Macau Nightclubs and Bars

Macau (SAR) China listing of popular clubs and bars for Westerners (farangs and gwilos). Please add comments to add to the list or submit your own comments about the best clubs in Macau, Taipa and the Cotai Strip. Macau island is located off mainland China south of Hong Kong.

*UPDATE*Please read comments for updates on the Macau scene, things are always changing.

*Note* – Macau, Taipa and the Cotai Strip are all within a 5 minute taxi ride of each other. So you can really consider them as all the same “town”.

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MACAU

*Updated January 2010 – please post comments for latest updates and let us know about new clubs or clubs closed*

  • Lion’s Bar – MGM Casino – Currently “the place to be” on Fri and Sat nights. Live bands from the US (most of the bands are very good, sometimes not). Great atmosphere, good restaurants within the MGM. Dance floor, long bar and puffy couches with pillows. Probably the most comfortable atmosphere for folks from the US.
  • D2 (DD2) – As of January 2010 this is THE ONLY CLUB to go to from 3-6am and is the most notoriously popular of the clubs in Macau. Located a couple blocks from the Lisboa. All taxi drivers understand “D2”. Disco and club music – remodeled and looking nice as of July 2008. Dark lighting, disco lights and very loud sub bass speakers (some people I’ve went with brought earplugs but I like it). They used to not let in Indonesians, but this is a big hangout now (2010) for Filipina and Indonesia ladies. Wed night ladies night. This club has professional dancers (both male and female) that dance on stages. This is not a strip club, just “go go” dancers. DD2 doesn’t open until 11pm (and you don’t want to go until AT LEAST 2am or 3am) so plan for a late night. It doesn’t get going til about 3am – and 5am is when it’s hopping.
  • D3 (DD3) – Fisherman’s Wharf – Like D2 but for local Chinese. They will let Westerners in and are polite, but don’t expect to be buddies with the table next to you. Like D2, this club has professional dancers both male and female. (Not a strip club). I went there at midnight and the place was empty – came back at 1:30am and it was packed.
  • MP3 – All taxi drivers understand “MP3”. It’s located by the water and has many other open street bars alongside it. To be honest, I don’t really understand this club. Everyone knows about it and goes there at one time or another. But it’s very small. They have quasi strip dancers (full clothed) inside that are horrible. In the outdoor area people stroll the several bars along the street and it has kind of a “south of the border” vibe to it – that part is nice. If you go with friends and like to relax on the patio you might enjoy this area. Sometimes one of the clubs on this street has a live band. As far as I can tell this area is mainly a hangout for working girls to use as a “home base” before they hit the streets.
  • MP4Royal Hotel CLOSED IN SUMMER 2009 – NOT OPEN – Not all taxi drivers understand “MP4”, but they’ll understand “Royal Hotel”. There are no signs for this club and it’s downstairs in the hotel. You will walk into this sleep hotel/casino and think you found the wrong place. Walk in and you’ll see a couple security guards by the elevator. When they let you down the elevator you’ll visit another world. MP4 is owned by a Westerner and this is one rocking club. Booming bass disco and club music til 8 in the morning. Prices are reasonable. This is my favorite disco nightclub in Macau right now. Professional dancers and a great DJ. There are VIP areas with couches you can reserve. The bartenders must have seen the movie “Cocktail” because they love to have competitions juggling the bottles in the air. The club is full of working girls so be careful.
  • Showtime – Across from Fortuna CasinoNO BUSINESS – DON’T GO UNLESS YOU WANT PRIVATE KARAOKE – Awesome food! Full service from the restaurant. This club is really hit or miss. Need to find out when they have a special guest DJ – then it’s packed. Otherwise it’s pretty sleepy. The sound system here is not as good as MP4 or D2 – more like a beefed up home stereo system. I only go there because I LOVE there Chicken Satay (the best in Macau in my opinion).
  • VIP Room – The View – Sands Casino*Not really a “club”, more a place to take friends – prices are high. Wednesday nights is ladies night and open to the public. Other nights is members only. I was there on a member only night and it was very subdued and quiet. Dark wood and very fancy – reminded me of a railroad barron’s library from the 19th century. Also went there on a Wednesday night where they played house music and it was packed with the party crowd. They start a little earlier here, so it’s a good place to go before heading off somewhere else.

TAIPA

  • OTT – Old Taipa Tavern in Taipa – GREAT STEAKS FOR 150 MOP! Hangout for Westerners and Aussies in Old Taipa. Most people in old Taipa area know what “Old Taipa Tavern” is. Great food. Definite English pub vibe. Lot of Venetian workers go here after work. One of the few places that does Potato Skins and Nachos decently. Great restaurant upstairs with steaks. OTT is relaxed and low key, pretty hard to get into trouble here.
  • Monkey Bar – Grand Waldo Hotel CLOSED DECEMBER 2009 – NOT OPEN – Located upstairs from the Papaya Bar. This club has a live band with singers that do hip hop and pop music – they play some parts live and use karaoke tracks. It’s not great, but it’s live. The Monkey Bar is popular with locals on Taipa. They have live dancers (not the “pro” dancers like in other clubs, but mainly Phillipinos that do lame hip wiggles on poles.) NOT a strip club. There’s a mix of locals and working girls in this club. Something about this club has a greasy vibe that I don’t really care for. You’ll see a lot of “suits” here – must be the place people take out of towners on the prowl. The music is not too loud, so it might be more comfortable for some people than the bass booming clubs like Mp4 and D2.
  • Papaya Bar – Grand Waldo Hotel CLOSED 2009 – NOT OPEN – This is a topless bar. Girls sit at the bar and you buy them drinks and play dice. I went there with another guy and didn’t have a great time – it just seemed very lame. But I went there with a large mixed group and it was very fun. They have a pole dancer stage at the middle of the bar and have a dancer come out every once in a while. (Topless only). I have friends that swear this is the best place on earth. I only think it’s fun with a big group of people and you take it all tongue and cheek (no pun intended).
  • ALTIRA Casino – 38th (Top) Floor – (The old Crown Casino) across from Greek Mythology. This is a bar, not a club. Need to go there with friends as there’s no “mixing”. If you go outside it has an incredible view of Macau. It’s a little pricey. Very classy. This would be the place to take a business partner. Very common to see businessmen talking with colleagues here. This and the VIP room at the Sands are the most upscale bars I have seen.

COTAI STRIP

  • Bellini Lounge – Venetian Casino – Located inside the main casino floor. This is one of “the” places to be on Wednesday nights for Ladies night. Decent live bands that play until 3am. Probably the best service of any club. Lots of locals and tourists go here. It is very clean and not “greasy” like many of the other clubs. You would feel comfortable bringing your girlfriend or family here.

Note for travelers – Security and service is great in Macau. I’ve never seen a fight or any problems. Don’t do anything stupid and you’ll be fine. If you haven’t been to Macau before you will be amazed at the old school attention to customer service. Very common in a restaurant to have four people wait on you. It’s like Las Vegas in the 1960’s.

13 thoughts on “Macau Nightclubs and Bars

  1. Tried to go to MP4 (january 2010) apparently it has been closed for 3-4 months 🙁

    This posting may need an update.

  2. MP4 closed during the summer. I’ll update the post. Clubs come and go in Macau so if people could post updates that would be cool.

    As of January 2010 the places to go:
    MP3 (Bar Street) on waterfront will always be around – tell tax “MP3” – 6pm to 2am
    MP4 – closed
    D2 – stays open til 7am or later – don’t go before 2am – busy on Wednesday
    Bellini Lounge – Venetian – busy on Wednesday, live band
    Lion’s Bar – MGM – dark on Monday, live band
    OTT – little locals pub in old Taipa, great pub food and steaks

    My recommended evening for the single guys that want to go out to bars in Macau is to start at MP3 (bar street) along the waterfront, then MGM anywhere midnight to 3am, then to D2.

    On bar street most people start off at “Moonwalker” which is next to MP3. Live local amateur band in the evenings.

  3. Also – make sure that the taxi driver takes you to the GRAND Waldo … not the Waldo hotel. The Waldo Hotel has nothing going on.

  4. Grand Waldo has nothing going on as of January 2010 except for a spa (for men and women), both the Papaya Bar and Monkey Bar are closed now.

    The Waldo in Macau (different than the “Grand Waldo” on Cotai over by the Venetian) does have a sauna but no clubs that I am aware of.

  5. You said “They do not let in Indonesians” in D2. Where did you get this idea? Do you know how many Indonesians I met at D2? A lot!

  6. Hi, im a professional dancer,choreographer,podium dancer from romania based in bangkok .I perform and choreographe many diffrent styles of dance like salsa,samba, jazz,belly, bollywood,hip hop etc…. looking for a work contract in Macau.

  7. Hey,iam balinesse man iam looking for job at macau,i have some experiance at hotel in bali and also in villa here in bali more than 6 years,iam very very expected to get job here in macau for any job

  8. Hi…Aleah here,d2 such a verry nice bar & full of intertainment..i have no doubt of that..Hopefully you guys added to yto those who are not our bar a smoking free bar..put some cubickle for those who are smokers so to those who are not is fair.thanks!

  9. Thanks for sharing,
    We took the ferry to a short trip in MACAU.
    We enjoyed the shows, the food and the amazing hotels and took spectacular pictures

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