Modelled on The Venetian Las Vegas and owned and operated, like its Nevada counterpart, by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, The Venetian Macao is located on the so-called Cotai Strip in former Portugese colony of Macao, or Macau, on the south coast of China. The Venetian Macao stands 39 storeys high, covers an eye-watering 10.5 million square feet and includes 3,000 rooms and suites. A total of 2.8 million square feet is devoted to convention centre and retail space, but 546,000 square feet of casino floor space makes The Venetian Macao the second largest casino in the world, behind only the WinStar World Casino and Resort in Oklahoma.
The vast expanse of casino floor space is conveniently divided into four, themed gaming areas which, collectively, offer over 800 gaming tables, offering perennial favourites, such as baccarat, blackjack and roulette, along with sic bo and so-called ‘Sands’ stud poker, in which players play against the dealer rather than each other. Similarly, the 3,400 slot machines on offer include same familiar names and some less familiar, such as ‘Duo Fu Duo Cai’, which translates into English as ‘much luck’. The latter features a Chinese-themed style of play, specifically designed to appeal to Asian slot players.
Gambling opportunities aside, other notable features of The Venetian Macao include three huge shopping malls, four swimming pools, four award-winning restaurants, not least the Michelin-starred Golden Peacock Indian restaurant, and the San Luca, Marco Polo and Grand Canals on which visitors can ride in a traditional, flat-bottomed gondola.
