Pousada de São Tiago will temporarily close from March 31st and remain closed until the construction of the Barra Transport Complex is completed, SJM Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer Angela Leong On Kei said on Tuesday.
The government’s Barra Transport Complex is planned to include the peninsula’s light rail transit (LRT) link with the LRT section in Taipa and Coloane slated to open in 2019.
The five-star hotel was formerly the Fortress of São Tiago da Barra, built in 1629. The fortress was converted into a hotel in 1981. According to the hotel’s website, it comprises 12 luxury suites.
Leong’s company bought the hotel in 2004. After it was renovated, the hotel was reopened in 2007.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Legislative Assembly’s Chinese New Year media luncheon, Leong, who is also a directly-elected lawmaker, said that the hotel staff had had to arrange alternative accommodation for their guests many times because of the “nuisance” caused by the construction of the Barra Transport Complex, which started in 2015.
However, Leong said that though the business was not “very good” she would not close down the hotel. She added that she would try her best to preserve the hotel since she is the kind of person who “loves culture”.
According to Leong, her company will not dismiss the Pousada de Sao Tiago’s 44 employees, as all are to be transferred to her company’s other hotels.
(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
