Ramada Jeju revamped casino reopens in South Korea

May 02, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Ramada Plaza Jeju Hotel’s casino (pictured), on the South Korean holiday island of Jeju, reopened on Friday following “months of renovation”, the gaming facility’s promoter said in a press release.

The foreigner-only casino will have an “official grand opening” on June 26, the release said. The gaming facility has been renamed Gongzi Jeju: it was previously known as Ramada Plaza Jeju Casino.

“Gongzi Jeju has undergone [an] impressive interior design [revamp] by Westar Architects International Ltd,” the document said. It added that the 40,000-square-foot (3,716-sq-metre) casino included more than 40 gaming tables and an unspecified number of slot machines.

The release stated the casino’s new design featured a “floral theme”, blending red, white and gold colours, with “butterfly paintings”.

The document provided no detail about the casino promoter, other than its name, Gongzi Jeju.

The Ramada Plaza Jeju Hotel is “only five minutes away from Jeju International Airport and Jeju Port,” according to the property’s website. It adds that the scheme was “founded and financed by the Korean Teachers Credit Union” under a franchise agreement with Ramada, a hotel chain brand owned by international hotel group Wyndham Worldwide Corp. The 10-floor Ramada Plaza Jeju Hotel – including an undergound floor – was opened in July 2003, with 400 hotel rooms.

Jeju Island – a semi-autonomous South Korean province, already home to a number of casinos, all for foreigners only – has recently attracted a lot of new investment in gaming-related projects.

Last week, a casino hotel complex on Jeju – developed and operated by mainland Chinese real estate firm Landing International Development Ltd – had its initial-phase “grand opening”, that firm said. The resort, called Jeju Shinhwa World, opened a total of 344 accommodation units called Somerset Jeju Shinhwa World. The latter facility is operated by The Ascott Ltd, a wholly-owned unit of Singapore’s CapitaLand Ltd.

South Korea currently has 18 casinos but only one – Kangwon Land in a remote upland area – is allowed to serve South Korean nationals.

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