Despite providing some of the world’s cheapest 5-star hotels, Macau ranked third most expensive overall in 2014, according to German travel website GoEuro. Local hospitality industry representatives say that is because supply cannot meet demand, but more hotels are on the horizon.

Macau ranks third most expensive overall in the 2014 Accommodation Price Index compiled by GoEuro.com, a Berlin-based travel search website which has conducted a study of 150 cities and over 60,000 properties to analyse the effect of price on the industry and how this affects travellers.

Macau follows New York and St. Moritz in Switzerland in terms of price and is followed by Miami and Nassau in the Bahamas. Accommodation is the number one expense for both business and leisure travellers, topping the price of transport by 25 per cent and dining by 40 per cent, according to GoEuro.

The president of the Macau Hoteliers and Innkeepers Association, Chan Chi Kit, says: “Currently, there are around 28,000 hotel rooms. Macau has an average of 30 million visitors a year. The hotel occupancy rate is relatively stable at around 85 per cent. There’s still an increasing need for hotel rooms as the number of visitors keeps growing. And the hotel price is unlikely to drop... 14,400 hotel rooms are being built, and another 11,300 are waiting for the authorities’ approval to kick off construction. In the next 10 years, Macau will see at least 25,000 new hotel rooms.”

However, it is worth noting that according to the 2014 Accommodation Price Index although Macau ranks third overall, in the category of 5-star Hotel Price Index the SAR doesn’t even get into the top 20, at US$353 per night.

One new entrant in the 5-star category is The St. Regis Macao, Cotai Central, which is slated to open 1^st August, 2015, offering 400 state-of-the-art guest rooms and suites ‘devoted to the pursuit of service and elegance.’ Butler service will be a major feature of the hotel, with a grand ballroom and several small meeting venues built into the mix.

In addition, Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced in December that the company's majority-owned subsidiary, Sands China Ltd., had received Macau Government approvals needed to complete the construction of its US$2.7 billion Paris-themed integrated resort on Macau’s Cotai Strip.

The completion of The Parisian Macau will bring Las Vegas Sands’ total investment in Macau to more than $10 billion with the vast majority of that investment spent building, among other things, expansive retail malls, convention and exhibition space and thousands of hotel rooms. Las Vegas Sands opened Macau’s first integrated resort - The Venetian Macao - in 2007. The 10.5 million square foot property was the first truly integrated resort to open since The Venetian Las Vegas, which opened in 1999.

“From the moment we put our first shovel in the ground we have been committed to helping Macau secure its future as a centre for leisure, business and entertainment. Our investment has provided tens of thousands of new jobs in areas such as retail, entertainment and hotel operations. We’ve enabled local companies and suppliers to grow their businesses and we've helped the government expand its tax base and diversify its economy. The Parisian Macao is 100 per cent consistent with that vision and we look forward to families taking pictures in front of our Eiffel Tower in the near future,” said Las Vegas Sands and Sands China Ltd. Chairman Sheldon G. Adelson.

The Parisian Macao will feature more than 3,000 hotel rooms and suites, more than 490,000 square feet of retail space, diverse food and beverage offerings, new meeting and convention facilities and a half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower.