Hoteliers thinking big for Sands Cotai

Las Vegas Sands, the largest U.S.-based hotel-casino operator by sales, is putting the finishing touches on the first phase of its Sands Cotai Central project in Macau, which will include the largest hotels in both the Holiday Inn and Conrad chains. The 1,224-room Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central and the 636-room Conrad Macao, Cotai Central both opened today. The 13.7-million-square-foot Sands Cotai Central project will eventually include a 3,863-room Sheraton, which will also be that brand's largest when it opens in September. The Holiday Inn, Conrad and Sheraton brands are owned by InterContinental Hotels Group, Hilton Worldwide and Starwood Hotels & Resorts, respectively. Sands Cotai Central is the centerpiece of development on Macau's Cotai Strip, which is about 200 acres of reclaimed land linking Taipa and Colaone islands. Macau is about 40 miles southwest of Hong Kong and was controlled by Portugal until 1999. "There were few believers in my vision for the Cotai Strip when the site was basically underwater," Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson said in a statement last month. "With the completion of Sands Cotai Central, that same spot will be home to thousands of hotel rooms, millions of square feet of retail, meeting and convention space, dozens of restaurants and so many other attractions." The company, which said it has invested more than $8 billion in Macau, continues to bet big on the China-controlled area. And it's not the only one: Macau has attracted U.S. hotel-casino operators looking to build business outside of Las Vegas. The 289-room Sands Macao opened in 2004, and the 3,000-room Venetian Macao debuted three years later. Wynn Resorts opened its 1,014-room Wynn Macau in 2006. So far, those bets have paid off for Las Vegas Sands. For the fourth quarter of 2011, Las Vegas Sands' Macau properties, which also include the Four Seasons Hotel Macao and Plaza Casino, reported $370.4 million in operating profit, up 39% from a year earlier. By comparison, Las Vegas Sands' Las Vegas hotels generated $48.5 million in operating profit. Last year, Macau tourist spending, excluding gaming, jumped 20%, to the equivalent of more than $4.7 billion, according to Macau's Statistics and Census Service. Visitor arrivals rose 12%, to 28 million, while Macau's 95 hotels housed 22,356 rooms, up 11% from a year earlier. Such growth by Las Vegas Sands in Macau has brought about legal issues. The company is reportedly being sued for $375 million by a former business partner based in Taiwan. Shi Sheng Hao accused Las Vegas Sands of violating a contract related to Las Vegas Sands' efforts to obtain a gaming license in Macau a decade ago, the New York Times reported last month. Las Vegas Sands officials declined to respond to a request for comment. Las Vegas Sands is controlled by Adelson, whose net worth of $21.5 billion makes him the eighth-richest American, according to Forbes.