Macau Casino Firm Expanding Into Hengqin With Boutique Hotel

Posted on: July 28, 2025, 12:13h. 

Last updated on: July 28, 2025, 01:11h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • SJM Resorts is moving forward with a hotel in Hengqin
  • Hengqin neighbors Cotai via the Lotus Bridge
  • Casino gambling is limited to within Macau’s borders

One of the six gaming companies licensed to operate casinos in Macau is investing in neighboring Hengqin, which is located across the Lotus Bridge from the Cotai Strip where multibillion-dollar integrated resort casinos cater to China’s elite.

SJM Resorts Macau China casino
A rendering of SJM Resorts’ forthcoming hotel in Hengqin, with the Cotai Strip in Macau in the background. SJM is buying 12 floors of an office building, with the plan being to renovate the levels into a three-star hotel. (Image: SJM Resorts)

SJM Resorts is the longest-tenured casino concessionaire in the Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR). The company was founded by Stanley Ho, the so-called “King of Gambling,” in 1963, and held a monopoly on gambling in the region for decades until Portugal gave the enclave back to the People’s Republic in 1999.

Last December, SJM revealed its plans to expand its hotel operations into Hengqin.

This week, Hong Kong-based SJM completed its 724 million Chinese yuan renminbi (US$101 million) acquisition of 12 stories of a skyscraper located at 59 Jilin Road. SJM plans to renovate floors 21 to 29 and 31 to 33 into a three-star boutique hotel with no more than 250 guestrooms. 

Cross-Border Cooperation

Remaining vacant land available for development in Macau and on the Cotai Strip is scarce. It’s why the six casino licensees in the world’s richest casino market have long looked to Hengqin for nongaming development (casino gambling is limited within Macau’s borders).

While Macau is a far richer gaming market than Las Vegas (Macau’s 2024 gross gaming revenue totaled $28.3 billion to Las Vegas’ at $13.6 billion), the Chinese city has only 43,200 hotel rooms to Las Vegas’ 150,600.

Las Vegas, of course, caters to not only casino players but also major conventions, family vacations, and sports. Macau continues to be mostly a destination for gamblers, though the town is trying to diversify.

In 2022, in exchange for 10-year extensions of their gaming privileges, the six casino companies in Macau agreed to invest more than $16 billion in nongaming projects, with the goal of attracting more nongamblers to the SAR. VIP junkets fled after China cracked down on their operations, which has led to the casinos focusing more attention on the mass and premium mass markets.

To accommodate what the casinos hope is an increase in the number of overall visitors, more hotel rooms are needed.

This project represents more than an expansion of our hotel portfolio. It reflects our strong alignment with national strategies to deepen integration between Hengqin and Macau, and our firm belief in the long-term growth potential of cross-border tourism and cooperation,” said Daisy Ho, chair of SJM and one of the late Stanley Ho’s 17 children.

“Through this investment, we are taking an active role in shaping the Greater Bay Area’s tourism future, anchored by Macau’s strength as a world center of tourism and leisure,” Ho continued.

Anchor Property

SJM Resorts’ nongaming hotel project in Hengqin is unrelated to its nongaming mandate, as those investment dollars must be made at the company’s casinos on the Macau Peninsula or in Cotai. SJM says the three-star hotel will provide a budget-friendly option for both leisure and business travelers.

Situated at a high-traffic gateway immediately adjacent to the 24-hour operated Hengqin Port and directly served by both the Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway and the Macao Light Rapid Transit Interchange Station, the site is exceptionally well-positioned to capture sustained demand from cross-border travelers. Backed by broader initiatives from the Central Government, including relaxed multiple-entry arrangements for mainland tour groups and residents of the Cooperation Zone, Hengqin-Macau cross-border traffic continues to register sustained growth, underpinned by structural policy tailwinds,” an SJM Resorts release said.

The hotel will be a roughly 10-minute drive from SJM’s Grand Lisboa Palace Resort in Cotai and 30 minutes from the company’s Grand Lisboa Hotel downtown property.