GGRAsia – Studio City phase 2 new water park, Epic Tower open Thurs

Studio City phase 2 new water park, Epic Tower open Thurs

Apr 03, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

The indoor water park at the Studio City casino resort, in Macau’s Cotai district, is to open on Thursday (April 6), announced the property’s operator, Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd. Epic Tower, a new hotel tower at Studio City, will also be opening that same day, according to the property’s website.

Both facilities are part of what Melco Resorts’ management has termed the first stage of the second phase of the Studio City complex.

Company chairman and chief executive Lawrence Ho Yau Lung had said last month, in prepared remarks accompanying the firm’s fourth-quarter results, that the first stage opening of Studio City’s second phase was to include the indoor water park and a new hotel tower. The latter is named Epic Tower and features 338 suites.

The Studio City website states that Epic Tower is to be launched also on Thursday. But as of Monday morning, the website’s booking engine did not offer the option to book accommodation at the new hotel.

The second stage opening of Studio City’s second phase is to take part in the third quarter this year, and will include an additional hotel tower, according to Melco Resorts. It will operate under the W Hotels brand, part of Marriott International Inc, the latter firm announced in late 2021.

In comments carried out in a press release on Friday announcing the opening of the indoor water park, David Sisk, chief operating officer – Macau resorts of Melco Resorts, stated that the new facility would contribute to “further strengthening the leisure entertainment components of Studio City”.

Melco Resorts started last weekend a series of residency shows at Studio City spread over a three-year period. The first resident artist, Hong Kong pop star Joey Yung, will perform a total of eight shows at the Studio City Event Center, over four consecutive weekends during this month.

The new indoor water park is to be connected to an existing outdoor water park at Studio City, covering in aggregate an area of approximately 26,000 square metres (279,863 sq. feet).

Melco Resorts was this year still to invest between US$75 million and US$80 million on completion of the second phase of Studio City, the firm’s management said last month.

Studio City posted total operating revenue of US$176.0 million in 2022, a decline of 52.7 percent in year-on-year terms. It generated negative adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$105.2 million in 2022, compared with negative adjusted property EBITDA of US$20.5 million in 2021.