This luxury hotel is so close to the water, your feet almost get wet
The hotel
Regent Hong Kong
Check-in
Hong Kong is not a city short on great hotels but arriving at the Regent feels special. On the harbour side of Salisbury Road in Kowloon, its position is unsurpassed: right on the water and with smack-bang views across to Hong Kong island.
The art-gallery-like lobby with glass-brick screens and an LED video wall.
There’s a sweeping circular driveway with feng shui fountain and a generosity of relatively low-level space (17 storeys) that’s uncommon in this densely populated, high-rise metropolis of 7.5 million.
A dip in the hotel pool is a welcome escape from summer humidity.Credit: Trudi Jenkins
The expansive tropical gardens with huge swimming, infinity and spa pools reaffirm the sense of sanctuary, providing a tranquil escape from crowds and summer humidity. After a two-year renovation, the hotel reopens officially on November 8, and its spa will open in 2024.
The look
The 1970s building is somewhat non-descript but new interiors by Milan-based Hong Kong architect Chi Wing Lo (who had never designed a hotel before) have created a quietly luxurious look, with elements inspired by Beijing’s Forbidden City.
The transformation brings back the sense of glamour of the Regent’s celebrity-studded past, while vestiges of the original hotel remain, including the ballroom with its white marble staircase and select pieces of furniture that have been incorporated alongside bold new artworks and sculptures. I particularly liked the spacious, art-gallery-like lobby with its glass-brick screens acting as vertical chandeliers and the LED video wall behind the 15-metre translucent-onyx reception desk.
The room
It’s all about that view if you have a harbour-facing room, even down to subtly patterned mirrored doors that separate the bedroom from the bathroom: close them and it’s surround-sound water and city lights.
Those smack-bang views of Hong Kong island from a harbourside room.
You feel intimately connected to the harbour; watching passing ferries from the daybed along the enormous picture window becomes a meditative distraction. The waves are reimagined in a rhythmically vaulted ceiling; serene tones and an open-plan bathroom with curved freestanding vanity and bathtub create a calm personal haven. Sample-size Perricone MD products (in place of chocolates) are an indulgent turndown touch.
Food + drink
The double-height, airy Harbourside restaurant offers all-day buffet dining; the Lobby Lounge is the place for afternoon tea or cocktails, and a Nobu restaurant has just reopened.
Airy Harbourside restaurant offers great all-day buffet dining.
The signature Cantonese restaurant, two-Michelin-star Lai Ching Heen, is all hand-painted screens, orchids and jade place settings (plus those floor-to-ceiling views again, of course). Seafood and barbecued meats dominate but with a light touch: steamed garoupa with mandarin zest and red dates, or wok-fried asparagus with lily bulbs and cauliflower mushrooms.
The Steak House is slightly less formal but impressive: from foie gras terrine to Chateaubriand and a citrus pavlova, everything is perfectly executed and delicious. A brand new bar, QURA, will be the final piece of the dining and drinking puzzle.
The Steak House has the same stunning views as Cantonese fine diner Lai Ching Heen.
Out + about
This is a stellar location overlooking Victoria Harbour and within easy reach of the Avenue of Stars promenade, the Star Ferry terminal and the metro (MRT), as well as good shopping in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The newly developed West Kowloon Cultural District – home to M+ (Asia’s first global museum of contemporary culture) and the Hong Kong Palace Museum – is a short taxi ride away (bring cash) while the hotel is connected via its lobby to K11 Musea, a design-forward centre that includes eateries, high-end retail and artist installations.
The verdict
A sensitive reinterpretation of an iconic hotel; Chi Wing Lo’s considered design combines with excellent restaurants and an unrivalled harbour position to create a memorable stay.
Essentials
Classic Harbour View rooms from $1215 per night. The Regent Hong Kong, 18 Salisbury Road, Kowloon. See hongkong.regenthotels.com
Cathay Pacific flies daily from Sydney and Melbourne to Hong Kong, with three and four flights per week from Perth and Brisbane, respectively. See cathaypacific.com/au
Our score out of five
★★★★ ½
The writer was a guest of the Regent Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific.
HIGHLIGHT The setting right on Victoria Harbour is simply spectacular, especially at night.
LOWLIGHT A level-8 typhoon shuts everything down and confines us to quarters for a day.
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