By Ben Blaschke
Melco Resorts Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho says the company plans to install 50 new gaming tables at its Morpheus hotel at Macau’s City of Dreams.
Morpheus, the luxury hotel designed by the late Dame Zaha Hadid, is due to open in the first half of 2018 and will represent the final phase of construction of City of Dreams, which first opened its doors in 2009.
Discussing Melco Resorts’ impressive financial results during its 2Q17 earnings call over the weekend, Mr Ho said that gaming would comprise an important part of Morpheus with the company to apply for at least 50 tables before opening.
“City of Dreams next year is going to feel like a brand new property,” Mr Ho said. “There is dedicated gaming space within Morpheus at various levels because it is a whole, there is a vertical building – we have always looked at Morpheus as the third and final phase of City of Dreams and it comes with a significant price tag.
“I don’t think any architecture in any building in Macau is remotely close to Morpheus so, based on the government’s track record of rewarding operators for investments in diversification and beautifying Macau, I think we check all of those boxes.
“Naturally it’s out of our control in terms of how many tables we get, but within the property we can easily house 50-plus tables – so we are going to be 50-plus tables. We are going to be submitting our relevant documentation to the government and we will see where it goes.”
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Geoffrey Davis added that Morpheus would be marketed at the premium mass segment, with “significant work being done at City of Dreams over the next few months to integrate Morpheus into the existing building of City of Dreams.
“There is also work being done on the main casino to have really the pinnacle of premium mass experiences anywhere in the universe and so certainly most of the tables, if we’re lucky enough to get them from the government, will be for our bread and better business which is premium mass,” he said.
Mr Ho said he was hopeful that work on Morpheus would resume imminently and with no significant delay to the property’s planned opening date after construction was suspended on 14 July following the death of a 33-year-old worker.
