Artist Fanny Le Vasseur
Macau has seen two new luxury hotels open since the gal last visited this bustling enclave, a Special Autonomous Region SAR of China. The 256-room Ritz-Carlton Macau is a mostly blue and white jewel, as the photo above shows. The hotel is, by the way, part of the mammoth Galaxy complex, and its lovely Ritz-Carlton Café, a modern take on a French brasserie, opens directly to the Galaxy shopping mall.
As people wander past they are enticed into the Ritz-Carlton Café, partly by Quebecoise caricaturist Fanny Le Vasseur who offers to draw a likeness. Yes, we want as much entertainment as possible in this hotel, says hotel GM Juan Samso, a Catalan from Barcelona. This is a hotel with entertainment, and with lots of edgy flair.
Juan Samso and the New Year tree
Over the last week, lots of reds and oranges have been introduced into the overall blue and white colour scheme, in honour of Chinese New Year. As in most establishments, a tree festooned with red good luck charms stands in the main lobby. This is a time for shopping, so the mall retailers will in the main be happy – the exceptions are those who sell shoes as apparently it is really bad luck to buy your Louboutins or Manolos during New Year (similarly, if your tresses need cutting, you should have rushed to Toni & Guy by last Saturday, before the festivities began in earnest).
The bar counter, and backdrop
I am taken on a hotel tour – I adore the rich blues, blacks and whites of the museum-like Lai Heen Chinese restaurant. One of the must-have private dining rooms has a round table with electronic Lazy Susan rotating centre that seats, wait for it, 24. This is Macau‘s highest Chinese restaurant, on the 51st floor. I also loved the 53rd-floor Club Lounge, with permanent centrally-placed white marble cooking station, and a chef day and evening long to cook whatever someone wants. And I was impressed by the bar, where the strategic pattern behind the counter is provided by the massive architectural fretwork outside.
The gin trolley
Juan Samso showed off the bar’s gin trolley, with Hendrick’s and Monkey47 and a dozen other trendy brands. And then, after looking at some of this luxury hotel‘s bedrooms, offering champagne hues and some round bathtubs, we went back down to the brasserie. This pale jade-coloured tiled space really does evoke hints of Paris, and having a caricaturist in a Breton beret just added to the sense of entertainment.
