Daniel Desmonts may be losing some business, but not his sense of humour. After triad gangsters with sub-machineguns peppered the legs of guards at the entrance of his five-star hotel in Macau - an attack that followed the discovery of suspected explosives outside - the general manager of the New Century on Taipa fielded a stream of calls from friends and former colleagues in Hong Kong.
'There were quite a few jokes,' he says. 'They were asking if my package to work here included a helmet.' Security, however, is not being taken lightly: police in the parking lot now maintain a full-time presence with dozens of strategically-placed security guards; closed-circuit cameras sweep the marble foyer; unattended bags draw careful, if nervous, scrutiny from staff who could be excused for being jumpy over recent extraordinary events at their workplace.
Four months ago when Mr Desmonts was head-hunted from a cushy corporate job with Hutchison Whampoa's hotels division in Central to take charge of the 555-room New Century for new owner Ng Wai, Macau's much-publicised triad battles were not the hospitality veteran's main concerns.
Even as slayings of rival gang members - fighting for a slice of the lucrative market in illicit loans and protection of the enclave's casinos - drew lurid headlines and devastated tourism, Mr Desmonts' priority was to finish renovations in time for the hotel casino's opening earlier this month.
'We felt protected here on Taipa,' he says. A blow for both public relations and the financial bottom line was struck shortly before the August 2 opening (police sources believe the planting of a bomb-like package was a warning by gangsters trying to get rights to loan sharking at the casino). Mr Desmonts, 50, was woken in his flat on the sixth floor.
His priorities suddenly changed: as well as trying to run a hotel, he found himself having to consider the protection of his guests and his staff from the threat of grave danger.
