Among the few quality hotels serving visitors to Macau in the 1960s were the grand old Bela Vista (which closed in 1999, to become the residence of the consul general of Portugal) and the nearby Caravela (demolished in the mid-1970s), down by the seafront on Avenida da Republica.
The best modern hotel in town, according to the Golden Guide to Hong Kong and Macao (published in 1969 by the late, lamented Far Eastern Economic Review) was the Estoril, located on what is now Tap Seac Square. Opened in 1962 by Stanley Ho Hung-sun’s Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM) as Macau’s first casino-hotel (and increasingly derelict since being abandoned in the 1990s), it was to be joined in 1970 by a sister property, the Hotel Lisboa.
The Golden Guide quoted STDM as saying that the design for the upcoming “vast hotel-cum-amusement centre” was “an exotic blend of Oriental and Occidental architectures that are reflected by the cuisine offered in its restaurants: Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, International, Seafood – and a 24-hour coffee shop.” This was all exciting stuff for the still obscure and sleepy enclave.
Fifty years later, the Lisboa’s colourful main tower is outwardly little changed, and its once oft-maligned and garish space-age-birdcage design has fared better than those of many of its contemporaries around the world. This aesthetic appeal may in part be due to its overshadowing by the STDM’s adjacent Grand Lisboa, which has appeared on several “world’s ugliest hotels” lists since it opened more than a decade ago. Late last year, the Lisboa ran a competition inviting locals to submit photos of the hotel taken over the past half-century, to be included in a “Hotel Lisboa 50th Anniversary Photo Gallery”. The winners will be exhibited at the hotel throughout February.
Beijing’s new BEI Zhaolong Hotel ascends TripAdvisor rankings
The lobby of the BEI Zhaolong Hotel, which opened last year in the Chinese capital.
As we suggested it might, just after it opened last year, the BEI Zhaolong Hotel’s rise up the TripAdvisor rankings has been interesting to follow. Now run by Hyatt, under its recently acquired Joie de Vivre brand, the hotel was one of Communist China’s first upmarket properties when it opened in 1985. The old place was, however, apparently quite run down by the time it closed for rebranding.
On October 31, soon after it reopened, the hotel ranked a lowly 3,386 out of 6,050 hotels in Beijing, with only four reviews. By November 4, it had jumped up to 1,675, with seven reviews. One week later and the hotel was ranked 317, with 22 reviews, and by the end of the year, it had leapfrogged its way into 126th position, with 64 reviews – most of which were provided in Chinese by anonymous contributors.
For what is essentially a new hotel, which tend to suffer teething problems, the level of positive feedback and stratospheric rise through the TripAdvisor rankings seems uncanny, to say the least.
Lonely Planet publishes The Vegan Travel Handbook
Both the basics and the broader aspects of plant-based travel are explored in The Vegan Travel Handbook, which was published last month by Lonely Planet. Much of the world is covered, with lists including Top 20 Vegan-friendly Cities (Bali’s Ubud is the highest-placed Asia destination) and Top Ten Vegan Festivals, which puts the Hong Kong Veg Fest just ahead of the VIP invite-only Vegan Fashion Week, in Los Angeles.
Among other featured destinations are Malaysia, Japan, India, Taiwan and Cambodia. You can find a preview of the book at lonelyplanet.com.
Deal of the week – two nights in Chiang Mai, Thailand
The Anantara Chiang Mai is included in Tiglion Travel’s two-night package.
The Mövenpick Suriwongse and Holiday Inn are offered at the opening price of HK$3,190 per person (twin share) with Tiglion Travel’s two-night package to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Both hotels look fine but it’s probably worth upgrading to the Shangri-La or Anantara, which are offered from HK$4,090 and HK$4,690, respectively. Top of the price list are the Dhara Devi (formerly Mandarin Oriental, from HK$5,690) and the Four Seasons Resort (from HK$6,890).
These prices include flights with Cathay Dragon, airport transfers in Chiang Mai and daily breakfast, and will be available until next July with occasional high-season surcharges. For more details and reservations, visit tiglion.com.
