DevelopmentOpeningsStarwood Hotels Opens Landmark Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central

Starwood Hotels Opens Landmark Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central

STAMFORD, Conn.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. marked a new milestone with the opening of Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central—the largest hotel to open worldwide in 2012. At nearly 4,000 rooms, it is the largest hotel in Starwood’s global portfolio and the biggest hotel to open in Macau. Consisting of two towers overlooking the Cotai Strip development, the hotel is home to the world’s largest Sheraton Club Lounge, a main ballroom the size of more than 11 basketball courts, more than 160,000 square feet of meeting space, three signature restaurants, and three outdoor pools with poolside cafes. The opening coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Sheraton brand.

“The opening of Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central represents an historic milestone for Starwood, for Sheraton, and for the hospitality industry as a whole,” said Frits van Paasschen, president and chief executive officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “Boasting unparalleled brand recognition and a rich legacy in Asia Pacific, Sheraton is the ideal fit for this spectacular new hotel in Macau, as the brand continues to lead Starwood’s growth in the region.”

“We proudly welcome the world-renowned Sheraton brand to the Sands Cotai Central integrated resort,” said Sheldon Adelson, Chairman, Las Vegas Sands and Sands China Ltd. “The development of the Cotai Strip, from a muddy swampland to the glittering center of tourism and leisure that stands before us today, represents a vision realized for the company.”

Sheraton currently operates 95 hotels in Asia Pacific and expects to reach nearly 150 hotels by 2016. Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central is the second Starwood hotel to open in Macao.

Opening in two phases, Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central opened Sheraton Sky Tower, featuring 1,829 rooms, the 13,000-square-foot Sheraton Club Lounge, the Kashgar Grand Ballroom, and additional meeting space. Other highlights include Palms Lounge, the brand’s signature Link@Sheraton communications hub in the lobby, the Sala Pool on level four, Shine Spa, and Sheraton Core Performance fitness facility. The hotel’s second tower (Sheraton Earth Tower) opens early next year, and will offer an additional 2,067 rooms, as well as two more outdoor pools.

The construction of Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central helped boost the Macao economy and provided locals with a wide range of career opportunities. The hotel team hosted a number of job fairs that yielded more than 10,000 job applications, and traveled nearly 10,000 miles to interview 5,000 candidates. As part of the on-the-job training for its 1,500 associates, the hotel conducted a massive, two-week simulation where 10,000 guests arrived to check in and out of 5,000 rooms. The hotel’s international hotel staff includes speakers of 19 languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, English, German, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Thai, Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Indonesian, and various Chinese dialects.

An enormous amount of planning and preparation was required to create the world’s largest Sheraton. To light its 3,896 guest rooms, the Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central has purchased and installed 90,796 light bulbs – more than 4.5 times the total number of light bulbs to light the Eiffel Tower. Staff will fold and place 35,217 plush towels in the guest bathrooms, fluff 15,652 pillows, and fold 9,372 bed sheets with perfect hospital corners. The hotel will equip its nearly 4,000 guest rooms with 6,256 Sweet Sleeper beds.

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