The Beat Stays: Grand Lisboa Palace, Decadent Chinoiserie-style Luxury

Situated amidst Macau's standout new resort development, a harmonious blend of Neoclassical and Chinese design motifs, The Beat Asia had the privilege of a one-night stay at the Grand Lisboa Palace Macau to experience the finest amalgamation of East and West, echoing Macau's history. 

Venue & Neighbourhood

The Grand Lisboa Palace Macau lives in Cotai, arguably the heart of luxury experiences and culinary exploration in East Asia. It roars life through the veins of the area, only 16 years young, but with the sky being the limit for indulgence in the area.

The SJM milestone integrated resort opened in 2021 in the forefront of the Lisboa brand. Located in the south-west corner of Cotai, the resort hosts three luxurious hotel towers in its 19th century European-style house: Grand Lisboa Palace, world’s first The Karl Lagerfeld, and Asia’s first Palazzo Versace Macau. Ostentatious is a word to describe the resort, detailed in subtle Roman rococo interior design.

The Room

Out of 1,350 rooms and suites at the Grand Lisboa Palace, I had the chance to stay at one of their 52 Junior Suites, boasting 80 square meters of bedroom paired with a king's bed, a sumptuous garden view of the resort’s Jardim Secreto garden, and a living room to host.

Each room in the hotel is painted in strong orange and blue hues, a visible homage to the colours of Macau and its former colourful father of Portugal. The walls in the living room and bedroom are furnished with symbols of the city’s landmarks, to remind you that despite the French-style atmosphere of the hotel, you are located in the rich locale of Macau.

I would argue that the king bed is the ultimate highlight of the suite. It’s plush cushioning beneath your head, with over eight types of pillows to choose from to enjoy your slumber. I sank into the bed and woke to the view of the ornate green garden below. I was in my European paradise!

A notable feature of the suite is the bathroom, with an expansive walk-in shower and deep bath, and couple vanity spaces and mirrors to afford premium choice for your special one.

Amenities

The comfort of my bed, precedence of the limit that Grand Lisboa Palace reaches to afford guests ultimate euphoria, extends beyond my room into The Spa at Grand Lisboa Palace. Playing host to 12 private treatment suites, guests can enjoy a facial massage, skin diagnosis, or application of French luxury skincare products, as did I.

I had a chance to dip my toes in the outdoor swimming pool at the Palace, an elegant space, open seasonally for warmer days, to enjoy seclusion from Macau and enter a dream-like world overlooking the European-style Jardim Secreto.

A stay at the Grand Lisboa Palace would be amis without an opportunity to dine at the resort’s star-studded collection of restaurants. There’s Palace Garden, a dime for premium Cantonese dining, kappo Japanese cuisine at Zuicho, and Taiwanese hotpot at Wulao. I dined at Mesa by Jose Avillez, an excellent dining experience of Portuguese classics.

Experiences

Artistic expression is central to the mission of Grand Lisboa Palace. As you trail yourself down the cavernous halls of the resort, trailing through each hotel in the circular level path, decadent paintings and pottery are set up, matching the core east-meet-west theme.

My favourite of the pieces held at the Palace and resort is the aptly named ‘E. meets W. and W. meets E.’, two paintings facing each other presenting how both the East and West view each other from a pre-modern scope, touching upon Orientalist, exotic, royal, and posh perspectives.

An experience in itself is escaping to Jardim Secreto, a 1000-square-metre green landscape holding patios and gazebos for the ultimate seclusion and escape to the lawns of France, flanked by Chinese dragons hidden within the Greek columns of each resort tower.

Check Out Thoughts

Grand Lisboa Palace is an opulent mastery of fusing its Asian identity as a Macanese hotel serving the Chinese and Southeast Asian region with its monumental French, Greek and Italian influences of design and taste.

The Palace, alongside its brother hotel The Karl Lagerfeld and sister Palazzo Versace Macau, are unapologetically lavish. You stay at Grand Lisboa Palace to relish a European sojourn with the comfort of premium duty-free shopping, Asian dining, and the softest bed you’ll feel.

Where: Grand Lisboa Palace, Rue do Tiro, Cotai, Macau

Travelling across Asia soon? Check out more reviews of great hotels in the region in our The Beat Stays series.