Eleven years ago from the time of writing few months after its grand opening, this hotel was featured in one of the local television travel shows here in the Philippines featuring the Venetian canals inside The Venetian Macao hotel. While watching the show, I was amazed at the surreal blue sky on the ceiling of the hotel including the manmade canals where the gondolas pass by and the wide shopping streets. By that time I was imagining how big is The Venetian Macao to fit all those that are featured and my subconscious suddenly said: "I want to go there!".
Seven years after my wishful thinking there I was standing in front of the dream I once thought and just like my Disneyland dream, I was as much ecstatic of seeing and living the dream once had. Let me share with you my journey to Venice Italy under the grand and majestic roof of The Venetian Macao hotel in Macau.
The Venetian Macao / Video Credit: indra narayan via Youtube
Let me give you a peek to the grandeur Venetian hotel in Macau. The uploader filmed this video from the facade of the Venetian hotel, the 7th floor, to the lobby, and a glimpse of the Gondola sailing on a man-made San Luca Canal. I just want to share this video with the readers and travelers to see why The Venetian Macao is a must visit in Macau.
THE VENETIAN MACAO
► HOW TO GET THERE?
Getting to The Venetian Macao is as easy as one, two, three. Either you're coming from the Airport or from the Ferry Terminal in either way you just need to ride on the Venetian complementary or free bus and you will be alighted at the West Lobby of the hotel as you can see in the above photo. If you have any luggage or backpack you can leave it in this lobby for you to move around freely because this place will do a lot of walking. All you need to bring with you is yourself, of course (LOL), camera, go pro, drone or smartphones to capture each and every moment of your life while in the Venetian hotel.
► THE VENETIAN MACAO
The Venetian Macao / Photo Credit: Joseph Bacalso via Joycee Abaquita's Facebook
Venetian hotel was officially opened on August 28, 2007, with 3,000 suites, conventional space for retail, gambling, and an indoor Cotai Arena with a seating capacity of 15,000 that hosts concerts, sporting events, and international shows. The hotel tower itself has 2,095 suites from level 7 up to the 38th level of the building. There are lifts available for the guests to their designated suites and floor. A reserved accommodation for premium guests at Paiza suites and 12-bay suites called Presidente has four bedrooms and the largest Paiza suite of the hotel. A Paiza Club is available 24 hours for premium guests who have a full access to the club's dining and lounge.
The Venetian Macao building was patterned after its sister casino resort The Venetian Las Vegas that was owned by the American Las Vegas Sands company. Nestled on the Cotai Strip in Macau is a 39 story casino hotel that ranked seventh as the largest building in the world in terms of floor area. It also grabbed the title as the largest casino in the world and the largest hotel building in a single structure in Asia.
► THE HALLWAY AT THE LOBBY
The Venetian Macao Hallway / Photo Credit: Dimpsy via Facebook
You can really see the grandeur of the hotel as you enter the lobby. At the lobby, guests will be greeted by the hotel's magnificent interior designs that are true to its theme - Venetian. One of the best highlights of the lobby is the magical tiles of the hallway floor. If you know how to get the exact angle to make it looked like elevated tile steps just like we did in the photo above. On the hallway itself, you feel like transported to Italy because of the evidently Venetian inspired sculptures of the ceilings, walls, floorings that are in golden theme and the intricate details that you can find in every corner of the hotel.
► THE SECURITY CHECK
Security Check / Photo Credit: Dimpsy via Facebook
Before you can roam around the casino floor you will pass by a security check. In our case, there's a security check before the escalator upon going down to the casino. If you can see in the photo, I (in fuschia) and Joseph (my friend's boyfriend) were turning our heads back because Joycee (Joseph's girlfriend atop the escalator) was left behind at the security personnel and we were wondering why. When our tour guide noticed that she was interrogated by the security personnel after taking this shot, she then shouted to Joycee "show your passport". The main reason why she got to hold for a minute is that the security personnel thought she was underage. All of us burst into laughter when Joycee tried to mimic the security personnel with the use of the Chinese language and narrated she didn't understand and got confused on what her reply be. Good thing we had our tour guide with us. If it weren't for her, Joycee might be held for so long and it's very difficult to deal with any issues when it has a language barrier. Our tour guide reminded us to always have our passport ready whenever we will be going on a tour of a foreign land just so for identity proof. So if you want to go to Macau and you feel like you have a baby face, then get hold of your passport before entering the casinos. Better be ready than sorry.
► THE CASINO
Gaming Floor of The Venetian Macao / Photo Credit: Dimpsy via Facebook
This is the closest photo that we can get of the casino from the escalator since the camera will be turned off before going into the casino. The one you see in the photo is the entire gaming floor or the casino of the hotel. At the far end of the photo are game tables mostly for Baccarat. We took a little tour of the casino while our tour guide kept shopping for free bottled waters and secretly hid it inside our bags.
► THE VENETIAN
Surreal Venice Italy / Photo Credit: Joseph Bacalso via Joycee Abaquita's Facebook
The moment that we've been waiting for has arrived when our tour guide leads us to the third floor of the hotel where our final destination of The Venetian Macao tour situated. This is where a surreal journey to Venice Italy and living the dream was all possible. From where we stood in the photo is the entrance of the Venetian and the shopping street with high-end brand shops on both sides and street lights. Looking at the picture who would have known that the blue sky and the white clouds are all fakes that were just painted on the ceiling. If you don't have any idea about the Venetian you will surely believe it's real. At the far center of the photo, you can see a glass pyramid with flowers inside. You may refer to the next photo below for a clearer version of the pyramid.
► THE PYRAMID
The Pyramid / Photo Credit: Dimpsy via Facebook
Right at the center of the street shoppes in Venetian Macao is a huge fiberglass pyramid that has an inverted pyramid funnel inside filled with flower varieties and lights on its edges that provides brightness to the pyramid. I don't have any idea of its relevance to the Venetian but it's an eye-catching one that draws the attention of the crowd. I know it's there for a reason and a purpose but for whatever it may be I'm glad it's there and I've been there.
► THE GRAND CANAL
Grand Canal / Photo Credit: Joseph Bacalso via Joycee Abaquita's Facebook
The construction of this Grand Canal on the 3rd floor of The Venetian Macao was so amazing. Imagine a canal inside a hotel? Amazing isn't it? Well as for me I was totally in awe and this is the moment where a journey to Venice Italy started. By the time I set my foot into this Venetian Grand Canal I felt like I was transported to Venice. How I see it in photos and on screens is much likely the same. At our back is the San Luca Canal where the Gondola boat with a Gondolier passes by just in time when we had our photo opp. It would have been awesome if we were able to ride the Gondola and be serenaded but unfortunately, we were running out of time so we just stick to having a snap.
► THE GONDOLA
WHAT IS A GONDOLA?
Gondola is a long, narrow, flat-bottomed boat having a tall ornamental stem and stern and sometimes a small cabin for passengers, rowed or poled by a single person who stands at the stern facing forward.
Source: wonderopolis.org
The Gondola and the Gondolier / Photo Credit: Dimpsy via Facebook
This is the Gondola boat at the San Luca, Grand Canal in Venetian Macao. Famous in Venice as their means of transportation for centuries to count. This Gondola served as ferries in transporting tourists to the Grand Canal with a fixed rate. The man in black and white striped shirt with red scarf is called the Gondolier. He will be serenading the guests as it sails through romantically at the San Luca Canals of Shoppes. Most of the songs he/she serenades are Italian songs and these are O Sole Mio, Santa Lucia, That’s Amore, Volare, Funiculi Funicula, and Arrivederci Venezia. It's a must thing to do when you are in Venetian Macao. As I've said we opted not to ride on this authentic Gondola because of a time constraint. If you're going to take a tour at The Venetian Macao here are the pieces of information that you needed.
◄ TICKET PRICE ►
→ Adults (per ride) - Mop128
→ Kids (per ride) - Mop98
→ Private Gondola (per ride) - Mop512
◄ TICKET OUTLET ►
Note : Please do check for the confirmation of the opening times before purchasing the ticket/s.
→ Tickets are available at Boutique di Gondola shop no. 832 and at Emporio di Gondola shop no. 891 in The Venetian Macao.
◄ OPERATING HOURS ►
Grand Canal → 11:00am-10:00pm
Marco Polo → 11:00am-10:00pm
San Luca → 11:00am-7:00pm
Gondola Ride / Video Credit: MrKesavaraj via Youtube
Here is a video of the Gondola ride by MrKesavaraj. This video will show you a complete tour of the Grand Canal but as well as the whole San Luca and street shoppes of the Venetian Macao. You will also see and hear the Gondolier chit chatting and serenading MrKesavaraj and company. It's a 15-minute ride which is fair enough for the ticket price and the fantastic experience that you can get. MrKesavaraj got a great Gondolier that entertained them well aside from having a great voice. With this alone, Venetian Macao is really a must visit place when in Macau.
► THE CANAL STREET SHOPPES
Canal Street Shoppes / Photo Credit: Dimpsy via Facebook
A maze of a street of luxurious Duty-Free shoppes is mounted along the Grand Canal for guests to chill and standby while watching the Gondolas passing by. Not limited to high end branded shoppes and boutiques, restaurant, lounges, department store, cafe, health medicine, food court, banks and other services are within your reach. For skyrocketed priced items, I am all set by doing a window shopping alone. But if you are born with a silver or golden spoon in your mouth, might as well go shop 'til you drop by all means. For your perusal, to the shoppes and boutiques, you can visit the official website of The Venetian Macao.
A JOURNEY TO VENICE ITALY ENDED HERE
Though we never really reached the end of the street shoppes in Venetian Macao I would like to end this blog at the canal shoppes since this is where we literally left off during our journey to Venice Italy at The Venetian Macao. I can suggest sparing a whole day for the Venetian Macao trip for you to enjoy and explore the entirety of not just the San Luca, Grand Canal and the shoppes but the hotel as a whole. Aside from the Venetian, you can explore the Parisian Macao that opened just almost two years ago. It's owned by Las Vegas Sands same owner of the Venetian Macao and it has a theme of Paris, France bearing the famous landmark of Paris which is the Eiffel Tower. Saddened that it was still under construction during our trip but there's a lot of reasons for me to go back to Macau and there's also a reason for you to go to Macau.
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I hope you enjoy reading my The Venetian Macao: A Journey to Venice Italy blog. If you want more you can click on the blog links below for other Macau related blogs. Thank you so much for reading my blog and stay tuned for my next travel blog.
A Side Trip: Getting Around in Macau
A Side Trip: Crossing the Border to Macau
For my other travel blogs, you may click it here.
