 16 a soft opening to the public for the new all-suite hotel tower (pictured centre), which is part of Phase 3 of the Galaxy Macau complex. From August 16 the general public will be able to stay there, or use food and drink outlets.
Accommodation within the new tower is already available for certain invited customers of Galaxy Entertainment, GGRAsia reported this week. GGRAsia understands that invited customers include some gambling patrons.
Goldman Sachs said in its note issued via Hong Kong: “During our recent tours, we noticed that the group has installed some 60 to 70 gaming tables planning to turn the second floor of Raffles tower into a high-limit, premium-mass gaming area.”
The institution said the Raffles facility “could be instrumental to Galaxy Entertainment’s potential GGR [gross gaming revenue] market share gain in coming quarters, based on the past experience that the group managed to capture 3 to 4 percent incremental GGR market share within two to three quarters after the addition of JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotel rooms as part of Galaxy Macau Phase 2 in 2015.”
GGRAsia had previously approached Galaxy Entertainment, asking if there would be gaming space allocated within the Raffles at Galaxy Macau hotel tower, but had not received a reply.
Goldman Sachs said that in the context of market rivals recently adding new hotel product in the Cotai district, then the 450 Raffles-branded suites would help Galaxy Entertainment “compete in this segment”.
The banking group mentioned Versace- and Karl Lagerfeld-branded rooms at SJM Holdings Ltd’s Grand Lisboa Palace; The Londoner Court suites at Sands China Ltd’s The Londoner Macao; and the Emerald Villa-branded accommodation at MGM China Holdings Ltd’s MGM Cotai.
Goldman Sachs stated that although – according to its own enquiries, and referring to the rebuilding of Macau-operator hospitality workforces after the pandemic – Galaxy Entertainment had “secured sufficient non-gaming staff in late-April when it opened Galaxy International Convention Center (GICC) and the 16,000-seater arena,” part of Phase 3 of Galaxy Macau, the casino firm “did not want to rush launching the Raffles hotel rooms”.
The bank added that Galaxy Entertainment understood “the importance of leaving their customers with a good first impression, especially since Raffles is targeted to cater more toward the high-end premium mass and direct VIP players for its luxury product offerings.”
