​One of the few glitzy hotels in Macau without a casino is making a determined bid to lure Asia-Pacific travellers, including Australians.
Join John Newton as he travels between Hong Kong and Macau
The four-star Ascott Macau impresses from the moment you step inside the property, with its huge ballroom-size lobby featuring spectacular giant silkscreen murals, three elegant Swarovski chandeliers and marble flooring.  
All 110 rooms, including 70 suites – designed with Portuguese influence - are bright, cheerful and classy with polished wooden floors, a kitchenette, a two-in-one washing machine and dryer, microwave and mini-bar, en-suite bathroom, Wi-Fi and  wireless telephone with IDD and voicemail facilities.
In selected rooms, there’s also a mirror-integrated television, bathtub and coffee machine.
Located in Dynasty District in the heart of Macau – an international business hub by the city’s waterfront - the Ascott stands out with its a stylish diamond-shaped exterior, which is claimed to be iconic in design.
The property has a wide range of clubhouse facilities, such as indoor heated and outdoor swimming pools, sauna, fully equipped gymnasium an outdoor patio. And, for business travellers, it has a multi-function room, two meeting rooms and business centre.  
There are also three restaurants and a bar, while hotel provides 24-hour reception, airport transfer service, basement car park and laundry and dry-cleaning services.
The hotel is just a five-minute drive from the Macau ferry terminal, a 10-minute drive from Macau International Airport, a 15-minute walk from Macau Tower and is close to the city’s vibrant modern district.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, a purple haze has emerged at bustling Causeway Bay - but it’s nothing to do with the weather.
It’s about a hotel called Purple – and one step inside you will see why as the bright colour features in every room, from bathrooms to carpets.
The new stylish 83-room Ascott property, which has a women’s only floor with 12 rooms where no males are allowed - including cleaners – targets individual young travellers and females.
The hotel has a 24-hour guest service, but no dining room. Tea and coffee facilities are provided in reception only. There’s a bus stop outside the hotel with transport to and from the airport express train at Hong Kong Station.
A stone’s throw away is another Ascott property – the Somerset Victoria Park - which caters mainly to business and long-stay travellers from Europe, Japan and Taiwan.
Like the Hotel Purple, it’s located in the gourmet food district of Tin Hau, close to the Michelin-starred dim sum restaurant -Tim Ho Wan – famous for its baked BBQ pork buns and authentic dim sums.
Each of the 68 one-bedroom Somerset Victoria Park apartments is fitted with a kitchenette, separate living and dining areas and an en-suite bathroom.
 

The resident manager of both the Purple and Somerset Victoria Park properties is called Purple and is always dressed in this colour.     John Newton
The writer was a guest of Ascott Group, which invited him to Macau via high-speed ferry from Hong Kong.
Images as supplied
 
* For more details on the Ascott properties across the globe, go to www.the-ascott.com