MACAO WINS LUXURY ACCOLADES

Studio City

• MACAO WORLD LEADER FOR LUXURY HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

Macao sits on a pedestal, surpassing Paris and nearby Hong Kong for having the world’s largest number of five-star hotels and restaurants respectively.

This year’s edition of Forbes Travel Guide officially named Macao as a world leader in the luxury hotel category with as many as 12, beating the French capital, its nearest rival, by two.

By boasting 12 five-star restaurants, Macao defeated its nearest rival Hong Kong by three.

News of this latest success rating couldn’t have been better timed as the Asian centre celebrates 2018 Macao Year of Gastronomy, further acknowledgement for being designated a UNESCO Creative City for Gastronomy.

“Such high ratings further highlight Macao as a genuine leader for its luxury accommodation and quality cuisine,” said Helen Wong, general manager of the Macao Government Tourism Office (Australia and New Zealand).

“For a long time, Macao has been globally recognised for the standard of its hotels and restaurants, and to receive such accolades provides further proof of the former Portuguese enclave’s standings,” she said.

“With new hotels and resorts opening – or due to open – we can only see another increase in five-star quality establishments.”

Here is the Forbes Guide report:

Hotels

After tying on the global ladder in 2017, Macao nudged out Paris in the Forbes 2018 edition in the five-star category with 12, followed by Paris with 10, London with nine and Hong Kong with eight.

The coveted top award was presented to the following hotels: Altira, Banyan Tree, Conrad, Encore, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, MGM Macau, Nuwa (formerly Crown Towers), Star Tower (Studio City), Wynn Macau, Wynn Palace and The Ritz-Carlton.

Several of these hotels were multiple awardees of the five-star awards, namely Wynn Macau and Mandarin Oriental with six five-star awards each, for the hotel, the spa and four restaurants. While Nuwa received five, for the hotel, the spa and three restaurants, followed by Altira with four awards in the top category.

In addition, six hotels in Macao received the Forbes four-star award. They were Galaxy, Grand Hyatt, JW Marriott, Okura, St. Regis Cotai Central and The Venetian.

Restaurants

Macao was also the most awarded city in the restaurants category with a total of 12 establishments receiving the five-star accolade, one more compared with last year’s figures, while nine restaurants in Hong Kong received the top award.

The list of five-star restaurants awarded in Macao: Aurora (Altira), Belon (Banyan Tree), Golden Flower (Encore), Il Teatro, Mizumi and Wing Lei (Wynn), Jade Dragon (City of Dreams), Shinji by Kanesaka, Sushi Mizumi, The Tasting Room (City of Dreams), Tenmasa and Vida Rica (Mandarin Oriental).

With regards to four-star ratings, the restaurants listed were Andrea, Lai Heen, Mizumi, Wing Lei Palace and SW Steakhouse (Wynn Palace), Pearl Dragon (Studio City), Robuchon au Dôme (Grand Lisboa), Terrazza (Galaxy), Ying (Altira) and Zi Yat Heen (Four Seasons).

Spas

In the spas chapter, Macao was represented with eight of the best spas in the world, found at Wynn Palace, Wynn Macau, Mandarin Oriental, Encore, Nuwa, The Ritz-Carlton, Banyan Tree and Altira.

As a footnote, Forbes listed five reasons to visit Macao in 2018:
The Galaxy swimming pools complex;
The emerging restaurant scene;
Luxury shopping;
Macau Grand Prix;
Local culture in Coloane village.

The five-star accolade was given by Forbes in 2018 to a total of 199 hotels, along with 64 restaurants and 60 spas around the world.

Details: Macao Government Tourism Office, go to www.visitmacao,com.au (Australia) or www.visitmacao.co.nz