Las Vegas Weekly

August 3, 2010 · 3:13 PM

Photos: Marina Bay Sands is Sheldon Adelson’s $4 billion masterpiece

By Don Chareunsy

The Marina Bay Sands.

Photo: Marina Bay Sands

By Don Chareunsy, Vegas DeLuxe editor

Billionaire Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson’s Marina Bay Sands in Singapore is his $4 billion masterpiece with 2,560 rooms in three towers. Standing 55 stories, the Moshe Safdie-designed hotel, which has been described as looking similar to a deck of cards, is the world’s most expensive.

Among the features of Marina Bay Sands: an outdoor infinity pool three times the length of an Olympic pool and perched 650 feet atop the hotel; a boat-shaped SkyPark set atop the hotel’s three towers; opulent art by, among others, Antony Gormley and Chongbin Zheng; a casino that costs $50 to enter and has attracted 25,000 visitors daily since its soft opening two months ago; an indoor canal with Sampal boats based on traditional 17th century Chinese vessels; an outdoor plaza; a convention center; a theater; a crystal pavilion; and a lotus flower-shaped museum.

Marina Bay Sands employs 10,000, rooms start at $350 a night, and it is expected to generate as much as $48 million each year. President and CEO Thomas Arasi said he expects to attract 70,000 visitors a day once it is fully open.

The official opening of Marina Bay Sands last month included a concert by Diana Ross for 2,500 VIPS, an outdoor concert by Kelly Rowland, seven relay teams scaling the three towers and a skydiver. The Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, estimated to have cost $2 billion when it opened in 2004, was previously the world’s most expensive hotel.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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