‘Great time’ to open a new luxury hotel in Hong Kong
The design-forward brand of hotels, Mondrian has extended its reach with the opening of Mondrian Hong Kong.
With Hong Kong rocked by political strife, particularly across 2019-20 and the pandemic as a follow-up, its stellar tourism reputation was badly damaged. However, Mondrian Hong Kong’s manager, Dirk Dalichau, believes now is a great time to be opening a hotel here.
A Harbour Suite at the Mondrian Hong Kong.
“I couldn’t be more excited about the timing,” says Dalichau. “Travel and business is beginning to boom again, Hong Kong is buzzing, Kowloon is transforming, the centre of gravity is shifting, the whole West Kowloon Cultural District is amazing and the nightlife is truly 24/7.”
Mondrian Hong Kong is in Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon side with 324 rooms and views of Victoria Harbour.
Art and design flourishes by Kong Kong practitioners abound, and a 40th floor rooftop space is set for “cultural happenings, performative innovations and unexpected collaborations”.
Art flies through the hotel corridors.
Chadi Farhat, chief operating officer for Mondrian at Ennismore, says “a meaningful connection with the local community” is one of the hotel’s aims – and it is far from alone in that.
In the marketing of hotels, the idea of “local” has become ubiquitous.
Local community, local experiences, local ingredients, local tipples, local artisans, growers, artworks, toiletries, linen, robes, even bathroom tiles are touted for their localness.
You might also see mention of a “local hotel” – which is, if not exactly a tautology, then certainly a pointless use of an adjective, for a hotel cannot be anything but.
The reason “local” has become such a buzz word is in part because travellers are increasingly wanting what the word promises: connection to neighbourhood, relevance to location and experiences that are authentically of the places they are visiting.
One of the hotel restaurants – Carna by Dario Cecchini.
The “experiential hotel” concept was born from this, denoting places that strive to go above and beyond somewhere to just rest and shower; to being an interface with their neighbourhood so that guests might immediately feel part of it.
Some hotels just do it naturally and have done it for a long time. Venerable spots such as the Ritz in London are simply part of the fabric of their locale, with the history and mystique that makes them destinations themselves.
Mondrian Los Angeles is also one of these with its 1996 Phillippe Starck-designed incarnation making it “the” place to be seen as the century turned, its expansive lobby and pool deck given over to “pretty people” parties on a regular basis.
Sister properties in New York, Miami, London, Cannes, Doha, Seoul, and soon, Australia’s Gold Coast, have taken the LA template of great design and local allure and made it their own. Hong Kong is hoping to do the same.
And signalling early that its local commitment is not just window dressing, it marked its opening by inviting single-parent families in the neighbourhood to enjoy a stay in the hotel.
Partnering with HK’s SoCO (Society for Community Organisation) and the Hong Kong Single Parents Association, the families had a night’s accommodation including breakfast and dinner at the restaurants, along with a gift bag and tickets to Hong Kong’s M+ museum.
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