Interview by Yuki Lei
Having experienced Macau’s rise and decline for nearly a century, the revamped Hotel Central – once Macau’s first-ever flagship all-in-one entertainment and gambling centre on the city’s main thoroughfare – will have its soft opening next Tuesday, and the developer has told the Post he hopes that “the tallest, largest and the most important building on Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro” will boost people flow to the city’s historic centre, attracting more consumers and visitors to the area.
Growing up in the Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro (known as San Ma Lou in Cantonese) neighbourhood, Lek Hang Group’s founder and chairman Simon Sio Chong Meng saw the avenue and the hotel in their heydays, but at the same time, he also witnessed their decline: “As a native of Macau, we have all been saddened [about the decline of the city’s main street and then top hotel],” adding that Macau is transforming itself into a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, and Macau’s nearly 500 years of history as a West-meets-East entrepôt continues to be a worthwhile selling point to attract more tourists, including Hotel Central, which he described as the most eye-catching listed cultural heritage building on the city’s central road initially known as President Hotel.
The revitalised 11-storey Hotel Central at the junction of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro and Rua dos Mercadores positions itself as a historical boutique hotel, consisting 114 guest rooms, with every two floors from the 5th to the 10th being assigned a chronological theme, Sio said, adding that there are a total of three themes, namely 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, targeting visitors who enjoy nostalgic themes and a historical atmosphere.
Sio also told the Post during an interview last Friday at the hotel that “in order to attract the young generation, we will also offer them some additional attractions and services, for example, providing them with cheongsams (aka qipao) or other vintage clothing for role playing,” adding that two floors each will showcase a historic decade.
Besides, Sio said, the hotel will also include a shopping mall, the revamped Restaurante Palace, a historical corridor and sightseeing promenades which are open to the general public free of charge, allowing guests to feel as if they are in the midst of history. He said: “We spent a lot of time on data collection, decorating the hotel according to the hotel’s different ownership periods.”
Hotel Central has “grown” from its original seven floors in the last century to the present 11-storey building. However, due to the absence of piles throughout the building, the weight of the additional floors was placed on the foundations of the original 7-storey building, according to Sio, who said: “It was a disaster when I took over the building……based on our slogan for the building to be ‘relighted for another 100 years’, without demolishing the hotel structure, it was rebuilt with a new structure around the old one, in addition to the repairs to the building’s beams, columns and reinforcements.” Sio also said that with the concept of “restoring the old by creating the new”, the building has been reinforced with 129 piles so that it took more than twice the normal construction schedule and triple the expected budget to complete the renovation project.
Originally opened in 1928, the 6-storey President Hotel (總統酒店) was the first building in Macau to be equipped with a lift. The hotel was acquired by Macau’s “gambling king” Fu Laorong and local businessman and philanthropist Kou Ho Neng in 1932 when they renamed it Hotel Central and turned it into the city’s flagship casino and entertainment centre.
According to Sio, after seven years of negotiations, his group finally acquired the hotel at a high price in 2016 and commenced its refurbishment in early 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic so that the renovation’s final price tag reached 2.2 billion patacas. Sio pointed out that the revamped Hotel Central will be positioned as an integrated retail, dining, accommodation and entertainment complex.
The revitalised hotel will open next Tuesday, initially targeting mainland and Hong Kong visitors. In terms of hotel room rates, according to the group, it will be priced “reasonably” according to market demand, i.e., room rates will be set according to different festivals and holidays, with reference to market rates, currently standing at around 1,000 patacas.
According to a statement by the hotel, it is offering, until May 15, its guests who reserve a room a special package of 788 patacas, including one night’s stay in a Classic Room and breakfast for two at the Restaurante Palace.
Reservations can be made via the hotel’s official website and several mainland online travel agents (OTAs).
The revamped Hotel Central keeps its decade-old Chinese name “San Jungyeung Jaudim” 新中央酒店, which means New Hotel Central. The landmark hotel’s grand opening will take place on July 22, according to the group.
Meanwhile, according to Sio, his group has also carried out a number of revitalisation projects in Macau’s old quarters, including Patio da Claridade on Rua da Praia do Manduco, hoping that the various projects will have a radiant effect on the revitalisation of the city’s old districts and thus boosting the community’s economy. Sio added that his group has acquired several other historic buildings on San Ma Lou, one of which was once a famous Chinese restaurant next to Hotel Central, known as “Bou Sehk” (寶石酒家), or “Ruby” in English. Sio said that his group was currently renovating the building and planning to reopen “Bou Sehk” which closed several decades ago and was known for its traditional Cantonese cuisine such as the “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” (“Fat Tiu Cheuhng - 佛跳牆) stew.
Lek Hang Group’s founder and chairman Simon Sio Chong Meng looks on during an interview with the Post last Friday at his revamped legendary Hotel Central at the junction of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro and Rua dos Mercadores in the city centre.
– Photos: Yuki Lei & Lek Hang Group
