Kowloon Travel Guide
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Inside Hong Kong's Club InterContinental
Over on Jaunted, you can get our inside looks at some of the world’s best airline lounges, so we thought we’d do something similar here and start talking about some of the hotel lounges we’ve frequented lately for our new series on Hotel Club Lounges. Today, HotelChatter contributor Eric Rosen takes us along with him to the Hong Kong Club InterContinental.
The more time we spend in hotels, the more we realize that it’s kind of important to have a pass to the executive club wherever we go. Usually this confers a suite of perks such as free internet access, exclusive concierge service, and a rotating selection of edible treats to snack on throughout the day. That’s why we jumped at the opportunity to check out the Club InterContinental Lounge at the InterContinental Hong Kong on a recent visit.
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For the Sake of Hotel Art: The Cherub of the Mira Hong Kong
Is the WiFi free? Does the gym have good machines? All these things get noticed when checking into a hotel, but what about the atmosphere of the place—specifically the art on the walls or on the floor? We're highlighting properties around the world that do their artwork right, and the specific pieces you should stare long and hard at when next you drop by.
Today: The Mira Hong Kong's lobby art pieces by Charles Allem.
The first thing you'll likely notice upon entering the Mira, is the dark femininity of the place. The entrance itself—see more pics of it here—is extremely yonic, and the most prevalent color in the place is an ultraviolet indigo. Therefore, perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised to spot a giant purple Cherub statue in the center of the lobby, a lobby designed by Charles Allem.
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More Cool Hotel Jobs: The Peninsula’s Version of Q
All this week, HotelChatter contributor Eric Rosen will be telling us about more of the coolest hotel jobs out there. He reached out across the globe to talk to the dynamic folks who do everything from wrangling elephants (and guests!) to designing the latest high-tech gadgetry for your next guest room. So check back every day to see who he’s talking to next.
You know what gadget geeks and techno freaks we are, so it should come as no surprise that our favorite part of every James Bond film is the famous spy’s visit to MI6’s technology lab for the latest spyware update from the perpetually exasperated Q. Now imagine how excited (we’re talking shrieks here) we were to find out about Peninsula Hotels’ very own technology laboratory…and the man who runs it.
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Up on The Peninsula Hong Kong's Heliport, and More
You may have already virtually stepped into the rooms and suites of The Peninsula Hong Kong, but just wait—we've got pics of the heliport, the legendary historical lobby, Chesa (the Swiss Restaurant), and even the special kitchen table of Gaddi's Restaurant.
In effect, these are the extras from our tour of the Peninsula HK, the rest of the hotel through most of its public spaces, and not-so-public spaces, as you'll see with the China Clipper helicopter departures lounge....
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Inside the Peninsula Hong Kong
So what is the answer to our Guess the Hotel challenge? Many of you knew a hotel with a helicopter when you saw it, and the correct guess is the Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong, the flagship of the Peninsula luxury chain and a mecca for travelers in its own right.
We stopped in last week for a tour of the entire property, and today we have looks at rooms in both the original building and the upper, new floors added in the late 1990s. All of the regular rooms were fully booked, so you'll just have to make do with peeks into suites, which anyway aren't too far off the classic lushness of the lowest category.
The views over Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour are ridiculously drool-worthy and the tech panels, free WiFi and white-glove service are just a small sampling of the perks that The Peninsula guests enjoy, but let's remember that they're paying well for it: in January, a standard King room is going for $500 per night while the Grand Deluxe Harbourview Suite we visited on the upper floors commands $2,000 and up.
Now hold your breath and don't touch anything...
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Party Crashing the 82nd Anniversary of The Peninsula Hong Kong
Where once rickshaws clogged the streets, now there are scarlet red taxis. And where the Star Ferry once reigned on Victoria Harbour, now there are subway and car tunnels underneath (even though the Star Ferry still runs), and the The Peninsula Hong Kong has been there for it all. We were lucky enough to be in Hong Kong last week, when "The Pen," the original one and flagship of the luxury hotel chain, celebrated its 82nd Anniversary with the publication of its own book, "Our Hong Kong."
Unlike most other luxury hotel soirees, the late morning event at The Peninsula welcomed all guests and staff to the historical lobby for tea tastings, bites of local Hong Kong specialties, and a few words from Sir Michael Kadoorie, Chairman of The Hongkong and. Shanghai Hotels Group and the strikingly gorgeous Ms. Rainy Chan, the General Manager of the Peninsula HK. You see, this book that The Peninsula published on its own has been in the works for several years, and it tells the stories of the staff—their favorite spots in the city, cherished Hong Kong memories from their childhoods, and where to find the best egg waffles.
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For the Sake of Hotel Art: W Hong Kong's Damien Hirst
Is the WiFi free? Does the gym have good machines? All these things get noticed when checking into a hotel, but what about the atmosphere of the place—specifically the art on the walls or on the floor? All this week, we'll be highlighting properties around the world that do their artwork right, and the specific pieces you should stare long and hard at when next you drop by.
Today: W Hong Kong's Damien Hirst painting
To understand its full splendor, this flat view of Damien Hirst's famous "For the Love of God" $100 million dollar diamond skull should really be facing the light, but then it would fade and we'd be sad. We'd have no idea what it's worth, but the fact that it sat outside the W's Kitchen restaurant without a guard or protective covering means it's probably not in the several million dollar range.
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W Hong Kong: The Perfect Setting For Lost in Translation 2
Check In @ the W Hong Kong
Was incredibly easy for one huge reason: The Airporter Express. Chances are you might be arriving in Hong Kong from somewhere far away, in our case, SFO. That means you just endured a long haul plane ride, customs, baggage pickup and now you have to deal with transportation to your hotel. Well, if you chose W Hong Kong, fear not, you just hop on the airport express train and twenty eight minutes later you arrive at the Elements Mall (ICC) Kowloon Station, which is attached to the W hotel.
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The Peninsula Hong Kong Adds Two Mini Coopers to Its Toybox
Counting a helicopter, 14 Rolls-Royce Phantoms and one 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II in Peninsula Green, naturally, among its offerings of toys, Peninsula Hong Kong doesn't do things small. That's why it was a surprise that it added two new MINI Cooper S Clubmans to its fleet in celebration of the hotel's 81st anniversary last month.
Of course, these aren't any old Mini Coopers. BMW spent two years custom-making the bespoke itty-bitty cars, which marked a first for the vehicle company. The little rides are pimped out with a custom-illuminated Peninsula logo on the door entry sills, leather finishing and they rock the hotel's signature hunter green on the exterior.
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Katy Perry Takes Hong Kong...Or Just One Of The City's Newest Hotels
Although hotel plans around the US keep getting cancelled, in Asia it's a veritable buffet of grand openings and ground-breakings. Nowhere is this more true than in good old Hong Kong, where not one but a few five-star properties are set to open this fall.
The first, the Mira Hong Kong, looks to be your typical chic and scene-y boutique hotel, with all-glass revealing bathrooms, Arne Jacobsen egg chairs in the rooms, and a confusing flash-heavy website. They are admittedly after the "design-driven and technology savvy," but their choice of performer for their opening party says something else.
Hotel Deals / W Hotels / Hong Kong Hotels / Hotel Anniversaries / → All Tags
W Hong Kong's First Birthday Brings Never-Ending List Of Freebies
It feels like only yesterday that we stepped into the open, harbor-scented air of the 75th floor pool deck at the W Hong Kong, when actually it was a whole six months ago. The hotel itself has only been around slightly longer, and they'll be celebrating their first birthday in style with a comprehensive guest package.
The big promotion is only available August 7-10, so it'll only work out perfectly if you're already in the neighborhood, but the price and extras are worth mentioning. Stay in a "Wonderful"-level room and each guest pays $114 (so cheap well for solo travelers) per night for a minimum of 2 nights. In addition to the amazing view, you'll get all this:
Hotel WiFi / WiFi Hell / Holiday Inns / Hong Kong Hotels / → All Tags
Internet Charges at Holiday Inn Hong Kong Are Just Wrong
Oh noes. Say what you will about Holiday Inns, but HI's Internet is usually, these days, fairly fast and totally free. Well, 'round these parts, anyway. We're sad to hear from Canadian blogger Andrew Currie that, over in Hong Kong, that's notsomuch the case. He documents his Internet troubles at the Holiday Inn Hong Kong Golden Mile:
Unlimited access set me back $160 HKD per day, or about $25 CAD. At this price you might think I'd be tempted to leave my laptop packed and use my phone exclusively, but even with Opera Mini paring down the average full web page to a paltry 50K or so I would still pay 5˘/kB in data roaming charges — or in other words, for the same cost per day I'd only be able to pull down a mere 10 web pages on my phone!
For an extra $40 HKD/day ($6.25 CAD) I could supposedly access the hotel-wide WiFi via my phone — a great idea for reading the morning news over breakfast in the restaurant, except that interTouch uses some kind of stupid web redirect to log in to their network, likely designed with laptops only in mind.
Boo. Oh, and to translate that to US dollars: that daily Internet charge of 160 HKD works out to just over $20, while the 40 HKD WiFi charge comes out to around $5. And the worldwide free WiFi crusade continues.
[Photo: Andrew Currie]
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