Imperial Pacific's temporary Saipan casino to open in November

Tuesday 3rd of November 2015

Imperial Pacific International Holdings announced that its ‘temporary casino’ on Saipan will officially open on November 27.

“In addition, the temporary casino expects to commence collaboration with junket operators from December 2015 onwards,” the operator said.

“The grand opening of the temporary casino supports the group’s continuous evolution of Saipan into a diversified and world-leading entertainment and tourism destination.”

A soft opening of the temporary casino took place on July 26, with the launch of VIP gaming operations on November 1. Last month, Yan Shen, managing director of Imperial Pacific, told Hong Kong reporters that the casino has attracted more visitors than expected since the soft launch.

He said the casino had averaged about 5,700 to 5,800 people a day. The temporary casino is to allow the company to generate revenue while its larger resort is being built.

The company said in previous filings it would spend as much as $7 billion on a casino resort on the island, with the first phase of the resort to be fully completed within 16 months.

Local unit Best Sunshine International has said the property will be the “most luxurious” integrated resort in the world.

Phase I project at the old Samoan Housing site in Garapan, will include a “huge dragon” making its way down the ceiling of the 14-story casino-hotel designed by U.S. architect Paul Curtis Steelman. The smallest room in the Grand Mariana casino-hotel will be about 1,200 sq. ft., about three times the size of currently available standard rooms.

For Phase II, the company is eyeing a mix of public and private land. It will be 10 times larger than the Garapan site which comprises a total of about four hectares and will have about 2,000 to 4,000 rooms.

Bricks & Mortar Launch VIP gaming Temporary casino Saipan