The second phase of the “Crystal Palace” gaming area on the site of Macau’s Hotel Lisboa (pictured) should launch in July or August, concurrent with the rollout of more than 400 refurbished hotel rooms at the property.
So said Daisy Ho Chiu Fung, chairman of Macau casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd, in a response to questions from GGRAsia at a company event on Tuesday. She added the timing was subject to relevant approvals from Macau’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
By 2027, Hotel Lisboa and its sister casino hotel Grand Lisboa next door in downtown Macau will have a “brand-new” look as a unitary “large-scale” integrated resort, Ms Ho stated in her Tuesday comments to GGRAsia. The two properties are already linked by air-conditioned corridor above street level, though physically divided by a main road.
Grand Lisboa is currently also undergoing a hotel-room revamp, and fresh non-gaming elements are being added, per previous company commentary.
The older Hotel Lisboa is having its lobby refurbished as well as its rooms. The first phase of the revamped Crystal Palace gaming area – which is distinct from the main casino floor within Hotel Lisboa – started operations in late November, per GGRAsia’s checks at the time.
Hotel Lisboa is under SJM Holdings’ privately-held parent, Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau SA (STDM), while the gaming space in the building is under SJM Holdings.
At Hotel Lisboa, “more than 400 refurbished hotel rooms will be gradually rolled out on schedule during summer, along with Noite e Dia,” stated Ms Ho, referring latterly to the updating of a long-standing onsite restaurant.
Ms Daisy Ho (pictured above left) was speaking on the sidelines of an event ahead of the 2026 Macao International Dragon Boat Races, for which SJM Holdings is a sponsor.
Bigger Hotel Lisboa rooms
Ms Ho referred to a trend among Macau gaming operators to create bigger hotel rooms from existing hotel stock, which some operators say supports sales for the gaming department. She stated: “The prevailing market environment is that everyone is making bigger rooms.”
She added that as a result at Hotel Lisboa, “our parent, STDM, has followed that market trend and has merged two rooms into one,” in some cases, making the remainder “bigger”.
She also noted: “The refurbished rooms [at Hotel Lisboa] include standard room types and suites.”
While the Hotel Lisboa room rejig will mean fewer rooms than pre-refurbishment, the next-door Grand Lisboa will see a “circa 10 percent” increase in its room count post its rolling revamp.
Ms Ho stated: “Some spaces [at Grand Lisboa] that used to serve VIP [gaming] are being converted into hotel rooms, so that will result in an addition [of] circa 10 percent” in room capacity.
She added: “These additional rooms – among them villas – are answering to the current market demand for premium services.”
The SJM Holdings boss further noted: “Before May 1 [Labour Day holiday season], we already had some 20 to 30 [revamped] rooms at Grand Lisboa launched.”
The Grand Lisboa rejig includes new third-floor food and drink offerings; and moving hotel check-in counters from the ground floor to the seventh floor. There will also be new retail elements on the ground floor, according to Ms Ho’s Tuesday remarks.
The footbridge between Grand Lisboa and Hotel Lisboa will also be revamped, she mentioned. “By completion [of Grand Lisboa work]… in 2027, both Grand Lisboa and Hotel Lisboa will have a brand-new look. They will no longer give people the impression that they are two separate properties, but a large-scale integrated resort,” she added.
2Q market share
GGRAsia asked Ms Ho if her company was confident the refreshment of the group’s two main downtown properties could help it recapture any gaming-market share loss resulting from the ending of satellite gaming in Macau, most of the venues having used the SJM Holdings licence.
Ms Ho responded: “I think we are absolutely confident about it.”
“Now we are in the fifth month without any satellite venues. Looking at the second quarter – entering May-end, so to speak – our [gaming] market share… has increased when compared to the first quarter,” said Ms Ho. She declined to offer an exact figure for market share, due to the “sensitivity” of the data.
The SJM Holdings chairman nonetheless asserted: “We are achieving some progress, even before our new food and beverage and hotel components are [fully] coming online.”
Ms Ho noted that the group’s other downtown properties – Casino Oceanus, and the casino-hotel Casino L’Arc – while not being revamped – had seen “increased” gaming table allocation during the first four months of this year. Grand Lisboa – the SJM Holdings flagship on the peninsula – had also been “performing stably” during the period.
Notwithstanding SJM’s gaming operation without any satellites, “the [company’s] market share has been climbing. That’s why we are confident: we are now just going through a period of adjustment,” said Ms Ho.
GGRAsia asked Ms Ho if any investors in former satellite casinos had been cooperating with her company over the acquisition of their legacy players.
She remarked: “It is not exactly that we are signing any cooperation deal [with former satellite owners]…we have been partners with them for so many years: we still communicate with each other on occasions about their [former] patrons, their preferences and how they should be serviced.”
The SJM Holdings boss asserted that her company had a “well-done transition” following the shutting of the satellite casinos last year as mandated by the city’s new regulatory system. As a result, SJM Holdings had acquired some of the former satellite patrons. “That’s why I’d say our market share loss was smaller than expected,” Ms Ho remarked.
