Venetian Macao : The MacauTripping Review 2008

Welcome to Venice... in China.

The cab ride from Crown Macau in Taipa to the Venetian Macao took about 8 minutes, about twice as long as I thought it would take. At the time I kinda thought that the driver was padding their fare via grand tour of the Cotai mud patties Strip. After giving it a little thought, I realized that the path we took is the only way to get to the Venetian.

To get to Venetian Macao from points north, a driver has to make a large loop around the top half of Cotai. West towards Casino Marina, south between Galaxy Mega Resort's phase I construction and Galaxy Grand Waldo, then hang a left to go cross town (east), then hang another left (north) after passing Macao Studio City on the right. About 100 yards later yet another left, underneath the faux-Bridge of Sighs before gaining access to the Venetian Macao's porte cochere. In case you didn't know, they drive on the left side of the road there.

Upon arrival at the Venetian Macao front door, there were no valets or bell hops to greet me or make arrangements for hauling my bags to my room. Is it luck of the draw or bad planning on their part? You decide. I'm quite surprised that a hotel of this size - open barely a month - that presents itself as being 'luxury' both in promotions and rack rates would drop the ball on this most basic of hotel services. Obviously, this isn't a very good way to make a first impression on guests, the mass majority of whom are 'first timers.' I sucked it up, gathered up all of my belongings from the taxi and headed towards the reception desk.

Reception at Venetian Macao

Check in was a breeze, not much of a line and the desk attendant was quick and friendly. After filling out the required paperwork he gave me some directions to send me on my way to my room - past the gold gyroscope sculpture in the lobby, down the fresco encrusted Q-Bert hallway and right through the belly of the beast - the Venetian Macao's very crowded casino floor.

The Venetian Macao's similarities to its Las Vegas counterpart are numerous, beyond decor and theme. Both properties suffer from having truly horrible foot traffic flow. Aside from poor design, the sheer hugeness of the property causes guests to stop dead in their tracks at every intersection, corner or bend in a path, looking for signs to point them where they wish to go. Venetian Macao is the polar opposite of Crown, Wynn and StarWorld's boutique intimacy.

Again I began to curse not having a sherpa bell hop at my disposal to deal with the bags. After many traffic jams and confusing turns I arrived at the elevators, hit 27 and headed up to the room.