Readers at Next Destination Anywhere will know that one of my favourite places to visit is Vegas – Yes you heard me, Vegas! I know it lacks culture, but when you want to go and party the weekend away with your good friends from the west coast then Vegas it is the most economical place to go. I especially love the pool parties in Vegas which I mentioned in previous posts here and here.

Therefore, as I was in Hong Kong it would be rude not to make my next destination Macau – The Vegas of the east.

While researching about Macau, I found an interesting fact: Macau generates seven times more gaming revenue than Vegas. CRAZY!!!

Macau is only a short 1 hour turbo jet ride from Hong Kong. Outside the ferry terminal there are free shuttles to most of the major hotels in Macau. You can jump on these shuttles even if you’re not staying at that hotel. I jumped on the shuttle for the Venetian, which was going to be my home for the next 2 nights.

Venetian is on the Cotai side of Macau and took around 15 mins from the ferry terminal.

Unlike its sister resort casino the Venetian Las Vegas, the Macau Venetian is not part of a major hotel chain loyalty program. The Venetian Las Vegas is part of the IHG loyalty program which therefore allows you to redeem free nights using points.

For my stay it was going to cost £160 a night, which isn’t cheap but when every room is a suite, you can’t complain.

There was no queue for the check-in desk which was great as all I wanted to do was get to my room after all the travelling I had done that day. However, after receiving my keys I found it to be quite an obstacle to locate my room – you had to go through the casino floor. This was one of the annoying things about the Venetian, and one that I struggled with throughout my stay – I just couldn’t figure out the correct exit for my room.

When I finally found my room – it was everything that I expected. Having previously stayed in the Venetian in Vegas. The suite had a spacious bathroom with a bath tub and standing shower, dual wash basins  and the toilet hidden through another door. The bedroom and living room was opened planned with the with the living room sunken to distinguish it from the bedroom. The sitting area had a sofa bed, dinning table, and a desk with a a fax machine. All in all a spacious suite.

One of my favourite things to eat in Macau is the custard tart, in the Venetian they have opened a Lord Stow bakery chain – famous in Macau.

Lesson Learnt – Always use the meter in a taxi.

There was a massive queue waiting for a taxi at the taxi rank in the Venetian. Being a smarty pants I thought it would be easy and cheaper to hail a taxi on the main road in front of the Venetian. As it turned out, there was a queue of taxis waiting on the main road. Awesome, so I thought. I spoke to the first taxi driver and informed him I wanted to go the Wynn and he said 140 HKD which is over £10. At this point, my scam radar was on and so I went and spoke to the taxi driver waiting behind, who said 150 HKD. Now, bear in mind I hadn’t yet taken a taxi ride in Macau, and at the same time £10 seemed reasonable, especially since I live in London where £10 doesn’t get you far at all. So I decided to go back to the first taxi driver and negotiated. I asked him to lower the price to 120 HKD. He instantly accepted – now I knew I’m getting ripped off.

In an attempt not to get ripped off again, on the way back to the Venetian I asked the taxi driver at the taxi rank at the Wynn hotel, how much was it going to cost me. The driver just pointed to the meter. Anyway I got in, not sure if I already got scammed by the first driver or whether I am about to get scammed by this driver. Through out the whole ride I’m starring intensely at the meter seeing it go up and up, but at a snails pace. Then I get to the Venetian and the price on the meter -was 40 HKD. A third of what I paid before. So yes I got ripped off, but I also learnt – Always use the meter!!

Overall, I enjoyed my stay at the Venetian. I would stay here again but there are so many other hotels that I want to try in Macau, so I probably wont be returning to this Venetian again.

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