The 13 Hotel Macau, a Financial Disaster That Cost $1.4 Billion, Sells for $50.1 Million

Posted on: June 23, 2025, 02:34h. 

Last updated on: June 23, 2025, 03:05h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • The 13 Hotel in Macau has reportedly been sold
  • The hotel was originally to be a VIP-focused casino hotel
  • The project cost most of Stephen Hung’s fortune

The 13 Hotel in Macau has a new owner, though the buyer hasn’t yet been publicly revealed.

The 13 Hotel Macau casino China
The 13 Hotel in Macau, the red structure south of the Cotai Strip, reportedly has a new owner. The buyer’s identity hasn’t yet been revealed. (Image: Shutterstock)

According to multiple media reports, including from TDM News, the public broadcaster in Macau, The 13’s latest auction round, which began on May 19, resulted in a sale of the bankrupt and barely operating 199-room hotel. Global real estate broker Jones Lang LaSalle executed the contract, which remains subject to government approvals.

TDM reports that the ultra-luxury hotel sold for just HK$400 million (US$50.1 million). That’s a deep discount from the HK$2.4 billion (US$307 million) listing price The 13 was put on the market back in March 2024.

The 13 reopened in a limited capacity last July, though many resort amenities, including its two restaurants, remained shuttered. The hotel’s website doesn’t allow for online reservations, with guests instead needing to call the property to book a room.

Financial Catastrophe

After Macau was returned to Chinese control from Portugal in 1999, the Special Administrative Region (SAR) underwent great change and an economic boom. Led by Las Vegas Sands, which developed the Cotai Strip into a luxury resort destination and gambling mecca, annual gaming revenue soared from $1.9 billion in 1999 to a single-year high of $45 billion in 2013.

Three years before the record year, Stephen Hung, who inherited much of his wealth but also enjoyed a successful business career in banking and oil and coal, floated the idea for an ultra-luxury, ultra-VIP-focused boutique casino hotel about a mile south of the Cotai Strip. The flamboyant Hong Kong businessman, who was estimated to be worth $1 billion at the time, said he would build the most extravagant hotel in the world.

Hung, who recently starred on Netflix’s “Bling Empire,” named the project The 13 in a homage to Louis XIII’s opulent tastes. Hung’s South Shore Holdings led the development and initially had no problem attracting investors and financiers for the undertaking.

Hung shelled out $20 million for 30 custom Rolls-Royce Phantoms that were to transport The 13’s high-end clientele around town. It was the largest single order in the automobile company’s history.

As the hotel took delivery of the Rolls-Royces, everything changed with an order from Beijing. 

Hung Out to Dry

As Macau casinos pulled in record gaming revenue in 2013, China’s President Xi Jinping decided that the significant outflow of money from the mainland through the SAR, which is a tax haven, presented national security risks. Xi instructed the Macau SAR Government to scrutinize junket groups and VIP travel agencies that were chiefly responsible for keeping the Cotai Strip’s private high-roller rooms busy.

The crackdown led to the arrest and successful prosecution of Alvin Chau, the former Suncity boss, who was convicted of orchestrating gambling crimes and promoting gambling. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison last fall.

Suncity’s competitors quickly fled Macau to more welcoming markets throughout Asia. Gross gaming revenue tumbled to $36 billion in 2019 and to $22.7 billion in 2023. The market recovered to $28.3 billion last year.

As fewer high rollers arrived in Macau, investors fled The 13. Hung liquidated much of his wealth to complete construction, but his South Shore Holdings went bankrupt before it ever opened. The Phantoms were sold at $125,300 a piece, or about $541K below what Hung paid for them.

Hung lost most of his money through The 13, with recent reports suggesting he’s personally bankrupt. 

Hotel Future

What the buyer of The 13 has in store for the property isn’t known. The Macau SAR Government maintains its five-star classification, though recent guests have given unsatisfactory reviews.

The building looks nice, but the place feels closed down,” said one Google review.

“Was waiting for my Rolls-Royce pickup from the ferry terminal but got picked up in a Toyota,” said another.