This was published 7 years ago
Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, review: A rather deluxe version of home
By Sharon Bradley
The Landmark Mandarin Oriental's spa is a welcome oasis.
THE LOCATION
If it's palm trees and pina coladas you're after, think again. Because the recently refurbed Landmark Oriental Hotel (LMO) is in the glittering, emporia-studded bosom of one of the world's most dynamic cities. The drive from the international airport in Chek Lap Kok is short – just 30 minutes or so past columns of high-rise apartments so high and dense they look computer-generated – but long enough for the plastic in your wallet to begin a slow ache of anticipation as the lights of Hong Kong Island hove into view.
THE SPACE
The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong is right in the thick of the action.
The Mandarin Oriental has long provided a luxury pit-stop for the business traveller to Hong Kong. Its spanking little sister, on the other hand, attracts a decidedly different clientele: international young jetsetters keen to make the most of Central's shop-till-you-drop opportunities. Within seconds of leaving the LMO's lobby, for example, you can find yourself in the eponymous Landmark, a famous shopping mall that resembles a twinkling, multi-tiered wedding cake of designer-brand outlets. It was here last year that Victoria Beckham opened her second boutique in Hong Kong (the region is her fastest-growing market). Afterwards, she wasted no time kicking off her Louboutins within the sumptuous confines of the LMO's sumptuous 900-square-feet Landmark Suite.
THE ROOM
Last year, award-winning designer Joyce Wang masterminded a renovation of the LMO's 109 guestrooms and suites, her brief being to create a home away from home – and a rather deluxe version at that. It's unlikely you'll want for anything during your stay. There's personalised TV streaming in all rooms – our L600 Deluxe suite had one 55-inch TV in the bedroom, another one in the adjoining sitting-room and a third (cunningly concealed in the mirror) in the bathroom. In the living-room area, a chilled compartment with a glass door houses a selection of picture-perfect petits-fours and a small bowl of strawberries, both of which are replaced daily. Our favourite treat, though, were the two panels embedded in the console on either side of the bed from which you can not only charge your phone but also control, at the mere touch of a button, the shades and curtains that can wrap your entire living space, if you desire, in a double layer of blackout privacy.
Sample some contemporary and vintage infusions at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental.
Wang wanted to make each hotel visitor feel as if he or she is being enfolded in a warm architectural hug; as a result, her room updates are pleasingly reminiscent of a first-class cabin. Lines are soft – even the bed-heads curl protectively around guests' sleeping forms – fabrics are luxurious and the palette is an expensive smudge of browns, golds and caramels. There are only 11 hotels in the world that have 15 stars to their names: the LMO is one of them, with five apiece for its rooms, its two-storey Oriental Spa and its two-Michelin-star French restaurant, Amber, recently voted the best in China by San Pellegrino.
THE FOOD
There are two options. First up: MO Bar, an all-day casual diner that opens for breakfast at 7am and, by nightfall, has transformed into a bustling hot-spot, populated by elegant girls- and boys-about-town who can't get enough of the contemporary and vintage infusions that flow from the glamorous, glassily effervescent cocktail bar (a large mirrored "drawbridge" highlights the bottle display in a most alluring fashion). Good food options abound here (Hainan chicken, lobster burger), but it's the drinks that truly impress. Upstairs, on the fifth floor, Amber reigns supreme. In this darkly seductive sanctum guests take their seats beneath a spectacular bronze chandelier amid tall black vases brimming with vibrant-yellow Chinese orchids. Dutch chef Richard Ekkebus' degustation menu – a showcase for his passion for fresh seafood (which arrives every morning from the markets of Fukuoka and Hokkaido in Japan) – wows nightly.
The Landmark Mandarin Oriental's rooms are like a warm architectural hug.
STEPPING OUT
Where to start? To exit the hotel is to find yourself on Queen's Road Central, which is to Hong Kong what Oxford Street is to London and Fifth Avenue to New York – only bigger, busier and sweatier. Worth a visit is the nearby Former Hollywood Road Police Married Quarters (No 35 Aberdeen Street), a Grade III historic building that, in recent years, has become home to a not-for-profit social enterprise supporting local brands and innovation. Whatever takes your fancy here – a cute teapot, a T-shirt or a pair of earrings – can probably only be found here.
THE VERDICT
The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong.
Rooms are spacious, amenities luxurious and the service faultless. The LMO is all about location, though: if you don't like to be right in the thick of things, this probably isn't the spot for you. If you do, there's nowhere better. The sticky energy of Hong Kong is a relentless press outside; a room here – and, in particular, an afternoon spent in the spa – a revivifying oasis amid the madness.
ESSENTIALS
L600 Deluxe rooms start at HKD5500 a night. 15 Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong. Phone +852 2132 0188 or go to mandarinoriental.com/landmark/.
HIGHLIGHT
Those bedside consoles. Total blackout in the middle of the day achievable in seconds at the press of a button? Bring it on.
LOWLIGHT
Mirrors, mirrors everywhere. Really? We don't ever need to see that much of ourselves.
Sharon Bradley was a guest of the hotel.
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