In a statement on August 29, Cristina Quental, the vice president of integrated marketing and communication at Sands China, said that the Londoner Hotel will be fully completed and operational by July 2020. This according to a report in the Macau Business. Quental was speaking at the French Chamber of Commerce when she made the statement.
The Londoner is expected to replace the Holiday Inn Macau Cotai Central. The new luxury hotel has taken the existing 1200 rooms from the Holiday Inn and turned them into 600 one-bedroom suites.
The idea to create the suites came from a lesson learned from The Parisian. After it opened, it was realized that the hotel would be much better suited if it reduced its 600 rooms into 300 suites, as guests were demanding bigger accommodations that could not be provided under the old design.
“We learned our lesson and we will make sure The Londoner rooms are spectacular from the get-go…We drew inspiration from British artisan craftsmanship picking the most famous bespoke tailors on Savile Row and in Mayfair and we will try to make everything unique,” Ms. Quental explained in the presentation which introduced the new project.
The new design will help to make the rooms stand out to high-end customers. Not only will the size accommodate the needs of these customers, but they are also intending to use better designs and amenities, including artwork, finishing, and furniture, which should give the renovated hotel a first-class feel the moment you walk through the door.
This hotel is part of a $2.2 billion project that will convert the Sands Cotai Central into the Londoner Macao in Cotai. “Between the second and third quarter [of 2020] you will see a lot of amenities coming online, the restaurants, gaming facilities. The hotel will be fully completed in July and then the retail area will be opened portion by portion,” Ms. Quental further explained.
While the Londoner Hotel is expected to be completed in the middle of next year, she added that the Sheraton side will still be under renovation into 2021. This whole project is part of a plan by Sands China to create the perfect hotel accommodation that can meet the needs of both high-end clients and families. Quental noted:
“VIP is exactly where we see the highest demand growth. We’re not so dependent on the VIP segment as other concessionaires, we’re mainly mass but we are really focusing on the premium mass segment. That’s where we’ve seen the largest growth in the last two years and that’s why we believe that there’s enough demand out there to upgrade all our room products, all our service levels to definitely cater to that audience.”
