Macau’s The 13 Hotel in Coloane has reappeared with a newly renovated, gold-colored exterior following a change of ownership.
Industry sources have suggested the hotel could hold a soft opening as early as May, although no such information is currently shown on the hotel’s official website or major booking platforms.
According to the hotel’s newly updated website, The 13 comprises 199 independent villa-style suites, ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 square feet. All suites come with dedicated private elevators, intended to enhance guest privacy while offering a more premium stay.
In terms of suite types, the hotel provides four categories. The smallest is a 2,000-square-foot, one-bedroom suite with a separate living room, while the largest is a 10,000-square-foot duplex suite with a more expansive layout.
On Thursday, members of the hotel sector again indicated the property may soft open in May. However, neither the hotel’s own website nor room-booking sites currently display any relevant details.
Even so, the updated hotel is being positioned with a number of features that set it apart. In addition to several high-end restaurants offering a variety of dining options, the property also highlights a vertical green wall located by the swimming pool area. The hotel says the installation is competing for the Guinness World Records title of “world’s tallest vertical green wall.” Spanning the 5th to the 20th floors and covering 2,964 square meters, it is claimed to have surpassed the existing record and is presented as one of the hotel’s signature attractions.
One of the hotel’s best-known highlights in the past was its private, customized red Rolls-Royce chauffeur service. Following the renovation, the chauffeured transfer service will continue, but the fleet has been updated to the S800 model from Zunjie, a brand under mainland Chinese automaker JAC Motors, with a total of 13 vehicles in service.
In June last year, IAG reported that the long-troubled The 13 Hotel was sold for HK$600 million (approximately US$76 million). Public information indicates the buyer is linked to family members associated with the chairman of Rio Hotel Macau, Loi Keong Kuong.
Prior to the ownership change, The 13 was founded by former chairman Stephen Hung and was originally positioned as an ultra-luxury hotel, with plans to include 66 VIP gaming tables under a satellite casino model to capture the rapid growth of Macau’s VIP gaming market in the early 2010s. However, funding issues and construction delays meant that when the hotel opened in September 2018, it had not been granted permission to run gaming and some rooms remained unfinished. Reports have put the total investment at around US$1.6 billion.
