Gold Coast complex set for opening on June 1
HONGKONG'S first resort hotel complex, the 450-room Gold Coast, is nearing completion and set to open on June 1.
The $2.2 billion project at Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories features a first class resort-style hotel, a country club, marina, shopping mall and a luxury village of apartments and villas.
The developers of the 400-hectare complex, the Sino Group, hope the resort will rival Macau as a getaway for Hongkong's holidaymakers.
The Sino Group executive in charge of hotels, Mr Charles Lee, said he was confident the hotel would be one of Hongkong's most successful.
''Many people in the industry are very excited about the complex,'' he said.
''Businessmen who come to Hongkong for meetings won't need to fly to Bali or Phuket for recreation.
''People can come to the hotel and have a good rest.'' The hotel includes a high-tech spa and tennis and squash courts. An adjacent Mediterranean-style shopping mall features a supermarket, 30 shops and five waterfront restaurants.
The complex has a hectare of Chinese gardens, a pitch-and-putt golf course and a beachfront with hundreds of palm trees.
The private yacht and country club started accepting members last December.
''The shopping mall is negotiating with various interested tenants for leasing. There is talk of the hotel becoming fully operational in November but it's a question of getting the interiors ready.
''Altogether the development has 19 high-rise residential towers, five of these opened two years ago. The second phase includes six towers which have also been completed. We've sold about 80 per cent of these.
''The third phase of the residential towers, comprising five towers, is nearing completion and the last phase is also at an advanced stage.''
