From the hotel outsider to the owner of a luxury hotel in Macau

From the hotel outsider to the owner of a luxury hotel in Macau

Simon Sio grew up in modest conditions in the heart of Macao, directly opposite the most magnificent hotel in the city, the Hotel Central. This hotel opened in 1928 became a trendy meeting point for celebrities and diplomats in the following decades.

a childhood memory is true

In the 1960s, the young SIO credified to the hotel, which was one of the few places in the former Portuguese colony with air conditioning - a huge, luxurious space compared to the old rent barracks that surrounded it. But one day he was thrown out.

"As a child, I didn't know better," says Sio. "I pointed to the hotel and swore that I would buy it one day." While numerous children worldwide puts similar vow, Sio is one of the few who actually redeemed his promise.

The now 65-year-old entrepreneur founded his own real estate development company in 1991, the LEK Hang Group. Quickly advanced to 2024, Sio was recently found to officially reopen the 96 -year -old Hotel Central as the new owner.

The big lady of Macao

In recent years, luxurious resort complexes and skyscrapers have been created around Macao. In contrast, the extensive alleys and the old architecture along the Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, lovingly San Ma Lo (translated "Die Neue Straße" in Cantonese), are not particularly exciting today. But when the road was opened in 1920, it immediately became the city's most important traffic artery. The Hotel Central, formerly known as President Hotel, opened a few years later and became an important feature of the neighborhood.

"When we talk about Macao's history, we must not neglect San Ma Lo. If we talk about San Ma Lo, we must not forget the Hotel Central," says Sio.

The mint green, seven -story hotel was the first building in Macao with an elevator. In 1932 it became the first hotel in the city with a casino on two floors. In 1938 it was expanded to eight and in 1942 on eleven floors, which made it the highest hotel in the city. But in the 1960s, when the competition increased, the Hotel Central began to lose shine.

The emotional reference to Hotel Central

"The giant saw me grow up like an older relative," says Sio. "I had a deep emotional bond with him. In his heyday it was my idol. When I got older, his decay made me restless."

"To this day, the Hotel Central is the largest and highest building on San Ma Lo. I felt that it should shine in its full strength. So I was looking for ways to restore it." The opportunity came to sell in the 2000s when the two owners of the hotel decided.

In 2016, Sio completed a seven -year acquisition process and officially became the new owner of the hotel. That was the first step. The renovation of an almost 100 -year -old building is a challenging task, especially since the additional floors of the hotel in the 1930s and 1940s have no proper fundamental security. In addition, the building and the adjacent environment are an Kultural Erbe and within the located by the UNESCO historical center , which meant that the company could not change or tear down some structures to strengthen the foundation.

innovations in the restoration

"With almost 100 years of history, the durability of the cement was limited, and the condition was clearly in a catastrophic condition," explains Sio. The team developed several suggestions based on what had been done in the past, but nobody was realizable. In the end, the team had to invent a new pile method and test their design several times at a construction site in China before working on the Hotel Central.

The developers also used new materials and technologies such as digital sketching to reproduce the original appearance of the building. "We were the first in Macao to try our method," says Sio. "If you have no experience, you have to take time for experiments and errors and think about solutions with every step when we encounter problems."

After numerous problems, the actual construction began in 2019. But another huge obstacle was soon created: Covid-19. But the team could not be discouraged, and the project was completed in 2022.

a new shine for Hotel Central

"We are all very proud to be able to say that the project was successful in the end," says Sio, pointing out that the cost of restoring Macanese Patacas (around $ 50 million) was, while the overall investment was around 2.2 billion Macanese Patacas (approximately $ 274 million).

The newly renovated Hotel Central offers 114 rooms with a retro-inspired interior design, which reflects the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. A Qipao rental enables guests to dress in traditional clothing that fits the atmosphere of the hotel.

An already open exhibition called "Historical Culture Corridor" on the ground floor is open to the public. A small shopping center will soon be opened, which will extend over the first three floors of the hotel, while an opening date has not yet been set. The hotel should also house a restaurant, a bakery and a roof bar with a view of the skyline of Macao on the top floor.

sustainable development for Macao

For SIO, the importance of the project justifies every invested cent. "Looking back, projects such as the Hotel Central on the market are relatively rare, especially those with such an extensive story," he says.

"There is a saying that I say to everyone around me: 'Money can generate volume, but money cannot reproduce history.'" Sio hopes that the Hotel Central will inspire other developers to revitalize the historical sites of Macaos and to diversify the tourist development of the city beyond brilliant casino resorts.

"We hope that visitors will look at Macao from a different perspective: Macao is not only the Cotai district, Macao is so much more," he says, referring to an area of ​​the city that houses many of the latest and largest casino resorts.

He firmly believes that Macao only becomes a real world-class travel destination. However, he expresses itself optimistically about the future of the tourism industry in Macao, especially since the government has provided financial resources and invited to play the efforts to maintain the history of the city.

For example, MGM, which operates two casino hotels in Macao, will report to the government to restore 13 dilapidated buildings in the 35,000 square meters (378,000 square foot) large Barrra district and create an art and leisure area.

"With so much effort I believe that we can achieve a good result in a very short time, so let's wait," says Sio. "Macao is small. We cannot grow in size. Thirty -thirty square kilometers is everything we have ... but small things can be exquisite. Therefore we have to strive in the direction of excellence, like a jewel."