Resorts World Sentosa

Resorts World Sentosa (Abbreviation: RWS) is an integrated resort on the island of Sentosa, off the southern coast of Singapore.  The key attractions include one of Singapore's two casinos, a Universal Studios theme park, Adventure Cove Water Park, and S.E.A. Aquarium, which includes the world's second largest oceanarium (after Chimelong Ocean Kingdom).

The S$6.59 billion (US$4.93 billion) resort was developed by Genting Singapore. It was the third most expensive building ever constructed in 2010. The resort occupies over  of land and, when fully open, will employ more than 10,000 people directly. Resorts World Sentosa is a sister resort to Resorts World Genting, Pahang, Malaysia and Resorts World Manila, Philippines.

The soft launch of the first four hotels took place on 20 January 2010, with the FestiveWalk shopping mall following on 1 February. The casino opened on 14 February 2010 on the first auspicious day of the Chinese New Year. The Maritime Experiential Museum opened on 15 October 2011 and the last attraction opened on 22 November 2012, The Marine Life Park.

The grand opening of the integrated resort was held on 7 December 2012, officiated by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong together with Genting Group Chairman Lim Kok Thay. Resorts World Sentosa is also expected to hold large-scale exhibitions such as Valentino, Retrospective: Past/Present/Future.

History

Integrated resorts in Singapore

Resort history
Construction of Resorts World Sentosa Singapore began on 16 April 2007 on the demolished plot of Imbiah Lookout. It opened in a record time of 34 months of construction on 20 January 2010.
Crockfords Tower, Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, Festive Hotel and Hotel Michael opened 20 January 2010, followed by FestiveWalk on 31 January 2010. Resorts World Sentosa Casino opened on 14 February 2010. Universal Studios Singapore was opened for a sneak peek week in view of the Chinese New Year Celebrations, from 5 pm to 9 pm every night between 14 and 21 February 2010. The whole park was opened but none of the rides was operational. Visitors had to pay SGD10 to get into the park. Park tickets for the week were sold out in 2 days. The park had its soft opening period from 18 March 2010 to 26 October 2010.

Timeline
 10 October 2006 – Genting International and Star Cruises submitted its proposal, suitably named Resorts World at Sentosa to the Singapore government.
 16 October 2006 – Genting International and Star Cruises unveiled its proposal "Resorts World at Sentosa".
 8 December 2006 – Genting International and Star Cruises won the bid for the Sentosa IR.
 16 April 2007 – Resorts World at Sentosa broke ground on 49-hectare site.
 6 November 2007 – Resorts World at Sentosa announced that it will be adding six new attractions to its resort.
 20 January 2010 – Soft Opening of Resorts World Sentosa – Crockfords Tower, Hotel Michael, Hard Rock Hotel and Festive Hotel
 31 January 2010 – Opening of FestiveWalk
 1 February 2010 – Opening of Resorts World Station of Sentosa Express.
 14 February 2010 – Opening of Resorts World Sentosa Casino.
 Late February 2010 – Opening of Link Bridge from Resorts World Sentosa to Imbiah Lookout.
 18 March 2010 – Soft opening of Universal Studios Singapore.
 2 July 2010 – New Lake Hollywood Spectacular show on Friday and Saturday nights at Universal Studios Singapore.
 October 2010 – Opening of Candylicious, one of Asia's largest candy store.
 Late October 2010 – Opening of Waterfront Area.
 25 December 2010 – Opening of Crane Dance.
 15 October 2011 – Opening of Maritime Experiential Museum.
 16 February 2012 – Opening of Equarius Hotel and Beach Villas.
 6 July 2012 – Opening of ESPA by RWS.
 22 November 2012 – Opening of Marine Life Park (S.E.A Aquarium [except Dolphin Island] and Adventure Cove Waterpark)
 7 December 2012 – Official Opening Ceremony of Resorts World Sentosa.
 8 April 2013 – Unveiling of dolphins for public viewing at S.E.A. Aquarium.
 22 May 2013 – Launch of Ultimate Maritime Encounters with Open Ocean Dive at Adventure Cove Waterpark.
 15 June 2013 – Launch of Shark Encounter at Adventure Cove Waterpark.
 30 June 2013 – Launch of Sea Trek Adventure at Adventure Cove Waterpark.
 30 September 2013 – Opening of Dolphin Island at Marine Life Park.
 15 Jan 2016 - Announcement of Donnie Yen and his wife Cissy Wang as brand ambassadors and spokesperson(s) for RWS.

Resort layout

The resort was designed primarily by the Driehaus Prize winner and New Classical architect Michael Graves. The six hotels offer a total of 1,840 rooms for accommodation. Each hotel is designed with a different theme, catering to both the leisure and business visitors.
The resort is split into the west, central and east zones.

Central zone

Hotels
Four hotels are located in the central zone.
 Crockfords Tower, formerly planned to be named Maxims Tower, is an 11-storey all-suite hotel overlooking the Singapore harbour and the Southern Islands. The resort's casino is located beneath the tower. The hotel was topped-out on 27 February 2009 and opened on 20 January 2010. Both the latter and Hotel Michael sit on the area of the former Sentosa Musical Fountain The hotel also features Crockfords Premier, a casino club with private rooms for High Roller located on 10th floor.
 Hotel Michael is an 11-storey hotel named after Michael Graves. Hotel Michael topped-out on 15 July 2009 and was opened on 20 January 2010. Together with Crockfords Tower, it replaces the site of former Sentosa Musical Fountain
 Festive Hotel is a family-oriented hotel next to Crockfords Tower and Festive Walk.  Beneath the hotel is Festive Grand, a 1,600 seat plenary hall which will host Resorts World  Sentosa's resident musical Voyage de la Vie.
 The Hard Rock Hotel Singapore is the site of meeting and conference facilities, and indoor exhibition space. This includes 26 differently-designed function rooms and one of Asia's largest ballrooms with seating for 7,300 guests. Construction of Singapore's first Hard Rock Hotel started in May 2008, and the hotel opened on 20 January 2010.
 Equarius Hotel is situated at the west of the resort.
The Royal Albatross is berthed at the Historical Ships Harbour, beside S.E.A Aquarium and the Adventure Cove Waterpark. Her dinner cruise, Sunset Sail City Lights, is held every weekend evening. Starting from her berth, the dinner cruise will take guests past the beaches of Sentosa to the outskirts of Marina Bay, around the edge of the Southern Islands and back to Sentosa. She is available for private charters as well.

Casino

The Sentosa casino is located beneath Crockfords Tower that has acreage 15,000 sq.m. 

As of 4 April 2019, Singaporeans and Permanent Residents have to pay S$150 daily and S$3000 annually for entry to the casino. Both types of entry levy (daily or yearly) allow the patron to visit to only one casino.

Foreign citizens can enter free of charge with their passports or employment passes.

Only persons aged 21 and above will be permitted to enter the casino premises.

Persons under 21 or persons under exclusion order, being the result of self-exclusion, exclusion by family members or automated exclusion by law (e.g. for undischarged bankrupts) are prohibited from entering the casino premises. 

The entry fees are collected by the Singapore Totalisator Board and used for public and charity causes. The casino does not keep any portion of the fees.

In May 2011, the Casino Regulatory Authority fined Resorts World Sentosa for two violations related to reimbursements and two other violations related to surveillance practices. The total fine was S$530,000 (US$425,000).

Fine dining
 Osia by Scott Webster – Modern Australian cuisine
 CURATE  –  Modern European creations
 Forest by Sam Leong – Contemporary Chinese cuisine
 Fratelli - Trattoria ∙ Pizzeria – Contemporary Italian cuisine
 Feng Shui Inn – Contemporary Cantonese cuisine
 Tangerine – Healthy contemporary cuisine with an innovative twist
 TEPPAN by Chef Yonemura – French-Japanese teppanyaki fare cuisine
 Table65 by Chef Richard van Oostenbrugge and Chef Thomas Groot – Modern European cuisine
 Tunglok heen by Susur Lee – Chinese cuisine

Casual dining
 SESSIONS at Hard Rock Hotel Singapore – Western & Asian Buffet

Shows
Voyage de la Vie is the first permanent production show to open at Resorts World Sentosa. This resident rock musical is set in the Festive Grand Theatre with a capacity of 1,600 people. The production was created by Mark Fisher.

Martial Combat, Asia's largest mixed martial arts fighting championship, is staged over six months each year at the Compass Ballroom, and broadcast by ESPN STAR Sports.

Crane Dance is a multimedia moving art installation with choreographed animatronic cranes built over the sea, and designed by Jeremy Railton. Edward S. Marks and Bob Chambers (of The Producers Group) were brought on to oversee the construction, installation and programming of the Cranes. Marks served as Project Director and Producer while Chambers served as its Senior Technical Director. It opened on 25 December 2010.

Lake of Dreams is a multimedia spectacular that combines the elements of water, fire, air and light, designed by Jeremy Railton. Edward S. Marks and Bob Chambers oversaw the construction, installation and programming of this attraction as well.

West zone

Hotels
 Equarius Hotel, close to the Adventure Cove Waterpark.
 Beach Villas, a collection of 22 villas floating on a lagoon. It opened on 16 February 2012.

Salons & spas
 ESPA

Marine Life Park

Marine Life Park, the world's largest oceanarium, opened its doors on 22 November 2012. The park houses two attractions, the S.E.A Aquarium and the Adventure Cove Waterpark, previously known as the Equarius Water Park.

The Maritime Experiential Museum

The Maritime Experiential Museum was opened on 15 October 2011 that features more than 400 artefacts and replicas with a 360-degree Multi-sensory Typhoon Theatre. It is the only museum in Singapore to display the history of ancient maritime trade where visitors have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the history of maritime Silk Route from the 15th to 19th century. The museum consists of more than 10 interactive points as well as an experience to board on the authentic harbour ships from Asia docked outside the museum. Also, it will become the permanent home of the Jewel of Muscat, a gift from the Oman Government. It will be closing along with the Crane Dance on 2 March 2020.

Royal Albatross

The Royal Albatross is berthed at the Historical Ships Harbour, beside S.E.A Aquarium and the Adventure Cove Waterpark. She sails twice every weekend evening. Starting from her berth, the dinner cruise will take guests past the beaches of Sentosa to the outskirts of Marina Bay, around the edge of the Southern Islands and back to Sentosa. She is available for private charters as well.

East zone

Universal Studios Singapore

Universal Studios Singapore is Southeast Asia's first Universal Studios theme park and opened its doors on 18 March 2010. It features 24 attractions and is divided into seven zones – including Sci-Fi City, Ancient Egypt, New York, The Lost World, Far Far Away, Madagascar and Hollywood.

See also
 Universal Studios Singapore
 S.E.A. Aquarium
 Adventure Cove Waterpark
 Royal Albatross

References

External links
 

Category:2010 establishments in Singapore
Category:Casinos completed in 2010
Category:Casinos in Singapore
Category:Hotel buildings completed in 2010
Category:Hotels in Singapore
Category:Michael Graves buildings
Category:Resorts in Singapore
Category:Sentosa
Category:Southern Islands
Category:Tourist attractions in Singapore
Category:New Classical architecture