Sands China will shut down operations at its Holiday Inn hotel towards the end of 2018 as it begins the transformation of Macau integrated resort Sands Cotai Central into its new themed property The Londoner Macao. But the company doesn’t expect casino operations to be heavily impacted, adding that it will simply move operations back and forth between its two casinos – Pacifica and Himalaya.
The update formed part of a Las Vegas Sands earnings call following the release of its 4Q17 results on Thursday morning Macau time. Asked about the impact of renovations, which will see Sands Cotai Central converted to The Londoner and have an extra 295 suites added – with another 350 luxury suites built at St Regis – LVS President and Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein said, “I do believe there will be disruption.
“It won’t happen in 2018 until the very, very end of the year. We’ll close down the Holiday Inn product late in the year, probably in November and December. The next 10 months you won’t see any disruption whatsoever.
“The positive is that we have two different casinos there, we can move business back and forth. The St Regis will be under construction in the rear and will not be as [disruptive], it won’t be an operating hotel. It’s just a show at this point. So that will be less disruptive.
“Londoner will be more disruptive, the transition from the Holiday Inn to Londoner. There will be some pain along the way.”
Alongside its sister property the Venetian Macao, Sands Cotai Central was one of the big winners of Las Vegas Sands’ fourth quarter results with revenue up 25.5% and adjusted property EBITDA 53% year-on-year to US$557 million and US$202 million respectively on the back of a strong performance in mass.
Speaking about the property’s impending transformation to The Londoner Macau, CEO and Chairman Sheldon Adelson said, “The Londoner has tremendous potential as the third landmark must-see destination. The scale of the current SCC assets are unmatched in Macau including over 6,000 hotel keys, a 400,000-square-foot retail mall, a 1,700-seat theater and over 300,000 square feet of developed MICE space. The Londoner renovation and expansion will completely re-envision the property, developing another 1.7 million square feet of space, expanding and enhancing all our offerings, hotel suites, retail mall, F&B, entertainment and MICE.
“Upon its completion, The Londoner will accommodate more overnight guests than The Venetian and The Parisian combined. The Londoner will offer great potential for visitation and growth as a stand-alone integrated resort, but will also provide synergies with The Venetian Macao and The Parisian. Having three iconic must-see European-themed destination resorts with a broad range of amenities will strengthen our marketing and customer service capabilities and position us to grow faster than the Macau market in every segment on both, the top line and the bottom line in the years ahead.”
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