15/09/2016
It's over 9 years since we covered the grand opening of The Venetian Macao for The Destination Macau Report and we thought we'd seen it all over the years, with one grand opening after another. Macau still has three more major hotel openings between now and early 2019. But this latest opening of Sheldon Adelson's Parisian just proves that everyone in Macau just gets better at it. Well, at least the teams at Sands China are all used to it by now.
This opening and the property itself lives up it is grand name and reputation. More rooms, more shops, and more golden razzle-dazzle. Last Tuesday night’s opening celebration included pyrotechnics and a lightshow at The Parisian Macao’s half-scale authentic recreation of the Eiffel Tower, which is now a prominent feature on the Cotai skyline. The program’s entertainment highlight was a performance by multi-award-winning Belgian singer Lara Fabian. There was a brief stage show that looked like it used an idea from the Zaia show that was produced for The Venetian Theatre when it opened. A man descending to earth in a hot air balloon into the arms of his swooning lover. That part fell flat (and yes, Zaia was eventually dropped). But the fireworks on the Eiffel Tower were memorable, as was the black tie gala evening for 1,500 guests.
We think The Parisian will be a great success for Sands. It sits on a good corner position opposite Studio City (close to the Lotus bridge border checkpoint) and it ticks all the right boxes for photo opportunities and mass market appeal.
The Parisian Macao adds 3,000 rooms to the Sands China portfolio, which now stands at a whopping 13,000 hotel rooms. If that's not enough, The Parisian also has its share of convention and meeting space, international restaurants, a spa, kids’ club, health club, pool deck with themed water park, and 1,200-seat theatre. Its retail mall, Shoppes at Parisian looks stunning - but be warned, like The Venetian when it first opened, it's easy to get lost the first couple of times. Like all these new resorts, it will take some time before the foot traffic builds up and gets any traction.
Despite it being yet another replica - the concept fits Macau, which is Vegas with Chinese characteristics. As for les caractéristiques Françaises, well lets say that's only the icing on the cake. It's what goes inside that counts.
