Melco Resorts & Entertainment has soft-opened REM Hotel at City of Dreams Macau and plans to hold its grand opening after October’s Golden Week, Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho said during the company’s 2Q26 earnings call.
“We’ve actually soft opened REM already. We’re easing into it,” Ho said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. “The grand opening is set for after Golden Week in October.”
Ho said the initial reception had been positive, describing REM as a differentiated luxury product that complements City of Dreams’ existing five-star hotel offerings.
“Macau has some of the nicest hotels in the world, so there’s already an oversaturation in the luxury market,” he said. “REM is unlike anything in Macau. It’s actually more like it’s unlike anything in Asia, probably the world.”
“It’s a very unique product. It’s a lot of fun,” Ho added. “I think it’s luxury, but it’s highly differentiated from anything that’s in the market or even at City of Dreams.”
REM forms part of a broader overhaul of Melco’s flagship Macau integrated resort, which also includes an extensive redesign of its retail areas.
The project will create a continuous loop through the property and introduce a more carefully selected mix of luxury offerings. However, management warned that the construction work would affect the resort over the coming months.
“There’s a lot of hoarding right now, and we’re going to have to suffer through the pains over the next few months,” Ho said. Once completed, he expects the overhaul to position City of Dreams as “the nicest property in all of Macau.”
Melco President and Director Evan Winkler said the resort would face “pretty significant construction disruption” until the middle of 2027, with some impact on guests expected through next June.
The operator also opened an 18-table gaming area near the southwest entrance of City of Dreams at the end of July. Melco expects its location along the Cotai Strip to attract additional walk-in customers.
Dividend resumption postponed to 2027
Melco has postponed the expected resumption of dividends from late 2026 to sometime in 2027 after directing more capital toward share repurchases.
The company repurchased approximately 25 million American depositary shares for $134 million in 2026 through August 12th.
“When there are opportunities to buy our shares at what we think are highly discounted prices, we’ll take advantage of that,” Ho said.
Chief Financial Officer Geoff Davis said Melco intends to resume payments only when it can offer a “substantive and meaningful” dividend.
“We’re not interested in a nominal dividend,” Davis said.
