Entertainment in Macau
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Grand Lisboa Casino
Connected to its little sister (Lisboa Casino) by a footbridge is the plush Grand Lisboa, with its glowing golden-bulb exterior and a truly kitsch flaming-torch-shaped towering structure. The interior ventilation works much better than Lisboa Casino and people are gaming with slightly more manners here. The famous Crazy Paris Cabaret, featuring a multitude of leggy women onstage strutting around in a couple of beads and a feather, is also held here.
reviewed
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MGM Grand Casino
This MGM Grand is much smaller than its mother in Vegas, but its gentility and modern design with innovative lighting make it a casino with taste and class. It’s more for unruffled high-rollers, meaning it has a more relaxing atmosphere.
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Mp3
With live shows and music, plus the unbeatable all-you-can-drink at around MOP$100 during happy hour, this has become a popular spot along the strip. DJs spin all kinds of music while drag queens and pose dancers dazzle your eyes.
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Venetian
Occupying the Cotai Strip, this ersatz Doge's Palace is a minimalist's nightmare – a vast hotel, gambling and shopping city within a city, that recreates Venetian icons, right down to the canals and singing gondoliers.
reviewed
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180° Lounge
Macau Tower, at 338m, is the 10th-tallest freestanding structure in the world; it stands on the narrow isthmus of land southeast of Avenida da República. The squat building at its base is the Macau Convention & Entertainment Centre. The tower houses observation decks (adult/child 3-12 & senior over 85 MOP$90/45) on the 58th and 61st floors, and restaurants and bars such as the revolving 360° Café (11.30am-3pm, 3.30-4.15pm & 6-11pm) on the 60th floor, and the 180° Lounge one floor below it.
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Macau Soul
Run by two English retirees, this low-key spot is a hidden gem just down the hill from St Paul’s ruins. The ground floor is elegantly decked out with wooden furniture and stained-glass windows that ooze a comfy, easygoing feel. The basement gets very crowded when it is transformed into a live venue for jazz, blues and country bands. The opening hours vary, so phone ahead before you go.
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D2
This two-storey bar and dance club is where to strut your stuff. Downstairs there’s loud dance music, a dance floor and a bar-lounge area; upstairs there are fashionable booth seats and a terrace overlooking the dance floor. Its sister club DD3 at the Fisherman’s Wharf is also a throbbing, groovy spot to revel and to flirt.
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Sky 21
Located in the same building as D2, this three-storey multiplex flashy club has a more distinguished atmosphere, and ambitiously caters to people from all walks of life. DJs from Portugal host dancing parties and Troupe from Amsterdam dances everything from hip hop to salsa. A big plus is its superb view of Nam Van Lake and Macau Tower.
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Cinnebar
Cinnebar is a good place to go for a quiet natter. It has a fantastic combination of swish and casual: upmarket and classy surroundings indoor and a relaxed, amic-able atmosphere in its outdoor seating area around the swimming pool and the garden. Some exotically blended cocktails and homemade snacks are served in this lobby bar.
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Plaza Casino
If you want a quieter gaming time, head to the secluded Plaza. Hidden in the Four Seasons Hotel, the Plaza cannot compete with other casinos listed here in terms of size, but its decor is marvellously impressive, making it one of the classiest casinos in Macau. Its location suggests that tourist groups do not venture here.
reviewed
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Veuve Clicquot Lounge
If you can’t make up your mind where to sip in the city, MGM Grand has several excellent bars that offer a bit of something for everyone. The handsome Veuve Clicquot Lounge is decked out with whimsically designed loveseats and populated mostly by yuppies and after-work suits enjoying the pricey champagnes.
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Zaia
Cirque du Soleil has already put up its big top in the Venetian, ushering in the next big entertainment scene in Macau (apart from gambling, of course). Zaia, the nightly resident show, is a spectacular mix of high-wire acrobatics and choreographed dances. Up to 40% discounts for tickets are often available.
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Russian Room
If you can’t make up your mind where to sip in the city, MGM Grand has several excellent bars that offer a bit of something for everyone. The Russian Room is a sparkling and splendidly designed pub for the high-heeled types to wash down the caviar with the expertly selected vodka.
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38
The latest incarnation of the famous Crystal Club, this bar sits atop the hotel tower with a terrific outdoor terrace that offers spectacular vistas of the harbour and Macau Peninsula. Combine this with its extensive wines and whisky selection and you get one of the best drinking haunts on Taipa.
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Aba Bar
If you can’t make up your mind where to sip in the city, MGM Grand has several excellent bars that offer a bit of something for everyone. The sleek, high-up Aba Bar has a beautiful glass cellar stored with a variety of wines that attracts beautiful urbanities at all times.
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Fashion Club
This glitzy bar is where partiers dress to impress or be impressed. But pick your night carefully as it can be dead mid-week, but on a good night there’s a great mix of tunes and a fun vibe. The indoor-outdoor combo is perfect, and makes it the best place on the wharf.
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Mcsorley’s Ale House
This cosy tavern-style watering hole in the Venetian is a genial spot that attracts rugby and soccer fanatics watching footy on the telly with its live-satellite broadcasts of European matches. The selection of imported beers and pub grub is extensive and reasonably priced.
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Lisboa Casino
With cigarette smoke for ambience and little effort at decor, this once-monopolistic old-timer nevertheless is still the best-known casino in Asia for its faded ‘60s glamour. Those days are gone, but the tightly packed baccarat tables still live on.
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Whisky Bar
High up in the glitzy new StarWorld hotel and casino, this modern bar offers grand vistas across the peninsula to the Guia Lighthouse, plus a Filipino covers band and a lively atmosphere, but it must be said, not much of a whisky menu. Get a window seat.
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Sands Macau
Run by the consortium from Vegas leading Macau’s gambling business renaissance, the Sands has a spacious atrium allowing natural lighting, together with a fantastic array of crystal chandeliers. Expect throngs of gamblers from the mainland.
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Old Taipa Tavern
Known as ‘OTT’, its location near the Pak Tai Temple at Taipa Village makes this delightful bar a sublime spot to watch the comings and goings in the centre of the village. A wonderful live band plays on Saturday.
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Casablanca Café
Casablanca is a favourite hang-out for the Portuguese in Macau’s Lan Kwai Fong. It has a long list of cocktails, plays cold jazz in the background and is considered the best spot to chill out in NAPE.
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Dragone Show
Though not many details were revealed at the time of writing, this water-themed megashow just across the road on the Cotai is designed to rival Zaia, and is scheduled to commence in early 2010.
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Mandarin Oriental Casino
Though the Mandarin cannot compete with the other casinos listed here in terms of size and riches, its gentility earns it a name among those who fancy the games of chance.
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Jai Alai Show Palace
Come to witness lots of women wannabes (it's a transvestite show) doing what the girls in the Crazy Paris Show do - only much better. Again, leave the kids at the hotel.
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