While a few landmark properties are expected to open this year, according to official figures released recently thousands of new hotel rooms are in the pipeline.

By the end of 2014 there were 25 hotels under construction, with 28 other hotel project proposals being evaluated in the city, Macau's Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) announced in the beginning of March. Among the 25 hotels already under construction, 11 are on the Macau Peninsula and will provide around 1,300 rooms, nine are being built in Cotai and will have around 13,900 rooms, while three in Taipa will have around 1,000 rooms and one in Coloane will have 200 rooms. In addition, according to preliminary DSSOPT figures, a total of 53 projects are expected to add another estimated 25,900 rooms to the city.

As for this year's new projects, while the 4-star Harbourview Hotel in Macau's Fisherman's Wharf opened just in time for Chinese New Year, and attention turns to the opening of 5-star properties The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott in Galaxy Entertainment Group's Phase II on 27^th May plus Studio City later in the year, other hotel projects, still under construction, are starting to catch the public's attention.

One of these projects is the St. Regis Macao Cotai Central, which recently had its 'topping out' ceremony, having reached its highest structural point, and is firmly on track to welcome its first guests in the third quarter of 2015. Once open, it will become the fourth and final hotel in the Sands Cotai Central integrated resort complex, joining the existing Conrad, Holiday Inn and Sheraton properties.

St. Regis Macao Cotai Central will be a 5-star, 38-storey, 400-room luxury hotel. Together with its sister properties - plus The Venetian Macao and The Plaza Macao, which includes a Four Seasons hotel - the Sands Cotai Strip area will offer a total of 9,000 rooms and suites in addition to extensive retail, F&B, leisure, MICE and gaming facilities.

Macau's Yoho Group has brought the Hollywood Roosevelt to Asia, a US$350 million hotel currently being constructed on a 23,255 sq. m. site next to the Macau Jockey Club in Taipa. Themed around 1950s Hollywood glamour, the property is patterned after its Los Angeles parent, which has been a famous celebrity haunt since its opening in 1927.

GCP Hospitality, the hospitality division of Hong Kong-headquartered private venture redevelopers Gaw Capital Partners and which manages several luxury and business properties across Asia Pacific and Hollywood Roosevelt in Los Angeles, will handle daily operations for the hotel, which is slated to open by the end of 2015.

Hollywood Roosevelt Macau will have five meeting rooms occupying 1,200 sq. m. “The design focuses on being modern and functional, with a unique and artsy edge," says Marc Bichet, vice president of marketing and branding at GCP Hospitality.

Bichet says that the hotel will cater to small and medium-sized functions for companies looking for creative events that are “out of the ordinary" and says that “the MICE business will be a key asset for hotel operations, targeting mainly corporate clients from China and South East Asia."

The property - purposely positioned as an alternative option to Macau's typical 3,000-room casino hotels - will feature 373 suites and rooms, all with balconies. Eighteen of the suites will be duplexes with Jacuzzis on the top floor. A pool, screening room, rooftop bar, several restaurants and a members-only club are also part of the blueprint.