The troubled 13 hotel in Seac Pai Van, Coloane, has been granted a new one-year license that permits it to operate until 31 December.
However, the property has still not resumed full services, with the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) telling casino specialist publication Inside Asian Gaming (IAG) that the hotel’s two restaurants have not opened their doors due to maintenance issues.
As of writing, the 13 hotel’s official online booking platform indicated there were no rooms vacant for reservation. Bookings via the third party website Agoda and the hotel’s reservation number (+86 20 8600 9099) were also unsuccessful, with a voice recording announcing that the line was no longer in service.
The US$1.6 billion hotel – featuring 22 floors and 196 rooms – has been plagued by numerous financial issues. In March 2024, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Macau put the property up for auction for just US$307 million, but was unable to sell it.
Last July, the hotel announced that it would resume limited operations after obtaining a licence from the government.
[See more: SJM Holdings is developing a new three-star hotel in Hengqin]
The brainchild of flamboyant Hong Kong businessman Stephen Hung, the 13 hotel was marred by numerous delays prior to its opening in 2018. It then struggled due to its suburban location and lack of gambling facilities.
Hung had intended for the property to double as a casino with 66 VIP gaming tables, but ultimately failed to strike a deal with any of the six Macao gaming operators to have a satellite casino established on the premises.
The hotel’s ostentatious design, which one commentator noted was “out of touch,” didn’t help it to earn a following either.
Faced with the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, the hotel terminated its operations in February 2020. Meanwhile, 13 Hotel’s parent company, South Shore, declared bankruptcy and was delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2023.
South Shore’s chairman, Peter Coker Jr, faced a similarly dismal fate, with reports announcing his arrest in Thailand last year on charges of fraud. He pleaded guilty at a US court in December and is due to be sentenced in April.
