Our Arrival in Macau and The Venetian Macau

Miles, Warren’s awesome Casino host was there waiting for us with a sign and a great big smile. It was awesome! He helped us with our bags and off to the Venetian Macau we went. Since we arrived in the Macau Ferry Terminal – on the main island of Macau we had to drive to the Cotai Strip where the Venetian is located.

On route we could see the MGM Macau and the Wynn, also the Sands and the Grand Lisboa. And of course the Macau Tower. We then crossed one of the really long causeway/bridges to the Cotai Strip.

The Cotai Strip is actually a newer area of Macau. It is on the Peninsula and is connected to mainland China. In fact from our room we could see China. Yes “we could see China from our room” tee hee.

As we approached the Venetian you could see the similarities to the Venetian in Las Vegas in the archetecture, but the shape of the hotel is different, also there are natural bodies of water and mountains around. Not to mention that there was only one other property open across the street from it. You could see the start of a "Las Vegas style" strip forming, but it is years off yet.

The Venetian Macau was completed in 2007 and is the same but different from the Venetian in Las Vegas. The same in that it “felt” like the Venetian, but didn’t always look like it. The rooms were the same and the Grand Canal Shoppes feel like the Venetian, but they were laid out differently and have many more shops.
Warren was excited to play as things are done differently here. And he loves playing baccarat with people from Asia... Well we certainly are in the right place!

We found that everyone was very friendly and the service is superb at the Venetian Macau. The other visitors, players and tourists found us interesting and were curious as to where we were from.

We went for a walk around the casino and Grand Canal Shoppes. I have never seen a property as big as the Venetian Macau. The casino is beautiful and well laid out. They did a good job of "making it hard to leave". I think the casino is about 4 times the size of a regular one.

Also the games are mixed differently than you would find in Las Vegas or other North American casinos. Most of the games are luck based, which coincides with Chinese culture. 70% of the tables are Baccaratt where as in North America only about 10% of table are. Also they love other luck based games like Sicbo, Carribbean Stud Poker and Roulette. In fact it was hard to find a blackjack table, there are only a few.

Unfortunately it is forbidden to take photos inside the casino so most of our pictures will be of the hotel and the Grand Canal Shoppes.

There are canals for gondola rides - 3 separate ones - and over 300 stores. It is the largest complex in Macau.

Check out more photos from Macau:

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