Galaxy Macau (,

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: Galáxia Macau) is a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

located in

Cotai Cotai (; pt, Zona do Aterro de Cotai) is a piece of newly reclaimed land on top of Seac Pai Bay between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau, that has made two independent islands become one island, since 2005. The word (a portmanteau of Coloan ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, SAR of People's Republic of China. Construction on the Cotai project began in 2002. Its opening was rescheduled several times. Its developer,

Galaxy Entertainment Group Galaxy Entertainment Group ("GEG") ( is a company that owns and operates hotels and casinos in Macau through its subsidiary, Galaxy Casino S.A. History The company, known formerly as K. Wah Construction Materials, disposed of its construction ma ...

, announced on 10 March 2011 that the HKD 14.9 billion (US$1.9 billion) resort would officially open on 15 May 2011. The resort is designed by

Gary Goddard Gary Goddard (born July 18, 1954) is an American producer and director who co-founded the Landmark Entertainment Group. In 2002, he left it to form Gary Goddard Entertainment (GGE), later known as the Goddard Group, an entertainment design firm ...

. The resort currently consists of five different hotels, each with its own 'theme', Galaxy Macau, Banyan Tree, Hotel Okura, The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott.

History

When the Cotai project's first phase opened in 2011. The property offered around 2,200 hotel rooms comprising the Galaxy Macau hotel tower complete with casino and entertainment areas, as well as two hotel partners, the Japanese-owned

Hotel Okura is a luxury hotel opened in 1962 in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is operated by Okura Hotels and was a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. The historic main wing was demolished in 2015, with a modern replacement on the site opened in 2019, ...

and the Singapore-operated Banyan Tree Hotel. On 26 April 2012, Galaxy Macau announced that

JW Marriott JW Marriott is a luxury hotel brand owned by Marriott International. History The JW Marriott brand was established in 1984, with the opening of the first hotel in Washington, D.C. It was named as a tribute to J.W. Marriott, the founder of Marr ...

and

Ritz-Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...

hotels would be added to the Cotai resort. Galaxy's Chief Financial Officer Robert Drake said it would start construction of the two hotels at the end of 2013 and begin operations gradually from 2016 through 2018. According to a presentation released by Galaxy Entertainment, the total investment for Galaxy Phase 2 was estimated to be 16 billion HKD with construction completion scheduled for mid-2015. Phase 2 would consist of of new resort space, additional rooms across the five hotels and an increased casino table count of up to 500. Phase 2 was eventually opened on 27 May 2015.

Gold Leaf Cupolas

Galaxy Macau Grand Resort Palm Cove 2016

There are 6 gold-covered

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

s at the top of the two towers of Galaxy Macau. Four of them measure high and the other two at .WOW Features at Galaxy Macau
Galaxy Macau Official Website. The cupolas feature a laser show system which projects laser beams into the sky every 15 minutes. It is claimed to be the largest laser show in the world and is visible across Macau.

UA Galaxy Cinemas

On 15 December 2011, Galaxy Macau opened UA Galaxy Cinemas & East Square.

Hotels in Galaxy Macau

Future Developments

As part of its Phase 3 expansion, a large-scale 16,000-seat arena named Galaxy Arena, a 650-seat auditorium, 40,000 square metres of MICE space, and a 700-room Andaz hotel are scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2021. The expansion, named Galaxy International Convention Centre (GICC), will be built adjacent to

Macau Light Rapid Transit , image = Metro Ligeiro de Macau logo.svg , imagesize = 234px , locale = Macau , transit_type = Automated guideway transit , lines = 1 , stations = 11 , ridership = , website = , began_operation = 10 December 2019 (Taipa Line) , operati ...

's Cotai West Station. Announced on 1 March 2021, Galaxy Macau has signed an agreement with

Accor Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide. Accor op ...

(

Raffles Hotels & Resorts Raffles Hotels & Resorts is a chain of luxury hotels which traces its roots to 1887 with the opening of the original Raffles Hotel in Singapore. The company started to develop internationally in the late 1990s. From 2015, Raffles is part of Accor. ...

) to bring the Raffles brand to the resort. The 450-room Raffles at Galaxy Macau will be housed in an all-new exclusive all-suite tower that is currently under construction as part of Phase 3. Located east of the resort, the hotel will feature a glass airbridge connecting the two towers on every floor. A Mediterranean-inspired garden with a glass house as its focal point, an infinity edge pool, a luxury spa, and a fine dining restaurant are also part of the hotel. Raffles at Galaxy Macau is scheduled to open in the second half of 2021. Phase 4 of the expansion will primarily be non-gaming focused and will add approximately 2,000 hotel rooms to the resort. It is scheduled to be completed in 2022.

References