Five postcards, five continents

Greetings from five landmark resorts

A short, independently written postcard from five of the world's best-known hotel resorts — what makes each one worth the stop, and a few figures to go with the view. This page is informational only: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of the properties listed below, and it does not link to or promote any of their gaming or booking services.

No. 01

Cotai, Macau

City of Dreams Macau

City of Dreams opened in 2009 on the Cotai Strip, built around a deliberately futuristic identity rather than the older Macau tradition of Portuguese-colonial or European-palace theming. Its centrepiece for years was "The House of Dancing Water," a large-scale water-based theatre show staged in a purpose-built arena — one of the most expensive stage productions ever mounted at the time it opened.

The resort has grown into a cluster of hotel towers under different brands on the same site, and it remains part of Melco Resorts' Cotai portfolio, positioned as a more avant-garde counterpart to Macau's older, more traditionally styled resorts.

Opened: 2009
Signature show: The House of Dancing Water
Theme: Futuristic, multi-tower complex
Operator: Melco Resorts

No. 02

Las Vegas, United States

MGM Grand Las Vegas

MGM Grand opened in 1993 as one of the largest hotels in the world by room count, a title tied closely to the era's Strip arms race in scale. Its lion-themed branding nods to the MGM film studio's mascot, and the resort has long combined a very large gaming floor with an equally large events and entertainment footprint, including the MGM Grand Garden Arena, a major venue for championship boxing and touring concerts.

Despite its size, the property has been renovated and repositioned multiple times over three decades to keep pace with newer Strip resorts, and it remains one of MGM Resorts International's flagship properties on the Strip.

Opened: 1993
Notable: One of the largest hotels by room count
Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena
Operator: MGM Resorts International

No. 03

Torrelodones, Spain

Gran Madrid

Gran Madrid opened in 1982 in Torrelodones, a town in the hills northwest of the Spanish capital, making it one of the first legal gaming halls to open in Spain following the country's 1977 gambling legalisation after the end of the Franco era. Its location outside the capital, with views back toward the Sierra de Guadarrama, set a pattern later followed by several other Spanish gaming venues built away from city centres.

It has since grown into one of the largest gaming complexes in the country, and it remains closely associated with the wider Cirsa Group, one of Spain's major gaming and hospitality operators.

Opened: 1982
Context: Early post-legalisation Spanish gaming hall
Location: Torrelodones, near Madrid
Group: Cirsa Group

No. 04

Hamilton, New Zealand

SkyCity Hamilton

SkyCity Hamilton opened in 2002 on the banks of the Waikato River, giving New Zealand's fourth-largest city its own gaming and entertainment complex under the same SkyCity Entertainment Group that operates larger properties in Auckland and Queenstown. Its riverside site places it within walking distance of Hamilton's own CBD rather than in a separate resort precinct.

Compared with SkyCity's flagship Auckland property, Hamilton's site is a noticeably smaller, more regional operation — a useful reminder that not every property on a company's roster is built at flagship scale, and that regional cities can support their own smaller version of the same model.

Opened: 2002
Location: Waikato riverbank, Hamilton
Scale: Regional, smaller than flagship Auckland site
Operator: SkyCity Entertainment Group

No. 05

Vanderbijlpark, South Africa

Emerald Resort

Emerald Resort opened along the Vaal River in the early 2000s, styled around an "African Riviera" theme intended to evoke a European riverside resort rather than the Rome- or Vegas-inspired theming used at several other South African gaming resorts of the era. Its riverside setting includes a water park and outdoor leisure facilities alongside the gaming floor, aiming at a family-resort market as much as a gaming one.

Located in Vanderbijlpark, an industrial town south of Johannesburg, the resort gives the wider Vaal Triangle region its own dedicated gaming resort rather than relying solely on properties closer to the capital.

Opened: Early 2000s
Theme: “African Riviera”
Setting: Vaal River waterfront
Region: Vaal Triangle, South Africa

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