RESORTS WORLD SENTOSA TO OPEN ON JAN 20

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, Jan 6 (Bernama) -- Singapore's first integrated resort, Resorts
World Sentosa, will start its phased opening ahead of schedule on Jan 20, the
company announced Tuesday.

The resort on Sentosa Island will open its doors to the public, with the
opening of its four hotels, namely, Festive Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel Singapore,
Crockfords Tower and Hotel Michael.

Together the hotels will offer 1,350 rooms and 10 restaurants.

The resort began operations at two of its four hotels Tuesday, celebrating
with a lion dance and ribbon-cutting by Lim Goh Tong, the wife of Genting
Group's late founder, and Cecilia Lim, the wife of Genting Group and Resorts
World Sentosa Chairman Lim Kok Thay. Genting Group is Malaysia's leading
multinational corporation.

Employees and their families were the resort's main guests before the
hotels' public opening.

Resorts World Sentosa said it was working closely with the Singapore
authorities to get approval for Universal Studios Singapore which would open
next.

It said the opening date for Resorts World Sentosa's casino would be
announced when it received notice of its casino licence.

The US$4.4 billion resort, when it is fully operational, is expected to be
run by about 10,000 staff.

The resort was built in a record time of less than three years.

Its rival, a US company-owned Marina Bay Sands Singapore, another integrated
resort with a casino at Singapore's Marina Bay waterfront, will be opened only
in early April after months of delay.
-- BERNAMA


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