I agree with most people, an older casino with rooms where the bathrooms have had a make over. The kids found it funny with the pros doing laps 24/7 down stairs. They have a real nice little bakery near the reservations desk with the free inroom drinks breakfast is done.
The old lady whom brought us ice at night was fast but needs to smile a bit :)
No probs with check in/out
The test i guess is would i return, well for the price yes.
There is a free shuttle bus from and to the ferry terminal, which leaves about every 20 to 30 minutes and take about 10 minutes.
The hotel is showing its age a bit on the outside, but the inside is well maintained and my room was fine and fairly up to date.
Check in was efficient and I was offered an upgrade to a Royal tower room, as I wanted a non-smoking room, but it was not available when I checked in so I stayed with my deluxe room. Its interior was fine and clean and like the rest of the hotel quaint! Now I do like a bed with support but this was just a little tooooo solid for me, hardly any give at all. However, once you got used to it, it was not too bad during the night.
The bath room was wonderful with mosaic tiles on the floor and on the wall. The bath, come shower, come steam bath was something else. You need an engineering degree or Ph.D. to work this one. However, it does come with all the mod cons light, radio and hot and cold running water out of a rainfall shower, hand held shower head, foot massager and also directly into the bath and has steam too. However, once you get the hang of it it is not too bad.
The “public areas” of the hotel are generally over the top with big glass chandeliers, highly polished floors that you can almost see your face in, and art scattered around in cabinets, it just has to be seen to be believed. I had come here on a guided day trip from Hong Kong and thought this is the place to stay. You have a choice of restaurants in the hotel for any palate and a choice of Casino on the property or you can go over the walk way into the Grand Lisbao if you are interested, which is why most people come here. In fact there are probably 10 or so within 200 M of here, and more on the other islands that make up Macau so lots of choice as the Special Administrative Region makes about 70% of its GDP from gambling!!!
There are a wide range of shops in the hotel where you can buy beverages, fresh fruit, cigarettes, sweets, glasses & jewellery etc. If you go down onto the ground floor shopping arcade there are other things for sale too, so if this bothers you, best to keep away from here, otherwise they are lovely eye candy at least, while you buy a packet of cherries or your 20 cigarettes.
I had breakfast in the hotel which was fine with a good selection of Western & Asian options to chose from. Most people around the hotel could speak a bit of English but a little Cantonese is useful too, and always produces a friendly smile when you try!
So if you are looking for a hotel with a difference this could be one for you. My deluxe room was fine and comfortable, once I got over how hard the bed was! The staff were friendly and helped when they could.
I stayed there with a couple of friends, got good rooms (with a free upgrade!), the rooms were really good, the bathroom magic.
I just could not locate the swimming pool as it was leading to a very small pool.
However, it's well located and quite easy to access to the middle of Macau and restaurants.
Yes, the public areas are COMPLETELY over-the-top with chandeliers, gold tiles etc. (not to mention the pretty girls !) but that shouldn't detract from the fact that this is a very comfortable hotel in a great location.
We stayed in the West Wing and I think we received a room upgrade when we checked in. We asked for a no-smoking room but I don't think the hotel has them. The receptionist said that the room had been given a 'smoking treatment' to remove the smells. You could tell that someone had smoked in the room at some point but it really wasn't a problem.
The furnishings in the room were really nice as was the bathroom with jet bath and shower combo!
We ordered room service one night and the food was good & reasonably priced.
One observation is that the lobby area is difficult to navigate as it is very big and the signs are confusing.
Location is ideal if you want to do some sight-seeing and are not just in Macau to visit casinos. There is also a free shuttle-bus to and from the ferry.
Stayed for 2 nights with bunch of friends. A pretty aged hotel but the incoming stream of gambling income keep this place well maintained. The whole intention staying here is to spend time in the casino, location wise is pretty strategic in the city. 10 mins walk to Margaret Caffe which serve the famous egg tarts and 5 mins further walking to Senado Square to see some Portuguese legacy. Free shuttle is available to both airport and ferry terminal, which we were departing to Hong Kong for day-trip.
