The five-star hotel St Regis Macao (pictured in a file photo) resumed operations on Wednesday. It was one of the last few Macau casino-resort luxury hotels to have remained shuttered, among those that closed temporarily for commercial reasons amid the sharp downturn in Macau tourism linked to the Covid-19 health alert.
The news of the reopening was disclosed by a representative of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) during a press briefing by the local authorities.
St Regis Macao – with 400 rooms – is located at casino resort Sands Cotai Central, operated by gaming firm Sands China Ltd. The hotel had shut down temporarily starting on February 7.
Another five-star hotel at Sands Cotai Central, Conrad Macao Cotai Strip, remained shuttered as of Thursday morning, according to data made available online by the tourism office.
Sands Cotai Central is currently being remodelled as the Londoner Macao as part of a wider US$2.2-bilion revamp of Sands China’s property portfolio.
A number of Macau’s three- to five-star hotels at casino properties – hotels that had closed due to lack of customer demand related with the Covid-19 virus outbreak – began gradually resuming operations from February 20, the same day the city’s casino industry started to reopen.
Hotels at casino resorts were not included in the original 15-day shutdown order on gaming operations – due to the mainland-China originating coronavirus alert – but some casino operators had chosen to shutter some of their hotels for operational reasons. Occupancy levels were said in many cases to have plummeted, coinciding with the casino shutdowns and a temporary ban – still in place – on exit visas for residents of mainland China to visit Macau.
The number of accommodation establishments that temporarily closed peaked in mid-February at 29, together containing 3,899 rooms. As of Thursday morning, there was a total of seven tourism accommodation facilities in Macau – including four guest houses and The 13 five-star property – that still remained closed, accounting for an aggregate of 1,007 rooms, according to the tourism office.
Besides Conrad Macao, the only other hotel located at a casino complex that remained shut as of Thursday morning was Rocks Hotel. The latter is located at the waterfront entertainment complex Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, on the Macau peninsula. The complex is operated by Hong Kong-listed casino services firm Macau Legend Development Ltd.
