Macau Trip Part 15 Macau Tower and My Recommendation of Stay in Cotai Area

[Introduction]

I traveled to Macau in mid December. I went around the World Heritage sites in Macau Peninsula in the first half and mega resorts in Cotai area in the latter half. In this article, I will write about Macau Tower and my recommendation of stay in Cotai area as part of Day 5.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Go to Macau via Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge
* Day 1: Around Lisboa (Light-up)
* Day 2: Penha Church etc.
* Day 2: Senado Square etc.
* Day 2: Ruins of St. Paul’s, Mount Fortress, St. Lazarus District etc.
* Day 2: Ruins of St. Paul’s, Senado Square etc. (Light-up)
* Day 3: Sands Cotai Central
* Day 3: The Venetian Macao
* Day 3: The Parisian Macao (Light-up)
* Day 3: Studio City Macau (Light-up)
* Day 4: City of Dreams
* Day 4: MGM Cotai, Wynn Palace
* Day 4: Galaxy Macau
* Day 4: The Venetian Macao etc. (Light-up)
* Day 5: Macau Tower [This article]
* Day 5: Return Home

[Travel Date]
2018.12.14-18

[Main Part]

Breakfast in Sands Cotai Central (@Grand Orbit)

The fifth day, the final day, of my Macau trip started. I will have breakfast, first.

In Sands Cotai Central where I have been staying, there were several restaurants which were open in the early morning and I visited “Grand Orbit” among them.

Among four hotels in Sands Cotai Central, hotel guests of Conrad and Holiday Inn use this restaurant if their accommodation includes breakfast. 

Breakfast is served as a buffet style and there was a variety of cuisine.

There were also so many desserts to choose.

First, mainly western cuisine.

Next, Chinese cuisine.

Finally, dessert.

In Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel I have been staying, hotel guests whose accommodation includes breakfast have breakfast at another restaurant “Feast” and I wavered between the two restaurants. I had some concern that “Feast” might be crowded as the number of rooms in Sheraton was larger, so I chose “Grand Orbit” and found it was actually less crowded.

After breakfast, I stopped by “家餅記英 (Pastelaria Yeng Kee)” to buy souvenirs. The shops was open in the early morning and it was helpful to me.

I just happened to see “Rilakkuma” at “六福珠寶 (Lukfook Jewellery)”, a jewelry shop based in Hong Kong.

Macau Tower

I had some free time before I leave Macau to return home in the afternoon, so I will visit Macau Tower in the morning .

Between Cotai area and Macau Tower, shuttle buses ran from Studio City Macau and MGM Cotai, but I moved to Macau Tower by taxi as these shuttle buses were out of service in the early morning.

Macau Tower was opened in 2001 and is 338 meters tall, which is as tall as Tokyo Tower.

Let’s go into the building.

It was around Christmas season when I traveled to Macau, so there was decoration for Christmas.

I bought a ticket for the observation deck.

First, I went to “Observation Lounge” on the 58th floor.

It was a weekday and just after Macau Tower started its operation, so there were not any other visitors.

View of Macau city.

The golden color “Grand Lisboa” was eye-catching.

Bridges to connect Macau Peninsula and Taipa/Cotai area.

View of the west side.

There was Zhuhai (珠海市), a special economic zone in China, across the sea.

In silhouette.

I moved to “Adventure Deck” on the 61st floor.

There was an outside observation deck.

In addition, visitors were able to participate in paid activities including “Tower Climb”, “Skywalk”, “SkyJump” and “Bungy Jump”.

This is “Skywalk” to take a stroll around the outer perimeter that encircles the tower.

Video shooting with GoPro was available for “SkyJump”and “Bungy Jump”.

I came back to the 1st floor.

I stopped by the 2nd and 3rd floor as well.

Finally, I took several photos outside the building, as there was a walkway.

Sands Cotai Central

I went back from Macau Tower to Sands Cotai Central.

I checked out “Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel” where I stayed and will have lunch before departure.

I dropped by “Palms Café and Bar” near the lobby.

I had a light meal as I ate breakfast pretty much.

Then, I left Sands Cotai Central to return home.

To begin with, I will move to Taipa Ferry Terminal by a free shuttle bus.

Stay in Cotai Area

Now I will review casino resorts in Cotai area based on my impression over the two days when I went around them.

If you prefer luxurious hotels and don’t care the price, I would recommend “The Venetian Macao”. If you value both luxury and cost-effectiveness, “The Parisian Macao” would be a good option.

On the other hand, if you would like to save money for accommodation as much as possible, Sheraton and Holiday Inn in “Sands Cotai Central”, “The Countdown Hotel” in “City of Dreams” and “Broadway Macau” adjacent to “Galaxy Macau”, are the four hotels which are least expensive in casino resorts in Cotai area. Among them, Sheraton or Holiday Inn in “Sands Cotai Central” would be most recommendable, considering the easy access to hopping other casino resorts and its variety of restaurants in the facility.

These are comments for people who stay in Cotai area for the first time. If you are a repeater, I also recommend “Studio City Macau”, “City of Dreams” and “MGM Cotai” – though they are not so large, their exterior and art works are very impressive.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about Macau Tower and my recommendation of stay in Cotai area as part of Day 5.

Regarding Macau Tower, when I traveled to Macau in the past, I tried to visit it, but didn’t. Finally, I accomplished my desire this time. If I have another chance in the future, I would like to revisit it in the evening.

As for my recommendation of stay in Cotai area, this is just my view, but I would appreciate if it could be of some help for people who plan to travel to Macau and stay in Cotai area (- for each casino resort, please see my past articles).

In the next article, as the final article of the Macau series, I will write about return home as part of Day 5.

[Map]

1 Sands Cotai Central
2 Macau Tower

[Related Link]
Macao Government Tourism Office
Sands Cotai Central
Macau Tower

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