Macau’s Newest Bid to Court Rich Chinese: Hotel by Versace By KATE O’KEEFFE Rich Chinese who live and breathe luxury will soon be able to sleep in it too. New details about a Macau casino company’s plan to erect an opulent hotel designed by Italian fashion house Versace emerged at a Thursday news conference in the world’s gambling capital: the hotel tower will include about 270 rooms, a spa, indoor and outdoor pools and dining and retail space, SJM Holdings Ltd. and Gianni Versace SpA said. SJM, controlled by the family of Macau mogul Stanley Ho, chose Versace to design the hotel in a bid to compete with aggressive expansion plans by rivals, said chairman Ambrose So, who wore a Versace tie to the event. SJM has fallen behind companies such as Nevada-based Las Vegas Sands Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Resorts International in the race to build in Macau, a Chinese territory that earns six times the gambling revenue of the Las Vegas Strip. Mr. So said SJM also plans to partner with additional global brands on its HK$25 billion ($3.22 billion) project set to open in 2017. The Palazzo Versace hotel will be just one of the components of the enormous resort, which will have 700 gambling tables and 2,000 hotel rooms, SJM has said. For Versace’s part, the company hopes the deal will give its brand more visibility among wealthy Chinese customers as it plans a public share offering in the next three to five years, said Chief Executive Gian Giacomo Ferraris. Versace’s stores in the US$38 billion gambling market are already among its best-performing retail outlets in the world. The fashion house appeared to take full control of the aesthetics of Thursday’s media event. The ballroom at the gambling company’s kitschy flagship Grand Lisboa casino was papered over with minimalist black staging and giant flat-screen TVs showing off Versace products as swanky lounge music played. Guests were given small, square plates emblazoned with a Chinese dragon from the Versace Home collection. Donatella Versace, the fashion house’s creative director and the sister of deceased founder Gianni Versace, and Angela Leong, SJM’s managing director and the woman whom company patriarch Stanley Ho calls his fourth wife, emerged from behind a black corridor to take the stage as though they were preparing to walk the runway at a fashion show. Ms. Leong wore a floral-patterned blazer and billowy, green-and-white checkered pants, designed just for her by Versace, the event emcee said. “Isn’t it beautiful?” he asked the audience, peppered with SJM staff uncharacteristically dressed in all black. Ms. Versace, with her trademark long, platinum hair and exceptionally tanned skin, wore a skintight, neon yellow dress with heels that were possibly seven inches high. The fashion queen, who left the stage after the signing ceremony and did not take questions at the news conference, is enjoying the former Portuguese colony, “especially the food,” said Mr. Ferraris. However, the Italians (and everyone, really) have been displeased with the rain.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 04:03:26 +0000