Haha. Yes, it is an Old Skool hotel. The Old Skool stuff does give out a sort of porn atmosphere, but it is a quality hotel. There is an underground pass within the Lisboa Hotels connecting the two Lisboas located on the Ground / Basement level. No need to exit the hotel. Just take the escalator (a little difficult to spot, but not if you are looking for it) downwards on the north-end and walk via the underpass north to Grand Lisboa for low stakes action 10/20 (approx. 2/4), it is 20/40 not 40/40 here (approx. 5/5). Once you go up the escalator, you will reach the Grand Lisboa. Stay to your right and take the lift (elevator) to Level 2 (The Eight Restaurant). Once on Level 2 and after you pass the security check, break to your left and you will be at the Poker Room. Similar stakes at the Wynn. Just look for the underground pass on the South-West side outside of the Hotel Lisboa to reach the Wynn. Make sure you find the Pedestrian underpass and not the parking lot underpass. There should be a small sign that says WYNN.

Yes, I am 90 percent sure it includes the service charge just like buying off the website. But I will double checkage when I get the chance. When you check-out, there should be no other fees.

I have no clue on the renovation or whether it is worth the extra cost. Sorry.

You may want to check-out AmbitiousDreamer´s suggestion about Metropole and Metropark. They are a little further away, but easier on the wallet. These places maybe better for longer term stay, but since you are staying only one night, not quite sure your priority. Price, proximity to a Poker Room, quality, etc. Add about a 5 minute walk for both places.

I will get back to you on the service charge and try to find prices for the Metrop***.

Yuan, PM!!!!!!!!

thanks yuan! u a life saver!

im going to be spending quite some time in macau and i guess i will stay in metropole. i await your prices and tips!
these big casinos will be tooooo expensive for me to stay there for 2 month...

2 Months. Why don't u rent an appartment?

Thanks for all the help, well in the end I booked a different hotel, in the reviews it says it's not near the casino's but on the map it isn't even a mile away. Anyways the price was good and the rooms look less 'sleazy'. And it is getting good ratings:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...au_Region.html

Was 300 cheaper than the lisboa and includes breakfast and since I will be traveling alone I won't spend a lot of time in my room anyways.

No worries. Good choice.

My friend from Taiwan stayed there not too long ago. Got a free upgrade to an Executive Room, so maybe try that when you check-in. The complimentary breakfast buffet was OK. edible+.

The shuttle bus from the Hotel to the Ferry Terminal can also make a stop at the Hotel Lisboa if requested. Just let someone know before the shuttle bus departs. The shuttle bus should be frequent. From there, Wynn and Grand Lisboa is not too far away. Less than 5 minutes by shuttle bus.

Good luck at the tables...

No problem.

We should also give thanks to AmbitiousDreamer´s input regarding the Metropole since he/she has first hand knowledge/experience of the place.

I will try to contact the Metropole if they have a Long-Term Stay package. I got a few quotes for the Holiday Inn (HKD17,000/month) and Hotel Beverly (HKD18,000/month), but have not had a chance to update the Long-Term Stay Tips yet.

Have you considered staying in Zhuhai? The commute is not too bad since there are frequent Casino Shuttle buses at the border. Hotel rooms can be rented per month for as low as RMB3000.

I will try to contact some additional Hotels for Long-Term Stay packages to add to the list.

For now, you can read some tips on the footer below for more options and to get a better feel for what to expect in Macao.


<<< Arriving in Macao Travel Tips * Getting Around Macao Travel Tips * Macao Long-Term Stay (>= 1 Month) Housing Tips * Macao Mobile Broadband Tips >>>

cool keep us updated about the metropole cost. There is a guy in market place renting a place for 7500 hkd for 1 bdrm all utilities included. maybe give him a pm?

I'm also looking to stay 1+ month sometime next year Fall/winter so I'm curious of the prices. 17 HKD seems absurdly expensive. I guess thats just standard cost for staying in hotels.

Also sweet tips yuan

Thanks again for your help, will give you an update on my stay in a week or so.

hi there,
my understanding is that most apartments require a leasing contract longer than 3 month/1 year? maybe i am wrong. do u have any suggestion on how to get a apartment for short-term stay?

i never thought of it. this is the first time i hear the place called zhuhai .
how long is the commute to macau casinos, and if thats not too long i will certainly consider it, since its so much cheaper. do u have any suggestions on hotels?
thank you so much for the info man. without this thread i can't imagine how lost i will be in macau

Speaking for myself, I wouldn't try to live in Zhuhai unless I had a Chinese or HK ID card or an APEC card, or you could spend up to two hours a day going back and forth between Macau and Zhuhai.

If you can sort out a way to move between the two areas easily then Zhuhai is definitely the better place to live, bearing in mind that the border is only open from 07:00 to 00:00

oh no..i can't live in zhuhai then.
do u live in zhuhai currently?

No, I am based in Macau which is a great place, just more expensive than Zhuhai.

I assume zhu hai is 1 one of the borders between macau and china. I went into zhu hai with my canadian passport went in just fine. But I had a china visa. Its like less than 10 min drive to the border from grand lisboa.

and outside of the border there was a bunch of ladies just taking people cigs that they bought from the duty free and handing them cash. Like literally taking their bag from their hands and handing them cash right away. It was epic

That's correct, but the delay is caused by first having to exit Macau (up to half an hour on weekends/peak periods) and then entering China (another half hour at peak periods). It won't be that bad every time you cross, but often enough to make it rather annoying.

In any case others have a greater tolerance for standing around in queues than I do so YMMV.

Commuting from Zhuhai <--> Macao is doable. There are expatriate children whom commute everyday to attend the International School in Macao. Not to mention the countless people doing business back and forth. Queing up is just part of the commute process just as if you had to take the underground/subway or drive to work/school.

Most cannot take the express lane to clear immigration and have to queue. There are two queues you need to clear, Macao Immigration and China Immigration. Each queue can vary from 5-45 minutes depending on the time. The express lane takes less than 5 minutes.

Then from there, 10-15 minutes from the Border Gate to a Casino after the bus departs.

So less than 1 hour one-way to your destination is reasonable if you choose the time to cross the border wisely.

I could probably not handle the commute either, but if I had no choice; it is a doable alternative.

fov, no suggestions for hotels for now. Two months is difficult to recommend a hotel without further information. What would be your budget per month? Hotels are so pricey. You can PM me if you do not want to disclose your hotel budget here.

Maybe you should contact: http://loftito.com.hk/english/

If they let you lease for 3 months @ HKD5000 a month. You will lose out on the third month, but HKD15000 for 2-3 months is cheaper than one month´s hotel rate.

You will need to contact them and ask their shortest lease term.

dear yuan,
My budget is capped at 10k/ month. it's flexible but i would like it to be as low as possible =p. I am looking at a hotel called "ole london", is it within walking distance to gl and wynn? the prices look very reasonable, totalling about $550 per night. I called loft but nobody answered. i will give them a call again tomorrow. that apartment look very very nice!

thanks for the help!

10-15 min walking

fov - Even if places are not walking distance, Macau is so small and taxis are so cheap that it's fine if you're living away from GL or the gym. For about US$5, you can pretty much cover virtually all of Macau island. Probably can cover parts of Coloane and Taipa as well.

GL with your move to Macau.

fov - Some other tips about Macau. Try to rack up up expenses using your credit card. I found that when I used my credit card, I got an effective exchange rate of about US$ 1 = MOP 7.8. Whereas if I changed hard currency US$ at the money changers, I was getting a rate of about US$ 1 = MOP 7.6 or HKD 7.6.

Withdrawing money from the ATM gives me a slightly better rate than the money changers but not by much.

Also, note that although the HKD is universally used in Macau at 1 to 1 rate, the actual official rate is MOP 103 = HKD 100. So it makes sense for you to incur your expenses in MOP. The 3% does add up after a while.

usually when u use an ATM card it gives u market value on the exchange, just charges you like a flat 3 dollars the same as it would in the US.

Initially, that's what I thought too. However, after I factored in the 5 dollars fee, my effective rate was only a bit better than what I found in the money exchanges. fwiw, I withdrew HKDs instead of MOPs.

Landed on Kowloon area for hotel (the langham) but need help with finding a party recommendation.

It has to be in Kowlon and the only thing I could find online was http://www.themirahotel.com/en/our-t...-The-Mira.aspx, James Lavelle at the mira.

Any comments on this (Lavelle and the Mira) or other suggestions? Would be really helpful.


Thanks

Andreas

go to lan kwai fong (clubs, bars) or wan chai (bar, strip clubs). just take MTR (only gonna be a few stops) or a taxi (definitely less than 100HKD). kowloon is **** for partying, only a few spots in tsim sha tsui and its mostly boring bars and hardcore drinking places (i.e. 200HKD all you can drink till 5am <- me likey!)

edit: just realized that you want recommendations for new years eve. last year there was a good hed kandi night in hyatt (like 800hkd with open bar etc), not sure if its on this year. if u want something fancy i'd try aqua bar. its actually in tsim sha tsui but it has the best waterfront view in HK and amazing cocktails. and i'm sure they're running sth special on new years eve. i'd actually stay away from lan kwai fong on that night since it's gonna be really packed. unless u obv book some place in advance