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During the Party of 5 challenge, we spent a couple of nights in Macau which is known as Asia’s Las Vegas. For the first of those nights we stayed at the Four Seasons Macau.
Four Seasons Macau Bottom Line Review
With five of us traveling together but each needing our own bed, we booked two rooms with two double beds in each plus a rollaway. Both rooms were booked using the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) program which comes with a range of benefits including free breakfast for two, 4pm late checkout and a room upgrade. My expectations for a room upgrade with FHR bookings is fairly low, but in this case the Four Seasons Macau surprised us with a multi-room category upgrade for both rooms which gave us significantly more space for an even more luxurious stay.
In addition to the fantastic room upgrade, where the Four Seasons really excelled was their breakfast. They had one of the most comprehensive breakfast buffets I’ve ever seen which was worth its price if you don’t have breakfast included in your room rate as breakfast costs less than $50.
The service during the stay itself was lacking – definitely not what we expected from a Four Seasons and certainly not at one in Asia where service is usually above and beyond anything you’d experience in the US or Europe.
If I was to return to Macau in the future I’d much prefer to stay at the Grand Hyatt Macau which is where we stayed the second night. That’s because the service was strikingly better, I personally preferred the decor of our suite at the Grand Hyatt to that at the Four Seasons (although the Four Seasons had more of a luxurious feel), there’s a club lounge we had access to thanks to having Hyatt Globalist status and you can book straight into suites with points or by using Suite Upgrade Awards.
Having said that, if you’re planning a trip to Macau and have FHR credits to burn from personal Amex Platinum cards, staying at the Four Seasons Macau is still a decent option that you’ll likely have a great experience at.
- Points Price: Four Seasons is a somewhat unusual hotel chain in that they don’t have a loyalty program that awards points on stays. You can therefore only book their hotels with cash, or by using points to offset cash costs (e.g. Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One miles, etc.). Using transferable points in that way doesn’t always give great redemption value though.
- Cash Price: We made both reservations using Amex FHR. We booked two ‘Deluxe Rooms, 2 Double Beds’ – one for two people and one for three people with a rollaway bed. The room with two people in it cost $296.34, so after the $200 Amex Platinum FHR credit the net cost for that room was $96.34.
The second room cost $367.58 due to the third person in the room. That meant the net cost after the second $200 FHR credit was $167.58.
Something to note here – Amex Platinum cards only get one $200 hotel credit per year that can be used for 1+ nights at FHR properties or stays of 2+ nights at The Hotel Collection properties. We paid for one room with one of Greg’s Platinum cards and the other room with my Platinum card. - Points Value: N/A
- Resort or Destination Fee: None.
- FHR Benefits: Bookings at the Four Seasons Macau via Amex FHR come with a number of benefits:
- Room upgrade – This is meant to be a one category room upgrade, but we got a significantly better upgrade than that as both our rooms were upgraded to Executive Suites which retail for ~$1,000.
- Free breakfast – Free breakfast for two people is included with each room. And what a free breakfast it was – lobster claw, endless hot options, all kinds of cream cheeses (including bacon and almond butter), fruits galore. In fact, the breakfast buffet is so expansive that we received a five minute guided tour of it when arriving for breakfast.
With three people in one room, we had to pay for breakfast for one person. That wasn’t an issue though thanks to the… - $100 food & beverage credit – We used this credit to pay for the additional person’s breakfast. That left us with more than $150 of credits to use across the two rooms, so both rooms ordered room service for lunch. FWIW, breakfast for one person cost $47.50.
- 12pm check-in when available – This wasn’t needed as we didn’t arrive until late that night.
- 4pm late checkout guaranteed – This is a benefit that we took advantage of.
- Complimentary Wi-Fi – I think this was free for all guests regardless, but it’s always good to know that you won’t get an unexpected charge for Wi-Fi sprung on you.
- Parking: We didn’t rent a car, but it looks like parking is free.
- Shuttle: The hotel offers a complimentary shuttle van to/from the Macau Taipa Ferry Terminal from 11:30am-7pm on a first come, first served basis.
- Room: Our Executive Suite had a separate bedroom and living room and was 968sq ft in all. There was a half-bath when entering the suite, with a spacious bathroom off the bedroom. Between the bedroom and bathroom there was a dressing area of sorts and closet.
The suite had a luxurious feel without feeling old and run down, nor was it ostentatious. The living room felt particularly spacious. In the suite with three people, the living room had a rollaway bed, sofa, armchair, coffee table, dining table with four chairs, a desk and three cabinets, but it still had plenty of floor space. - Housekeeping: We only stayed one night and so didn’t have any need for housekeeping. The room was very clean when we arrived though.
- Turndown service: We didn’t arrive until about 11:30pm, so this wasn’t necessary.
- Internet: This was included as part of our FHR booking, but I think it was an open network with no need to log in regardless.
- Dining: The Four Seasons Macau has numerous dining options:
- Zi Yat Heen – Cantonese & dim sum
- Belcanção – International buffet with an Asian focus (this is also where breakfast is served)
- Splash – Salads, burgers & pizza
- Xiao Ting – Chinese & western
- Ohte Ramen – Japanese ramen
- In-room dining – All kinds of food options
- Spa: Yes, there’s an Aveda spa.
- Fitness Room: Yes. This was a very good size and there was an entirely separate, very large yoga room too.
- Pool: Yes, there were several outdoor swimming pools including a shallow pool for toddlers.
- Other Amenities: The hotel has a casino and is attached to a shopping center.
- Welcome Amenities: There were two large bowls of fruit along with a tray of three Portuguese egg tarts in each suite.
- Service: This was sadly lacking. The front desk agents who checked us in and out were nice enough. It was at breakfast where there was a distinct lack of service. Although it was a buffet, it was a struggle getting any kind of drinks and our plates piled up on the table without anyone coming to clear them. If this was a Holiday Inn just off the interstate in the US then that could be expected, but at a Four Seasons in Asia it was surprising.
- Location: The hotel is on the Cotai Strip near The Venetian and is a relatively short walk to stores and other hotels.
- Elite Benefits: N/A, although we did receive a host of benefits due to this being an FHR booking (see that section further up).
- Would I stay again? Potentially. If we had a couple of Amex FHR credits to burn with no other plans for using them, I’d be open to staying at the Four Seasons Macau again. However, we all loved the Grand Hyatt much more.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Breakfast – Hands down, this was the highlight of the stay. The breakfast at the Four Seasons Macau is spectacular.
- Upgrade – The upgrade to a very spacious Executive Suite was unexpected. Being upgraded to an Executive Suite for both rooms we booked was even more unexpected.
- Location – If you’re in Macau for the casinos and other action on and around the Cotai Strip, the Four Seasons is in a great location for those activities.
Cons
- Service – Particularly the service at breakfast – this was seriously lacking.
Image Gallery
Executive Suite
Breakfast
These photos don’t do justice to how massive the breakfast buffet was. Thankfully we have these videos to give you a taste:
Other Dining
Hotel Amenities
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While this is a fine review, I’m left with two questions:
Who got stuck on the rollaway?
Who got the extra egg tart?
😉
Carrie was on the rollaway on this one – she was the only one who could fit comfortably on there!
In our room we got one egg tart each as there were three of us. Not sure how Greg and Nick divvied up their third egg tart!
I have never stayed at this hotel but I tried their breakfast once. The food, selection, and service were all spectacular. Probably the best service I ever had at a breakfast. Sorry to hear that the service has gone down hill.
Hopefully we just got unlucky with our experience rather than it being a widespread issue there nowadays.