We had an early start this morning to catch our 8 am flight. We didn’t have much time or energy to explore Changi Airport that morning, but check out my 2020 Trip to see more of this amazing airport. Today we were flying Scoot, Singapore’s low cost airline, for the 4 hour hop to Hong Kong. Scoot operates a mostly narrow body fleet, so we were lucky to get one of their new Dreamliners, which has larger windows and better legroom.
We arrived at HKG around noon, then headed to the ferry counter to pick up our tickets to Macau. We had a nice lunch of some congee and radish cake, while waiting for the ferry.
Hong Kong Airport’s SkyPier connects directly to Macau-bound high speed ferries, so we don’t even need to leave the building.
After about an hour, we arrived at Taipa Ferry Terminal in Macau. As we stepped out into the arrivals hall, we noticed a man holding a Four Seasons sign. We thought to ourselves wouldn’t it be nice to have someone greet us. Then it hit me that we were staying at the Four Seasons and that was our chauffeur. All the major hotels on the Cotai Strip offer free shuttle service to and from the ferry terminal, but there is some special about a private car transfer as opposed to a big bus. I got a great deal for this one night stay at the Four Season’s Cotai Central (less than $200). I didn’t have any hotel loyalty at this point, so I was free to explore the field. Four Seasons is as good as it gets, and this stay definitely lived up to the hype. Upon check-in, the front desk noticed that I mentioned it was our ‘anniversary’ (maybe a few weeks early) so they upgraded us to a 'Premier' room and left some goodies for us. When we stepped in the room, we were blown away.
While the room was technically not a suite, it had enough space for it. There was even an extra guest bathroom.
Not married just yet, but really appreciate the gesture.
Our view of the Cotai Strip.
Between the chauffeur, the upgrade, and the free stuff, we were very impressed. While I have since stayed at many other nice hotels, this one will always have a special place in my heart.
After admiring our hotel room, we headed out to the iconic Ruins of St Paul.
Macau has two distinct sides – the Las Vegas-style luxury casino resorts, and its Portuguese colonial heritage. The path leading from the ruins to the main plaza is a nice contrast. European-style buildings with the wonderful smell of Chinese cooking.
For dinner, we had some Roast Duck noodles at a local shop. It was pretty good but not unlike similar dishes we’ve had back in Vancouver.
Afterwards, we hailed a cab off the street to take us back to Cotai. In an age of Uber and Lyft, it’s been a while since we’ve done that. Four Seasons did their turndown service while we were away, prepping the room for the night.
After a quick rest, we were back out to explore the Cotai strip.
This was the newest addition to the strip – the Parisian, complete with an Eiffel Tower replica.
The interior was just as grand and beautiful. We also took a brief stroll around its sister resort, the Venetian. This one is very similar to its Las Vegas counterpart, albeit much larger.
Since I have been to this property in a past trip, and we have seen the Las Vegas version many times, we opted to head back to enjoy our hotel instead.
I also took advantage of the incredible Four Seasons spa. There were no other guests using the facility so I had all the pools, steam, sauna, and lounge rooms to myself.
A perfect way to cap off an amazing day in Macau.