Review: W Macau – Studio City

Following our EVA Air 777 business class flight and a short hop from Taipei, Macau was the first stop for my brother and I on a trip through Asia that also included Malaysia, China, and southern Taiwan.

We primarily chose Macau because of its convenient connection from Taipei and then onwards to Kuala Lumpur, and because neither of us had visited before.

While neither of us are gamblers, which is the main draw for many visitors to Macau, we were intrigued by the region’s rich Portuguese history and unique blend of Chinese and European influences.

We’ve also had excellent experiences at other W Hotels across Asia, so W Macau felt like a natural choice for our stay. The hotel and resort ultimately exceeded our expectations, and we came away thoroughly impressed with everything it had to offer.

Booking & Check-in

For our two-night stay at W Macau, we paid the standard nightly rate, which came to 2,546 MOP, or around CA$218 per night. This is toward the lower end of W Macau’s typical rates, with most nights costing around 1,800 to 2,000 MOP. Given the rate we found, I felt we got particularly good value for what the hotel offered.

We arrived before 10:00 AM and expected our room wouldn’t be ready, but we wanted to drop off our bags, walk up the Cotai Strip, and grab some breakfast while we waited. The front desk agent said the room would likely be ready around 2:00 PM, but when we returned to the hotel around 1:00 PM, it was already ready for us.

For the rest of the check-in formalities, the agent acknowledged our Titanium Elite status and offered us a choice between complimentary breakfast or 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy points as our welcome amenity. As always, we chose the free breakfast.

The lobby and public spaces fit firmly within the typical W design aesthetic, with bold patterns, vibrant lighting, and plenty of visual flair. However, as a newer property, I appreciate how W has dialed back the excessive and oftentimes gimmicky design choices of its earlier hotels. Instead, the design has shifted to a more restrained style while still maintaining the playful and energetic character that defines the brand.

Just past the check-in area was the Living Room that serves coffee and Chinese-Portuguese inspired pastries during the day and transitions into a cocktail bar in the evenings.

W Macau is part of the massive Studio City entertainment and leisure complex and has multiple entrances. These include the underground parking garage, where shuttle buses drop off passengers, the front valet entrance, and a main pedestrian entrance from the Studio City mall.

Location

W Macau – Studio City is located on the famous Cotai Strip, where many of Macau’s largest casino resorts are concentrated. The area features several familiar names that you might recognize from Las Vegas, including The Venetian Macao and The Parisian Macao, and Wynn Macau. However, the Cotai Strip is considerably smaller in scale than the Las Vegas Strip.

Cotai is the main tourist district of Macau, with many hotels, shopping malls, restaurants, and entertainment venues. 

W Macau is one of four hotels within the massive Studio City resort complex. Guests have easy access to the casino, shopping mall, dozens of restaurants, and entertainment venues within Studio City.

Studio City also caters heavily to families, with plenty of attractions for younger children, including a water park, Ferris wheel, movie theater, skate park, and Nickelodeon Town.

One thing to note is that W Macau is not close to the historic center of Macau. Senado Square, Ruins of St. Paul’s, and other major historic sights are across the water on the Macau Peninsula near the Macau–China border.

Getting to and from Macau International Airport is simple, as the major resorts offer complimentary shuttle bus service between the airport and hotels throughout the Cotai Strip. The journey between the airport and Cotai typically takes around 10 minutes.

Parking

On-site self-parking is available at W Macau – Studio City and is complimentary for hotel guests.

Room – Spectacular Twin City View Guest Room

Immediately inside the room was a small foyer area with a side table, perfect for dropping your key when returning to the room. A small closet was also straight ahead and had a few hangers and contained the in-room safe.

The bedroom area was very spacious, with two twin beds, each featuring a bench at the foot, along with a sitting area near the windows on the far side of the room.

The hotel opened in 2023, so the design and technology throughout are both very modern. The contemporary aesthetic carries into the rooms, which draw inspiration from classic Hollywood films and incorporate subtle movie-themed elements into the design.

Between the beds is a connectivity panel which has two universal power outlets, two USB-A charging ports, and control for all of the lighting in the room. I would have preferred for the charging ports to be USB-C at this point, but this is just a minor nitpick.

Across from the beds is a large flatscreen TV built into the paneled wall.

Opposite the bed, along an adjacent wall, was a closet area with plenty of hangers, along with a suitcase rack, a robe, and a couple of pairs of slippers.

Next to the windows was a sitting area with a leather armchair and a small side table. The rooms have full-height windows that offer nice views of the Cotai Strip. Our room overlooked the neighboring Parisian Macau Resort.

The room also featured a well-stocked minibar, with plenty of complimentary bottled water, a Nespresso machine, and included coffee pods. 

A variety of snacks and beverages was available for purchase, with snacks starting at around 28 MOP (CA$4.80), sodas at 58 MOP (CA$10), and beers at 88 MOP (CA$15).

Just as we were settling into our room, a staff member arrived to deliver a welcome amenity consisting of a bottle of red wine and a selection of sweet pastries, including a couple of the famous Pastel de Nata (Macau egg tarts).

The bathroom was stunning, with full-height wraparound windows that flooded the space with natural light and offered great views of the surrounding resorts. The bathroom only had just a single vanity, which I found a bit surprising, but the room also featured a large soaking tub.

I’m not sure why the bathroom doesn’t have a second sink and mirror, as there’s plenty of space for them. It seems like a strange omission, but the upside is that there’s plenty of counter space available.

A large freestanding soaking tub was a prominent fixture of the bathroom, and I felt the orange accents throughout the space added a nice pop of color. They paired especially well with the green stone tile and complemented the design of the bathroom amenities.

The shower and toilet chamber were each behind a pair of frosted glass doors. 

The toilet chamber even had a full-size window, offering a direct view of the Galaxy Macau Resort.

The spacious walk-in shower featured a small bench along the wall, an overhead rainfall shower, and a wall-mounted handheld fixture.

Bath amenities were MOMO by Davines, the standard brand found at all W Hotels.

Overall, we were incredibly pleased with our room at W Macau. The modern design provided plenty of space for the two of us without feeling cramped, and we enjoyed the room’s aesthetics and amenities. Our stay also reinforced my view that while W Hotels in North America can be underwhelming and difficult to justify at their price point, W properties across Asia continue to deliver a consistently solid experience, striking a good balance between quality and cost.

Restaurants & Bars

W Macau – Studio City has a handful of dining options throughout the property. We only had breakfast at Hawker Hawker during our stay, although I did stop by a few of the other venues to take some photos.

It’s also worth remembering that W Macau is part of the larger Studio City complex, which has more than 50 food & beverage establishments ranging from quick bites, bars, cafes, and desserts to Michelin-starred restaurants. Needless to say, W Macau has no shortage of great dining options.

However, the following are the only dining venues affiliated with W Macau:

• Living Room: Lobby bar serving coffee and pastries in the afternoon, followed by drinks, cocktails, and light bites in the evening.
• Hawker Hawker: All-day restaurant serving international and local cuisine.
• DIVA: Signature restaurant providing an immersive experience of contemporary Cantonese cuisine in a bold Art Deco setting.
• Blind Tiger: A pub-style lounge on the top floor overlooking the Cotai Strip, serving Macau-inspired cocktails and cuisine.

Hawker Hawker – Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite Complimentary Breakfast

As is often the case at luxury hotels in Asia, breakfast at W Macau is an extravagant affair. The hotel offers an enormous buffet with an impressive variety of options, spanning Chinese, Japanese, Korean, North American, and Macau-inspired dishes.

This is one of the more impressive buffets I’ve come across in Asia, with an incredible variety of options ranging from fresh seafood and lobster laksa to meats, cheeses, fresh fruit, dumplings, pastries, and much more.

There was even an extensive build-your-own soup station, where you could choose from a variety of noodles, proteins, toppings, and broths.

And of course, who doesn’t have room for an ice cream sundae after feasting on an enormous breakfast?

Blind Tiger

We didn’t get a chance to visit any of the other dining outlets, but I did pop into Blind Tiger before they opened to look around.

Blind Tiger has an elevated pub atmosphere, with plenty of comfortable seating that’s befitting of a destination bar on the hotel’s top floor.

Macau may not have quite the same impressive skyline and neon glow as Las Vegas, but once the resorts light up, Blind Tiger is a great spot to take in the views across Cotai and Coloane.

Facilities

Fitness Center

W Macau has a large and modern fitness center available to guests 24/7.

The equipment in the fitness center was the latest from Technogym, with everything you would expect from a comprehensive gym, including cardio machines, free weights, strength machines, and an elaborate multifunction workout station in the center of the space.

Pool

The indoor swimming pool at W Macau is open daily from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. 

There isn’t a ton of seating around the pool, with about half a dozen loungers lining one side of the deck and four daybeds on the other. However, the pool was never particularly busy during our stay, so finding a spot was never an issue.

The pool area also featured a steam room, sauna, hot tub, and cold plunge pools.

AWAY Spa

Normally, we make a point of visiting the spa to use the steam room and sauna, but since these facilities were located in the pool area, we didn’t end up visiting the spa itself.

The on-site spa is open daily from 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM and offers the usual range of treatments you would expect from a luxury hotel spa. You can find more info about the services available on the AWAY Spa website. 

Conclusion

I have absolutely zero complaints about W Macau. The hotel is still very new, so both the property and rooms are clean, modern, and well maintained, with great amenities throughout. The highlight, though, has to be the killer buffet breakfast spread each morning.

I also found the service to be consistently outstanding. Every member of staff we encountered, from the pool attendants and front desk agents to the breakfast staff, was friendly, helpful, and genuinely welcoming.

When you factor that in alongside the fact that we paid just over $200 a night, it made for a thoroughly satisfying experience. Reflecting back on our stay, I felt we received excellent value for what we paid, and would happily stay at W Macau again if I was to return.