Originally Posted by stimpy

Nice review. I've stayed twice and will add that this is one of the busiest areas of Hong Kong, and that's saying something. The walk from the MTR isn't far, but you will be walking with hordes of people at almost every hour of the day and night. And they have somehow crammed an entire Ikea into the basement of the hotel so there are always thousands of people streaming in and out of the building, but thankfully not the lobby. That said, if you hate crowds Hong Kong isn't the place to go.

There are a lot of good restaurants within walking distance, but it depends on which way you walk. Near the MTR you will find the most. Not much in the other directions. If you feel like taking a long and interesting walk before your meal, head over to Ship Street where you will find some really good top restaurants. Most will require reservations well in advance, but you can maybe find something to walk into without one as I did. Timon is a new Tapas place that is tiny but has really interesting and good dishes. And lots of good Spanish wines and a Spanish chef. If you are looking for a better bar than the one at the hotel, which was open when I was there but not so good, it's a short walk over to the Excelsior hotel which has the Dickens bar downstairs. Usually a good crowd there. Or as you walk towards Central, there are nice bars scattered here and there.

We will see what happens with the renovations, but for now you can sneak up to the rooftop bar around 5pm and enjoy the sunset over the harbor. I say sneak because the top floor is usually booked out for corporate meetings. But as those generally end at 5, no one has cared that I walked up to take in the view on a nice day.