Venetian, Macau

[chuchu59]

Simmo, this should be the turbojet ie the red and white creatures. However, there is a supersized turbojet that runs every 3 or 4 hours and its very comfortable and stable.

 

[lojo]

You guys are killllling me with envy!!

 

[spearmaster]

Don't think I've been on the Super Jetfoil - but I am always in Super Class these days and have never really been bothered by the ride.

Must figure out what times the Super Jetfoil sails, though, might be interesting.

Simmo - it's a pretty smooth ride, you won't be bothered a bit.

Chuchu - would be nice to meet up. Let me know.

 

[chuchu59]

You guys are killllling me with envy!!

Nope. Not this one. The one I am talking about is purely red and white and is very steady even when there are typhoons. Tried it myself. The one in the picture should be OK but might not be as steady as the conventional one which rises about a metre above sea level.

 

[spearmaster]

Very brief trip report:

Went to the Venetian. Lost HKD1600 but that's just because I was being greedy and tried to do a Simmo! in 30 minutes

22 total VP machines in the Venetian. 14 are Bonus Poker. 8 are Joker Poker. My instinct says that these were the least popular machines in the Vegas Venetian so they shipped them out here to take up some floor space.

Slots - 70% old Aristocrat with 1980s graphics. Fine for local crowd but those who have been to Vegas will be disappointed. The other 30% had some quite decent machines, but again they will not be recognizable to players in the US.

There are more machines in the Venetian than any other casino in Macau - by far. But slots still occupy less than 1/10th of the total floor area.

Jetfoils - on the way to Macau, traditional one. Sat super class which was up front. On the way back, upstairs was all economy - and seemed larger, perhaps this is the Super Jetfoil that Chuchu referred to. Personally, didn't notice much difference in the ride. Sat economy because my colleague bought the tickets.

The major difference is that super class gets to board and alight first, plus they get a pretty strange meal served to them (always ask for a hot dog instead, at least you'll recognize what you're eating). Difference in cost is betwen HKD 80-100 depending on schedule as price fluctuates. For the most part I'd recommend economy, after all it's only an hour and the seats are basically the same.

Didn't go look at anything else at the Venetian, though on my reconnaissance mission I passed by a restaurant and did a double-take - Morton's Steakhouse. Definitely on my list of things to do in November.

When arriving from Macau, there are free shuttle buses to take you to the Venetian (or you can spend MOP 60 for a taxi, up to you). You must cross the street directly across from the ferry terminal - do NOT follow most people who will go out the left-hand side where MOST other casino shuttle buses are.

The wait this time was 20 minutes. This will vary according to day of week and how many buses are on the route (today they were still running additional buses hired from China Travel Service in addition to their own fleet).

The Wynn, for which you will go out the LEFT exit and go all the way down to the end, must have had some promotion going on today - the line was at least 200 people long.

 

[lojo]

Thanks for the report Spearmaster,

the lack of cutting edge recognizable slots pretty much seals the deal - I won't be going any time soon. I can do RT and 4 nights from my NW city for under 1500, (Beijing or HK) but until Macau comes more of age or I can afford much better accomodations, that money will be spent on Vegas.


Looking forward to more trip reports and more detailed gambling experiences.

Thanks again.

 

[spearmaster]

the lack of cutting edge recognizable slots pretty much seals the deal - I won't be going any time soon.

Just for clarification - the slots will be mostly unrecognizable to Americans. They will, however, be very familiar to Australians and people in Asia who play slots or pokies.

By a similar token, however, most Australians and Asians who go to Vegas won't recognize the slots there either.

Take for example, Texas Tea - great game, recognized by Americans - but it's been launched on Wagerworks software, which is unavailable to Americans. Is it any wonder, then, that Wagerworks hasn't caught on quite yet? Wagerworks also has a few other brands which might be somewhat recognizable to UK punters - but Texas Tea will not be one of them.

 

[lojo]

Sorry I ran two things together there. I may be intrigued by the exotic slots... more detailed trip reports would be fun

Thanks again.

 

[Simmo!]

Me too!!! When are you going Simmo?

Only 5 days to go

 

[Christoff]

Only 5 days to go

Yeah, 6 days for me! WOO HOO

 

[Casinomeister]

Soooo....


What's the scoop? Enquiring minds want to know

 

[spearmaster]

Soooo....


What's the scoop? Enquiring minds want to know

The scoop is, things change almost on a daily basis. There are new slots such as Terminator, for example. Some of the VP machines were upgraded from single-play to triple, five and ten play overnight yesterday.

Simmo hit a royal for about 4.2K yesterday - it was a progressive type worth 150% what a normal royal would've paid.

I lost my ass.

What else is new?

 

[chuchu59]

Told you not to indulge in games of chance. Humph. Simmo was lucky eh?

Just played an MG tourney (Thunderstruck). Got the feature and it retriggered twice but time was up with 35 spins remaining. I was thinking of buying-in but it was only about 1.5 minutes till the end of tourney as I started late so I gave up and finished 43rd I think.

Spear, I am not sure abou8t the night cruise you mentioned. Are those the cruise ships ie Asia Star, Omar III, Star Pisces and Star Aquarius. I used to go there often and if you like them maybe we can arrange a visit when you, Simmo and Bryan come again. As we now have a new mod the 3 of you can come at the same time but dont indulge in the slots again and miss your meals.

 

[spearmaster]

Told you not to indulge in games of chance. Humph. Simmo was lucky eh?

Yeah. He was lucky I insisted on playing VP then

Spear, I am not sure abou8t the night cruise you mentioned. Are those the cruise ships ie Asia Star, Omar III, Star Pisces and Star Aquarius. I used to go there often and if you like them maybe we can arrange a visit when you, Simmo and Bryan come again. As we now have a new mod the 3 of you can come at the same time but dont indulge in the slots again and miss your meals.

Actually, we were just going to do one of the WaterTours cruises with the Harbour Light Show. In the end Simmo decided that, rather than trying to squeeze everything in one day, it would be better if he planned for a couple of days in HK next time around - so we never went.

I am passing through again next week though.

 

[Simmo!]

Lucky? Moi?

Anyway - I'll upload some pics later and do a rundown. Overall quite an amazing hotel. Someone told me the 2nd biggest building in the world behind Nasa?!?! Can believe it! Back later or tomorrow with more

 

[Simmo!]

I'm having a bit of a problem with my Bluetooth but here's three shots I managed to get over so far.

Two of reception, one of the "Grand Shoppes", one of the "Royale" room I was in. Actually the room one is a stock shot as mine came out too dark - but it was pretty much identical.

 

[Mousey]

Oooooo... Very nice!

 

[spearmaster]

LOL, was wondering about that room shot - but can confirm that the room looked exactly like that, as that was what mine looked like.

 

[chuchu59]

Simmo/Spear,

How much did these rooms cost?

 

[chuchu59]

Simmo,

I thought you quit gambling when I saw your name in Green. oops! It was another kinda green though and the same as Max so I think this is only for mods. When I invited Spear for dinner, he told me you were losing your ### but it seems that your fortunes have reversed with you getting a royal flush. I never did well at the VP machines in the casinos and the best that I got was a full house. Never played too much of that anyway.

 

[jetset]

Thanks for the interesting shots of the Macau Venetian, Simmo - very pronounced echoes of the Las Vegas Venetian there - that has to be one of the most comfortable and spectacular hotels I've ever stayed in.

Now - how did the gambling go????

 

[spearmaster]

The cost of a room will vary greatly depending on how full the casino is. I believe Simmo got his at a pre-opening promotional rate, something like HK$1100 per night... mine was in the region of HK$1800 per night, and anyone trying to book that week at a late stage was being quoted at least HK$2900 per night.

With that being said - unless you have good reason to stay at the Venetian, I'd opt for some of the choices in town - even the Wynn isn't as expensive as the Venetian, and personally the rooms at the StarWorld are my favorite.

Do keep in mind that there is currently nothing to do outside the Venetian - on the other hand, in town there are other things to do right on your doorstep. On the other hand, the Venetian is so huge that there really IS no reason to set foot outside unless you need your daily dose of sun.

Jetset - Simmo won, Spearmaster lost. End of story... LOL... the only thing I won was a dinner - Simmo lost on a double or bust bet on the last MGS tourney we took part in before he left for Macau.

Chuchu - next time we plan everything in advance, either we go to HK, or you come to Macau, or both. I might be over again this weekend so if you're interested in a meal, that might be a good time. We'll see if we can patch Simmo in by hologram or something

 

[Simmo!]

LOL, was wondering about that room shot - but can confirm that the room looked exactly like that, as that was what mine looked like.

Simmo/Spear,

How much did these rooms cost?

Room was exactly like that and paid HK$1088 per night Mon - Thu (65 / USD130) and HK$1800 for the Friday. As Spear said, it was a special "Opening" offer booked back in August.

Now - how did the gambling go????

Until the Royal Flush jackpot for HK$32,000, pretty crap That covered my trip pretty much thankfully.

The Venetian Macau is pretty much a mirror image of the Vegas one, but quite a bit larger.

 

[jetset]

WTG, Simmo

 

[AlohaHawaii]

Heres my trip from Singapore to Macau/Zhuhai/Panyu from 9th jan to 14th Jan 2009.

Whilst in macau I both stayed in Venetian as well as Lisboa Hotel. Henceforth my post here to share with members some of the valuable infomations.

In Spore, I book the airticket from tigerairways.com from spore to macau, its a budget airline and the air ticket is free to and fro and I only paid for the airport tax which was $200 (spore dollars). For those who wish to travel to South east asia, you may wish to know that if you book early thru tigerairways.com, usually the airtickets are free and you only have to pay just for the airport taxes. If its not free, the tickets are very cheap too, usually as cheap as $30-$50 spore dollars per way.

On my first day in macau, I stayed in Lisboa Hotel, a 5 star hotel located in the heart of Macau. The bath room is attached with a SPA. The best part is I got it free too, I got it whilst I was still in Spore, the normal charge of the room is about SG$200 per night. I heard from my friend that the first casino is located in Lisboa. The location of Lisboa is superb because it is surrounded by shops, pubs, nightclubs, people, etc...... , very busy and I love it because you will never be bored. the casinos inside Grand Lisboa is very big, 3 floors with free live shows inside the casino. Take note that the things in Macau is not very cheap and the food is terrible. However the surroundings and weather is very nice.

On my 2nd day, I proceeded to Panyu, a town about 1.5 hrs from Macau.
Friends, if you are in macau, a place you must visit is Panyu because there is a sichuan restaurant here that serve the best food on Earth! Panyu is a very busy and crowded city about 1.5hrs Journey from macau. In Panyu, you will find all things very very dirt cheap and good for example, I bought 1 kg of oranges for only RMB$2 (or us25cents per kilo). I also bought 5 vcd for only RMB$5 per piece (or us70 cents per piece), I also bought very good quality very warm winter clothings for just only rmb$300 (US$35). To go to Panyu, you need to pass thru the Macau custom to Zhuhai and take a bus from Zhuhai to a hotel in Panyu called "Panyu Hotel",www.panyuhotel.com, the Journey cost RMB$60 (US$8) and it takes only 1.5hrs to reach Panyu Hotel from Zhuhai. Of course in Zhuhai u may wish to roam around as this place is filled with shopping areas, also cheap but Panyu is cheaper.

In Panyu, I went to a sichuan restaurant, the tel number is 84819858, very near to Panyu Hotel, next to a overhead bridge and we ordered 2 crabs, prawns, soup, vegetables, drinks, and rice for 5 adults. Cost us only RMB$300 (US$40). All the food is very very delicious, very unique and my 2 sisters and nephews told me that its the best food that they have ever tasted! Singapore is a food paradise but even then, we cant find any food better than in Panyu.

On the 3rd day, i returned back to Macau and together with my sisters and nephews, we stayed in Venetian. Very big room as they are suites which cost us Singapore$350 per day. However we have 5 people staying inside so its not so costly if divided by 5. Venetian is a very grand hotel with a very grand casino at level 1 only. For baccarat lovers, the minimum stakes is HK$200. Again, just like in Lisboa, there are many pretty and young chicks inside the casinos seeking for customers. If you see some youngs girls wearing very sexy modern clothings walking around, chances they are chicks.

We stayed in venetian for 3 days b4 going back to Singapore. I dont have much to complain about Venetian because if I need to go to a crowded place, all I need is to take a taxi and taxis are every where but quite expensive but as usual, I will just "reclaim" it back from the casino tables )