Macau’s The 13 Hotel, which changed hands in June last year, is now officially known as “The 13 Palace” following a recent renovation, according to its official website.
This comes after a new-look gold façade was recently unveiled ahead of a planned relaunch of hotel operations. There had been talk that the hotel would reopen for trial operations in May but neither the official website nor other booking websites have shown any relevant information. Booking website Trip.com displays a message stating that the hotel “currently does not accept reservations.”
Both the official website and information from the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) now show the hotel’s name as “The 13 Palace” although the website domain name remains “The 13.”
The new-look website says the hotel features a total of 199 independent villa-style suites, ranging in size from 2,000 to 10,000 square feet and equipped with exclusive direct elevators to enhance guest privacy while delivering a more noble accommodation experience.
According to reports, the hotel has many differences compared to the past. In addition to featuring multiple high-end restaurants providing diverse dining choices, the hotel also houses a vertical green wall located in the swimming pool area. The hotel claims that this outer wall is currently competing for the Guinness World Record as “World’s Tallest Vertical Green Wall.” The green wall extends from the 5th floor to the 20th floor, with a total area of 2,964 square meters. It is reported to have surpassed the existing record, becoming one of the key attractions inside the hotel.
In June last year, IAG reported that the long-troubled The 13 Hotel was sold for HK$600 million (approximately US$76 million). Public information indicates the buyer is linked to family members associated with the chairman of Rio Hotel Macau, Loi Keong Kuong.
The 13 was founded by former chairman Stephen Hung and was originally positioned as an ultra-luxury hotel, with plans to include 66 VIP gaming tables under a satellite casino model to capture the rapid growth of Macau’s VIP gaming market in the early 2010s. However, funding issues and construction delays meant that when the hotel opened in September 2018, it had not been granted permission to run gaming and many rooms remained unfinished. Reports put the total initial investment at around US$1.6 billion.
