As promised, I revisited Melco’s Crown Macau Casino (MPEL) yesterday (Tuesday 7 p.m. approx.). I thought what better way to get a feel for the place than to take the shuttle bus from the city centre. Well, true to my earlier report, a line formed waiting for the bus. I estimate a dozen or so individuals took the trip. As “burro” wondered, some people were just along for the ride. There appeared to be a few employees as well as a few individuals who did not go into the casino when we arrived. However, a good portion of the bus did enter the casino. I heard that there has been some active promotion on the part of the casino to bring people over to their Taipa property and true to this we were given a ticket that gave us a chance to spin the wheel when we arrived. My colleague’s ticket won that chance, but because he didn’t have his passport with him, he was thus ineligible…a bit disappointing.
The Crown Macau Casino has 5 floors. The first three are gaming floors, the fourth is a restaurant, and the fifth floor is a higher-minimums gaming floor. The first 3 floors had an active gaming scene. By this I mean there were a lot of tables in use, some to capacity but some empty. The central parts of the floors were busier than the fringes. Definitely, it wasn’t shoulder-to-shoulder like it can be at the Sands sometimes, but on the other hand, the first 3 floors had a scene, i.e. you wouldn’t think “This place is dead anyway.” (Swingers quote). The fifth floor on the other hand was empty minus a few individuals. This could be that minimum bets are more or less equivalent to my monthly rent. As for the punters, I heard more Mandarin (mainland) than Cantonese (HK, Macau, Guangdong Province).
In sum, I’ve walked through the Crown Macau on three occasions now (Grand Opening, one month ago, yesterday). Each time the casino has been busier than the last time. The Greek Mythology Casino in the New Century Hotel is right next door and it is one of the most profitable casinos in Macau. The location is probably the biggest obstacle, but as the Greek Mythology Casino has shown, it’s an obstacle that can be overcome with the right marketing. (I understand they cater exclusively to mainland tour groups, so the Crown Macau is likely going to pursue a different model.) My general feeling is that Macau is maturing into the type of destination that will attract visitors interested in visiting the Crown Macau. Maybe the Crown Macau is not packed this month, or this year, or even next year, but the property is in line with what most developers are planning and anticipating. I’m going to try and check the Crown Macau out again this weekend to note the difference.
By the way, I ate at the Crown Macau’s Monsoon noodle shop. Yum. I had Cantonese wonton noodle soup with Chinese chives and honey glazed BBQ pork. Delicious and very nicely presented.
Our most popular blog posts have irrefutably been those on Melco’s Crown Macau (MPEL). The interest came from not only the general public, but also a few financial forums… Yahoo and MSN come to mind. Anyway, given your keen interest in this topic, I feel compelled to keep you abreast of happenings and give you, when I can, the bird’s-eye-view from a Macau vantage point. Here it is…
As you may have read elsewhere, Crown Macau is located on Taipa Island. Macau is tiny, but some say the short trip across the Pearl is a billion dollar gap. Well, perhaps it’s not that large, both figuratively and literally… Allow me to 开门见山 for you putonghua-ists…
The Crown Macau has a bus that shuttles punters from central Macau (right in front of the Hotel Sintra and Fortuna Japanese Restaurant, which is a hop, skip, and a jump from Grand Lisboa) to Crown Macau. Well, I’ve walked past this bus everyday for the last month+. And… the bus has been empty. The poor sweetheart waiting to greet customers seemed so lonesome. I wanted to jump in the bus, head across the strait, and throw a few tokens into the heart of the beast, just to give her some sense of purpose. Well dear friends, times have changed. The past week, the shuttle bus has not only had people, but also a queue! I’ll say it again for the flabbergasted… A Queue! And today, on my way to the office, the bus was chockablock jammed with punters, eager as beavers. I’ll make a trip out that way in the coming week and give y’all the 411 on whether there’s a noticeable difference on the floor.
So I took another stroll through Crown Macau on Monday night. I was a little unsure of what to expect following the Grand Opening but frankly I was impressed. There were a bunch of punters on the first two floors. We went to the top floor bar to swill a few finely concocted drinks. Fair prices, nice ambience. High ceilings and patterned chandeliers make the upstairs casino and bar comfortable. Colour scheme: greys.
With an effective means of getting people to the casino, it looks like they’ll have a pretty good thing going. I noted that Crown Macau now has shuttle buses waiting in central Macau right outside of Hotel Sintra and Fortuna Japanese Restaurant.
Crown Macau opened by James Packer and Lawrence Ho of the Melco - PBL Group
In my last post, I griped about not being able to attend the Crown Macau grand opening. Well my fortunes changed by the end of the week. My press pass was finally approved and thus I relay to you the events of Saturday night. I was in Hong Kong in the arvo, so it was a mad dash to get back Macau side. I raced from the ferry terminal across the bridge to Taipa only to be met by throngs of punters eager to rush through the doors to lay down the almighty (HK) dollar. For the life of me, I couldn’t find where I was to obtain the press pass. A maze of gridiron fencing corralled the thrill seekers on the sidewalks. I caught some of James Packer’s (Australia’s richest person) and Lawrence Ho’s (son of Dr. Stanley Ho) opening presentation replete with the requisite Chinese lion dance. Realizing I was going to miss the whole shebang, I further pursued finding the press pass. I was finally brought before a British gentleman by the name of Simeon. I’m going to sing a little praise here. It was a frantic scene in front of the Crown Macau during the opening. I can understand that my request for my press pass was not too high on anyone’s list of things to do. However, this overly competent senior VP from Ketchum PR took it all in stride. Despite everything else he was dealing with, he hand delivered my pass at the Regency Hotel and escorted me to the media area. (Top work. If you need high-level PR work, contact Simeon at Ketchum PR. Cheers.)
While in the Regency Hotel waiting for my press pass, I saw Dr. Stanley Ho for the first time. He strolled right past me with an entourage of about a dozen bodyguards. Dr. Ho’s corsage was about the size of my family garden, but with more expensive flowers. I also think that Bill Murray walked through the lobby too, though I’ll need someone to confirm that.
Now the event… Bit of a debacle. So the opening ceremony was held in a giant tent about 500 meters from the Crown Macau. It was erected on swampy reclaimed land. Apparently it was near-impossible to find one’s table at the outset of the evening and there was no air conditioning as I can attest. Given the warm, humid temperature the inner confines of the dastardly tent can be likened to a reptilian solarium. By the time I entered the tent with my press pass, near-on a quarter of the guests had left due to the oppressive conditions. I knew some proper invitees and joined them at one of the many free seats for the show. The show was vaudevillian mastery: Acrobatics and bewildering stunts choreographed to an impressive score. Some highlights of the Dragone performance include the breakdancing body contortionist’s solo act in the cage, Ghostbusters-esque Stay Puft Marshmallow Men, and the leaping, flipping, rolling crew of gymnasts. I was also thoroughly wowed by the artificial waterfall that controlled the location, quantity, and timing of the “released” water to display images and words. The waterfall literally rained women, umbrellas, the words Crown Macau, and the logo.
The private after party was the capstone to an impressive event. It seemed the after party was the only aspect that went off without a hitch. The outdoor terrace on the 25th floor overlooks the stunning Macau skyline. A dessert bar featured more chocolate than any one person should be allowed access. I spent the evening drinking Hennessy cognac and smoking Cuban Cohiba cigars, imaging that I was an actual invitee and not a lowly gatecrasher with a media pass.
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