8 more luxury villas done by the end of Dec.

Photo shows the main lobby of the Imperial Palace Resort, which is separate from the main lobby of the casino that has the 40-ton dragon on the ceiling that is made of 2.5 million Swarovski crystals. (FERDIE DE LA TORRE)

With the construction of Imperial Palace Resort’s luxurious six villas or VIP suites already completed and recently turned over to operations for occupancy, the remaining eight villas are expected to be done by the end of this month, according to IPI’s assistant vice president of construction Eric Poon.

There will be a total of 15 villas, including the presidential suite, which is basically a duplex. The villas are located on the east wing of IPI’s casino-resort project in western Garapan.

Poon is expected to discuss and show progress photos of the resort at the Commonwealth Casino Commission’s board meeting tomorrow, Thursday.

“This is one of the big milestones for IPI,” said Poon, referring to the completion of the villas.

He assured the completion of the project—”construction is absolutely ongoing”—in reaction to questions whether IPI could finish it because of the ongoing Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe and a search at IPI’s accounting office.

“As a matter of fact, we are already moving up to the hotel tower,” Poon said.

Last Saturday, IPI granted Saipan Tribune’s request for a tour of the completed villas, with Poon and IPI senior vice president Donald Browne, along with other IPI management, leading the tour.

A grand custom-made chandelier, which was designed and installed by a special team from a Czech Republic-based firm, greets guests as they walk into the main lobby of the resort hotel.

Poon said it’s the same Czech company who did the 40-ton dragon chandelier in the casino lobby area, which is covered with 2.5 million Swarovski crystals.

Tucked into a corner of the hotel lobby is a reception desk and a little coffee shop, where guests can come in, relax, and have tea or coffee.

“It’s very cozy over here. …It’s different from the dragon lobby in the casino area,” Poon said.

An added attraction in the resort villa’s main lobby is a fish pond.

On top of the east wing building are the beachfront villas that have one-of-a-kind amenities. Each villas or suite has two master bedrooms with king-sized beds. Within each bedroom is a full bathroom and a bathtub.

The bathroom has custom hand-made mosaic from Italy. The chandeliers in the master bedrooms and tiny details are all custom-made. Even the door hinges are all decorated with gold plated finishes. The curtain is automatic and controlled by a panel.

Adjoining the living room is a dining room and a bar. The flooring has onyx marble (similar to a gemstone). There is a massage room and a private gaming room.

Outside the villas are infinity-edged swimming pools.

Poon said a standard villa measures over 3,000 square feet.

He said the interior finishes were selected to make sure that the quality is right and fit the overall theme.

“If you look at the alignment, everything is all aligned,” said Poon, pointing to the marble floor.

Poon said he believes no one can find this type of high quality, high standard finishes anywhere within this region.

He said that IPI hired interior designers from all over the world—from France, Las Vegas, and Hong Kong.

IPI has been planning to announce the opening of the villas this month.

Construction on the presidential villa, which will be a duplex, is targeted to be done by the end of May 2020. Construction has already started on the roof and waterproofing installation is in progress.

Poon said the target is to finish the tower by the end of January 2020.

Poon said they just started two shifts, seven days a week to try to complete cladding installation of the building facade and the roof, among other things.

He said the plan is to build a total of 344 rooms, including the 15 villas.

Based on the casino licensing agreement’s amendment six, completion of the entire casino-resort project is Feb. 28, 2021.

When asked if they have enough manpower to complete the project, Poon said that getting construction workers is not fast enough. He said it’s taking time to get the schedule for the interview for H-2B visa workers at the U.S. Embassy in Mongolia and Turkey.

“But we have people coming here from Turkey and also Mongolia,” said Poon, adding that for Turkey and Mongolia they have to manage their own workers and also have translators too.

IPI assistant director for hotel operations Xiaoling Tao said the operations for the completed four villas started last week and that they are right now focused on staff training and are working on different teams.

“Challenges are always there, but we find solutions so we aim to improve every day,” she said.

She said majority of their personnel are local hires, are very dedicated, and are eager to learn.

IPI assistant director for housekeeping and public area, Choump Luangphinith, said that four rooms are being tested daily “to tweak out all area of services, making sure everything we have in the rooms function correctly.” Luangphinith said that training is being done on the four suites and the other two are being tweaked or have some minor upgrading “to make the guests’ visit more memorable.”

The actual number for occupancy permit is six villas.

Luangphinith said all service should be up to par with international luxury hotel service requirement.

Before a baby can run he/she need to learn how to walk first, he added. “There always a challenge when you open a new property and that’s why we are here to make sure all issues are addressed before our guests arrive. This is how we will perfect our brand new property here on Saipan,” he said.

“We will continue to test everything to make sure our guest will experience their stay here at IPR without any inconvenience and we earn their trust,” Luangphinith said.