What To Love About Macau’s Casino Resorts

For a lot of people, a trip to Southeast Asia is about some of the smaller and more intimate delights one can experience while travelling: natural beauty, local cultures, unique and delicious foods, a sense of history, and things of that nature. To paint the entire region with one brush is not always accurate, but it’s true that most destinations in this part of the world, do offer some fairly special features and attractions in these areas. There are also some areas known for a different appeal altogether, however, and Macau has become one of them. 

Culturally speaking, Macau is actually a very rich place to visit. It’s flush with remnants of its time as a Portuguese territory, which creates a unique blend of eastern and western influence. Because of this, Macau can actually surprise some visitors, essentially in that it’s more than it is sometimes presented as. Here, however, we’re focusing on that more prominent presentation, which is of Macau as the “Las Vegas of the East” – a hub for major casino resorts and all the thrills and entertainment that come with them. 

This brand of tourism isn’t for everybody, and in some ways that’s the beauty of Macau. You can go and enjoy a more typical version of Southeast Asian tourism if you like. For those with any interest in the resort side of things however, there’s a lot to love about Macau as well. 

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Resort Variety

Some of the most famous casino resorts will naturally dominate discussions about Macau tourism: The Venetian Macau, for instance, or Hotel Lisboa, which has risen to a level with some of the best establishments of its kind in the world. However, it’s the variety among the top hotels that really makes Macau special. This isn’t a miniature version of the Las Vegas strip consisting of just a few famous venues. It’s a legitimate hub of luxury accommodations, from elegant, high-end hotels to gaudier gaming resorts. There’s something for everyone with a taste for luxury, or just fun.

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The Actual Casinos

The actual casinos do deserve mention, as some of the ones at the big resort are among the very best in the world. Aside from simply being massive, they excel through a nice mix of classic and modernized gaming. On the classic front, you’ll find plenty of the table games and competitive poker tables that give a live casino its ambience. On the modern end of things, you’ll also see games in the slot and pseudo-arcade range inspired by some of the sites that have pushed casino gaming forward online. A few popular centres for online casino gaming development now exist throughout the world, the closest being in New Zealand, and they’ve helped spread newer, more animated versions of simple slots and video games to millions. These casinos have kept up with that change by, in many cases, presenting the same games in in-person form.

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The Pools

It’s just about a universal rule that outside of some of the older establishments in Europe, where there are casino resorts, there are extravagant pools. Macau is definitely no exception here, and because these pools tend to come in such varied, fascinating designs, they’re actually among the most interesting attractions in the area – “touristy” as they may sometimes seem. The Parisian Macau’s “Aqua World” is a nice option for a light, carefree pool area with a few water park elements; the pool at Morpheus looks like some semi-futuristic spa facility out of a science fiction film; the Mandarin Oriental’s pool is perched right over the South China Sea with gorgeous views of the water and parts of the city; and there are over a dozen others with their own charms, from typical resort pool decks to smaller, oasis-like hideaways. There’s just a lot to love about this whole category of attractions in Macau. 

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The Fine Dining

As with pools, fine dining is essentially a given where casino resorts and really nice resorts, in general, are around. A place like Robuchon Au Dome at the Grand Lisboa combines stunning architecture and near-panoramic city views with a Michelin-starred menu and the direction of a celebrity chef. Establishments like Ristorante Il Teatro at the Wynn Macau bring international inspiration (in this case, authentic Italian) to the area. There are numerous elevated Chinese restaurants and several renowned steakhouses spread across the resorts. Now, it should be noted that Macau is also home to some excellent local fare, as well as Portuguese-inspired cuisine for that matter, and most of it can be had for far cheaper than a meal at these restaurants. However, if you like big, nice restaurants, Macau has more than enough for you.

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The Shows

Outside of Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, we don’t tend to talk as much about the shows that tend to be present at casino resorts. They tend to be fairly common and often spectacular however, and Macau has several of note. Macau’s “diamond show” is perhaps the most emblematic of how unique and special these shows can be, given that it’s essentially a continual lobby exhibition more than a staged performance and still draws a crowd and generates headlines. The House of Dancing Water at City Of Dreams Macau is more of a performance, and perhaps the most famous and original show in town. There are magic shows, circus acts, comedy tours, musical performances, and theatrical plays. In short, there’s always something to watch and enjoy, no matter when you visit or where you stay specifically. 

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