It is a longish wait at the baggage belt at Macau ferry terminal. After collecting our luggage we move towards the arrival hall, scanning the area for someone with a placard. We had booked to stay at the Mandarin Oriental Macau for our special vacation! A smart young man with the placard introduces himself politely as Mandarin Oriental Macau’s Reception staff and says the vehicle is ready to ferry us to the hotel. We decide to change some currency at the post office situated in the terminal building and get in to the huge and comfortable van.
A short drive and we are already at the hotel. There is a beautiful lady waiting for us just outside the main entrance. At least 5 or 6 people know who we are and they all greet us and shake our hands one by one. Probably the young man with placard had a role. 😉
We are guided straight away to our rooms. The Senior Manager informs us that the check in process will take place in the room itself. No waiting at the reception. Wow! That’s what I call service. She leads us to our room on the 10th floor after swiping the key card in the lift.
The view from our room is incredible. One of the wall itself is made of glass and our room overlooks the bridge that connects mainland Macau to Taipa island. Also in view is a grand-stand view of the Macau tower. At a distance we see the second bridge too. The room itself is huge. She shows us the facilities in the room. The bathtub is overlooking the sea and there is a separate shower and WC. I guess this is one of the most plush rooms we have ever stayed either together or in our separate travels.
Once back, I notice Nisha’s name flashing on the TV screen. “Welcome Nisha” and a box of chocolates and some fruits. I guess our informing them about the special occasion may have had something to do about this treatment. 😉 But we have seen this kind of welcome in many hotels. Talking to the hostess, we found that there were plusher suites, in case we were interested and had deep pockets.
After a tour of Macau we return late evening and hit the 3rd floor bar for a nightcap. 🙂 The bar has a sleek design and very comfortable and overlooks the Nam Van Lake. The Vida Rica Bar has on offer some not-to-be-missed exotic cocktails with even more exotic names such as The Millionaires Mojito, Litchi Martini, Good & Lucky.
The Forbes Award winning Spa, of course, takes the cake and you can read more about it here.
The fitness centre and swimming pool are in an adjoining section of the hotel building and is shared with a prestigious serviced apartment complex. The gym is well equipped with state of the art gym stuff. I used it on two days and it felt good. There are fruits on the tray to re-energize after a workout. 🙂 The pool is fine but I thought it was a tad small to serve the number of guests and residents! However when I used it, I had the pool to myself.
Next morning we take part in an extensive fare for breakfast served in the Vida Rica Restaurant fare. Though it has separate section for Chinese cuisine, we stick to western one. It has more variety than you can ever eat.
It is our day today. We decide to explore the city again starting with witnessing the Lion Dance at Tau Tei festival. The last in our itinerary was dinner at Sky21. On our return to hotel at late night, there is a surprise! We find a bottle of fine champagne, strawberries and chocolate fondue in our room with best wishes from the Hotel! We polish it off in no time thanking the hotel for their thoughtfulness. 🙂 Another high point of our stay here.
The restaurant transforms into a gourmet place in the evening. Dominique Bugnand, the director of culinary operations, who has been MO Macau for 3 years and with MO group for over a decade , says “Mandarin Oriental Macau is renowned for its culinary expertise and I am committed to putting a new shine by introducing my own French fine cuisine and will continue building Vida Rica’s reputation as one of the best dining destinations in Macau” as he explains some of his signature dishes like poached Canadian lobster with lobster jelly, Pan seared scallops with pumpkin puree among others.
All in all we enjoyed our short stay and would love to stay at their property worldwide again.
Rating:- We give 10/10 to it.
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