An Entertainment City taking shape: the opening of Solaire Resort and Casino

Last March 16, the cityscape was buzz and all frenzied with the opening of a new gaming venue in the metropolis: the Solaire Resort and Casino. The Urban Roamer found himself among the hundreds of guests who flocked there at opening day along with some high-profile personalities and a great number of international guests.

What makes the opening of Solaire Resort and Casino notable is the fact that it is the first facility to open in the planned “Entertainment City” (or more formally known as the Bagong Nayong Pilipino Entertainment City, that is if plans of building a new Nayong Pilipino in the complex has not yet been scrapped or something) that was first conceived years ago by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to be Manila’s answer to Macau and Singapore as a premiere gaming and entertainment destination. So no, it’s not just casinos but there will be shopping malls, a theme park, and other facilities that the whole family can go to.

The Entertainment City complex itself is to be composed mainly of four gaming-entertainment venue-properties, Solaire being one of them. For Solaire in particular, there are plans to put up a shopping area, additional hotel rooms, and a theater. For now though, those visiting Solaire would have to do with the hotel and casino facilities that are operational currently, not to mention the restaurants in operation there.

But if there’s one thing about Solaire, it’s that they sure put an extra effort to impress. One can notice that in the interiors, which is perhaps the most luxurious interior for a Philippine gaming facility. Heck, its interiors can rival, if not surpass, the luxurious hotels in the country. From the plush carpeting to the elegant chandeliers, and lots of interior landscaping, Solaire is living up to its tagline of being “game changers,” as they surely have taken the gaming industry to a higher level that has pressured the other players in the industry, especially the other stakeholders in Entertainment City to match, if not surpass, Solaire’s pioneering efforts.

And if this will pave way for less mediocrity as far as design in our structures, not just gaming venues, then this will be for the better of the metropolitan landscape which has had enough of bad taste and poor aesthetics that a metropolis that strives to be “world-class.”

Now if only Solaire will fix its crappy shuttle system for guests coming to and from the nearby Mall of Asia complex.

Acknowledgements as well to Interaksyon, FreedomWall, and Skyscrapercity

© The Urban Roamer