Macao's first casino, nightclub and social hot spot
- Avenida de Sidonio Pais de S. Lázaro
- Not open to the public
- +853 2858 0746
First casino in Macao
Estoril Hotel was Stanley Ho’s first casino and marked the beginning of Macao’s epic gambling industry dominated for many years by his famous syndicate, the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM). The hotel was named after Estoril city in Portugal.
Popular local nightlife hot spot
When Estoril opened in 1962 there were only four tables in the casino. Guests could play sic bo (dices), fan tan and roulette. Estoril quickly became the place to be. The Thai hostesses were the talk of town and the swimming pool, sauna and massage parlour enjoyed quite a reputation. But business went down. Stanley Ho opened Hotel Lisboa in 1970, and the action moved there. Estoril closed its doors in the 1990’s.
Although it looks like a deserted building site, Estoril still has a sense of history.
Kung Fu arena
Already in the post war days Macao was staging international fights. In 1954 the Estoril swimming pool was the venue of choice for a major event that stunned the kung fu world: wu style master Gongyi 吳公儀 versus chen style fighter Hak Fu 陳克夫 alias the White Crane from Hong Kong. This fight later became the blueprint of the famous Chinese novel ‘The Book and the Sword’ 書劍恩仇錄 written by the renowned Chinese novelist Jin Yong (Louis Cha Leung-yung).