Shanghai's loss: The first Playboy Club opens in Macau
Clip on the Playboy Club Macau opening and a preview of the new group of Macau bunnies.
Hugh Hefner can take a hint. First Shanghai bans his magazine, then rejects his club permit application. The city, often called the Whore of the Orient (that would be a historical reference), finally hit its limit, and it came in the form of bunnies.
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The Wall Street Journal reports that although Shanghai was Hefner’s first choice of locale for the first Playboy Club in China -- he applied to open a seven-story club in Shanghai in 2004 and was rejected -- Hefner’s happily cashing in on his second choice location: Macau’s Sands Macau Hotel, one of the first Las Vegas-style casino hotel in Macau when it started business in 2004.
The Playboy Club in Macau will be the second in the world.
The 1,115-square-meter club Playboy Club, according to Asia News, is “designed to be the last word in luxury,” set in the penthouse with private gaming areas, lux lounges, high-tech media rooms and, of course, live entertainment, with a freshly imported cast of bunnies, all catering to Asia’s high rollers from mainland and Hong Kong.
Betting on its own success, a 2,787-square-meter Playboy mansion is also planned in the same area for 2012.
- Also on CNNGo: "Macau Playboy bunnies will be hot and intelligent (but mainly hot)"
Although Shanghai might have been the financial center Hefner initially wanted to tap, Macau is where the money is, overtaking Las Vegas as the gambling capital of the world. More money is bet on tables in Macau than anywhere else.
While it isn't lacking tables, Macau has yet to develop the glossy party scene seen that Las Vegas boasts, but Hefner’s investment and his bunnies are hoping to change that.
