Christie Hefner brings Playboy to Macau

A 40,000 square-foot Playboy Mansion Macao, slated to open in 2009 at Macao Studio City, will be "inspired by" the Playboy Mansion near Sunset Boulevard on the west side of L.A.

"Judge me by the company I keep,”said Christie Hefner, chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. today at the Macau Tower. “Macao Studio City brings together many talented people and elements. This is a collaboration among the top hotel companies, top entertainment, top retail and top real estate. We all bring together what we see as the vision of the future Maacu – beyond just casinos. We will bring Playboy to life. Will there be bunnies you ask? To that I say: a resounding 'you bet'!"

In Los Angeles, Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion attracts Hollywood celebrities, famous athletes, television and radio personalities and of course, the Playboy Playmates. Macau will be no exception, his daughter says.

“We'll have invitation-only and public parties,” she said.“What I'm pretty jazzed about are the 'after parties', so that when performers are done on stage, they will always come to our venue. Our experience in Vegas tells us that there is a very powerful opportunity to integrate lounges and venues.”

Hefner says she's also excited about the Hugh F. Hefner sky villa, which will be connected to a pool and grotto. She said the Playboy Mansion will offer the coolest club and lounge, space for events celebrating special Chinese holidays, fashion shows, concerts, dining and dancing.

“Over the next two years as we complete construction, we will be making more announcements, but what we envision is something like this: there are only two homes in America – the White House and the Playboy Mansion – and frankly, I think more people want to go to the Playboy Mansion. Here in Macau, we will be open to the public, but there will also be a market for VIP membership programs featuring special elements and events on- and off-site with special rewards.

Playboy will be selling “Macau” branded merchandise, much like they sell their branded merchandise at Palms in Vegas.

“What is unique to Macau, is that there will be Playboy Mansion Macao merchandise only available to people here. We are meeting with Taubman now to talk about the exact location and retail line,” Hefner said.