Macau: A taste of luxury
OPULENCE. That makes the first impression of Macau. Principally arising from the architectural grandeur of its hotel-resorts and casinos, like the Venetian Macao exuding like atmosphere as the Italian original, from the Piazza di San Marco down to the gondolas with their gondoliers belting O sole mio.
Then impacting out of the hotel-resorts’ lavish appointments, such that at the Four Seasons Hotel Macao with its European and Chinese design fusion of handmade blue tiles and carved wood, hand-painted silk and crystal chandeliers, and equally luxurious services, from five swimming pools to state-of-the-art gym, spa and salon, and the finest-dining restaurants including Zi Yat Heen, one of just two restaurants in the whole of Macau awarded with two stars by the Michelin Guide Hong Kong-Macau 2010.
Mediamen from Pampanga and Baguio on a familiarization tour of Macau were uniformly overwhelmed by the luxurious appointments of the individual rooms they stayed in at Four Seasons Hotel Macao: an intimate dining nook; giant flat TV and a glass writing table; two toilets, separate shower room and bathtub, with its own wall-mounted television and only the best – L’Occitane en Provence – to pamper the body; a glorious bed – and these were only the hotel’s deluxe rooms. See the suites – and weep, for not being born rich.
Four Seasons Hotel Macao is enough to make one cry in ecstasy: “Oyni’ng bie” – the Kapampangan take on the Italian la dolce vita. Ah, how truly sweet is life among the Macanese.
Just as luxurious is Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16, where we spent our third and last night in the former Portuguese outpost. Its lofted one-bedroom avant garde suite is a guy dream come true, a playboy den with seduction lurking in every corner, truly worthy of a Hugh Hefner.
Truly, the hotels are tourist attractions unto themselves. And then there is the free – yet still so luxurious – entertainment they offer. Not only for hotel guests but for everybody, even strays, to enjoy.
At the open-area fronting Wynn is Performance Lake with its plumes of water and tongues of fire dancing to the musical beat of Broadway, pop and classical. Yes, it is something very similar, albeit on a less-grand scale, to Vegas’ Bellagio’s water show.
Inside Wynn is the Tree of Prosperity – with branches and leaves shimmering in gold – that rises from a golden vault to meet up with a crystal chandelier descending from the ceiling carved with Chinese astrological symbols. The Tree takes in all the colors of the four seasons in a light and music performance lasting but seven minutes. Enough for the casino-going crowd to earn all the luck.
In the City of Dreams – the triune of Crown Towers, Hard Rock and Grand Hyatt hotels – is The Bubble, a multi-media theater that has its dome for screen. Here the Dragon’s Treasure show tells of the mythical creatures in power struggles for a prized pearl. Or so I made out myself of the stunning visuals and spectacular sounds that completely overwhelmed me.
Of the MGM Grand Macau-Central Plaza’s “Light and Sound Tribute”, I cannot relate as I was not able to watch it. “Enticing” was one review I read of it.
Nothing spectacular but satisfyingly good for whiling time between appointments are the dance numbers at the lobby of Star World. The leggy Caucasian dancers in Brazilian tangas are just too willing to do the samba and the cha-cha, or to be photographed abresiete with anyone interested.
The King of Rock lives at the Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16, if only through videos and sounds in the hotel’s MJ Gallery. The bejeweled glove and socks along with some of his fedoras are the prized items on display there.
A luxury for the budget traveler: Moving around Macau is absolutely free. Just don’t take taxis. Coaches and buses of the hotel-casino-resorts regularly make rounds all around special points of interest in the territory.
Moving around the city is absolutely free – this too from the perspective of vehicular traffic. A three-minute jam at a minor road in the old quarters of Macau was the worst “gridlock” I experienced there.
Now, ain’t that luxury too?
(Cebu Pacific flies Clark-Macau-Clark every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Additional information can be sourced from the Macau Government Tourist Office, mgtophil@info.com.ph)
Then impacting out of the hotel-resorts’ lavish appointments, such that at the Four Seasons Hotel Macao with its European and Chinese design fusion of handmade blue tiles and carved wood, hand-painted silk and crystal chandeliers, and equally luxurious services, from five swimming pools to state-of-the-art gym, spa and salon, and the finest-dining restaurants including Zi Yat Heen, one of just two restaurants in the whole of Macau awarded with two stars by the Michelin Guide Hong Kong-Macau 2010.
Mediamen from Pampanga and Baguio on a familiarization tour of Macau were uniformly overwhelmed by the luxurious appointments of the individual rooms they stayed in at Four Seasons Hotel Macao: an intimate dining nook; giant flat TV and a glass writing table; two toilets, separate shower room and bathtub, with its own wall-mounted television and only the best – L’Occitane en Provence – to pamper the body; a glorious bed – and these were only the hotel’s deluxe rooms. See the suites – and weep, for not being born rich.
Four Seasons Hotel Macao is enough to make one cry in ecstasy: “Oyni’ng bie” – the Kapampangan take on the Italian la dolce vita. Ah, how truly sweet is life among the Macanese.
Just as luxurious is Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16, where we spent our third and last night in the former Portuguese outpost. Its lofted one-bedroom avant garde suite is a guy dream come true, a playboy den with seduction lurking in every corner, truly worthy of a Hugh Hefner.
Truly, the hotels are tourist attractions unto themselves. And then there is the free – yet still so luxurious – entertainment they offer. Not only for hotel guests but for everybody, even strays, to enjoy.
At the open-area fronting Wynn is Performance Lake with its plumes of water and tongues of fire dancing to the musical beat of Broadway, pop and classical. Yes, it is something very similar, albeit on a less-grand scale, to Vegas’ Bellagio’s water show.
Inside Wynn is the Tree of Prosperity – with branches and leaves shimmering in gold – that rises from a golden vault to meet up with a crystal chandelier descending from the ceiling carved with Chinese astrological symbols. The Tree takes in all the colors of the four seasons in a light and music performance lasting but seven minutes. Enough for the casino-going crowd to earn all the luck.
In the City of Dreams – the triune of Crown Towers, Hard Rock and Grand Hyatt hotels – is The Bubble, a multi-media theater that has its dome for screen. Here the Dragon’s Treasure show tells of the mythical creatures in power struggles for a prized pearl. Or so I made out myself of the stunning visuals and spectacular sounds that completely overwhelmed me.
Of the MGM Grand Macau-Central Plaza’s “Light and Sound Tribute”, I cannot relate as I was not able to watch it. “Enticing” was one review I read of it.
Nothing spectacular but satisfyingly good for whiling time between appointments are the dance numbers at the lobby of Star World. The leggy Caucasian dancers in Brazilian tangas are just too willing to do the samba and the cha-cha, or to be photographed abresiete with anyone interested.
The King of Rock lives at the Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16, if only through videos and sounds in the hotel’s MJ Gallery. The bejeweled glove and socks along with some of his fedoras are the prized items on display there.
A luxury for the budget traveler: Moving around Macau is absolutely free. Just don’t take taxis. Coaches and buses of the hotel-casino-resorts regularly make rounds all around special points of interest in the territory.
Moving around the city is absolutely free – this too from the perspective of vehicular traffic. A three-minute jam at a minor road in the old quarters of Macau was the worst “gridlock” I experienced there.
Now, ain’t that luxury too?
(Cebu Pacific flies Clark-Macau-Clark every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Additional information can be sourced from the Macau Government Tourist Office, mgtophil@info.com.ph)
posted by A.Caesar Z. Lacson at 1:46 PM
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