Ho Tram Resort Casino Vietnam ditches ‘the grand’, embraces poker

Vietnam’s only major integrated resort casino is feeling a little less grand these days.

The Grand Ho Tram Strip resort on Vietnam’s southern coast has undergone a name change. The property, which opened with great fanfare two years ago this month, will now be known as the Ho Tram Resort Casino Vietnam. Ho Tram president Shaun McCamley told GGRAsia that “everyone knows us as Ho Tram, hence the change … The Grand remains only as the hotel element.”

Developer Asian Coast Development (Canada) Ltd. (ACDL) originally tapped a subsidiary of US casino operator MGM Resorts to manage the property, which was to be known as the MGM Grand Ho Tram. But MGM bowed out in March 2013, citing the project’s inability to meet certain development milestones, leaving ACDL with little choice but to drop ‘MGM’ from the marquee, and now the ‘Grand’ has followed suit.

Meanwhile, ACDL has targeted Q3 2016 as the expected opening date for its second tower. Colin Pine, general director of ACDL subsidiary Ho Tram Project Co Ltd, said the company was negotiating “final documents” with a third party regarding a potential partnership for Tower 2, which will add 559 rooms to the property’s current 541 five-star accommodations.