Friendly Traveling Deathmerchant

I had a suite here back in February. Stay was for a week. Confection-amenity-box was refilled every day with little truffle chocolates and tarts. We got one welcome bottle of wine - I don't recall that being replenished - and fruit, which was probably replenished.

Can't recall if the suite was an upgrade or I booked it, but it was a points stay so probably an upgrade.

Dunno if rooms vs. suites change the amenity frequency.


RE: @hfly Lounge comment - I'm trying to think of the best lounges I've been in (and by "best" of course, that means "to my liking, which values food choice and quality over other amenities").
The Hilton in Tel Aviv was pretty squared away, the upper lounge in the Rome Cav was good, I recall both Hilton Prague ones were nice, had some great times in the old Hilton Dubrovnik (but this may be downgraded due to the new lounge's view relocation). Weirdly, the Baltimore MD Hilton makes the list - that lounge overlooks the Camden Yards baseball field for free birds-eye-view game nights and had some excellent lamb chop "snacks" to accompany that fun view.
Conrad HK was solid lounge for me though: Great views, food was decent enough for snacks/could cobble together a light meal. I appreciated the service if you wanted it/self-serve if you didn't. I don't always like someone to fuss over me, I like to browse and choose things myself. The different juices (watermelon!), TWG teas, very good fresh egg tarts, and some hot foods made this lounge fine with me.

anabolism

That's great! I have stayed many times, often in a suite, and never had the confection box refilled (fresh fruit was of course).


Hilton Tel Aviv lounge isn't nearly as fancy as Conrad Hong Kong or Conrad Tokyo or even Hilton Prague, but the Tel Aviv proudly offers actual dinners, with dessert afterwards, unlike virtually every other lounge that only offers snacks, with desserts typically beforehand as afternoon tea.

Friendly Traveling Deathmerchant

Exactly! I value real-food quality & quantity over drinks, value nice view over fawning service, empty vs. overcrowded, etc. We've all got our version of what we like in a lounge. Which is why, straight up, probably my favorite lounge so far is the Sydney Hilton in Australia. Views, location, lots of really good chow, drinks a plenty, unobtrusive but helpful service.
But I digress from Hong Kong.

Conrad HK is pretty squared away though. And the egg tarts in the exec lounge are. ^

Breakfast here downstairs is pretty up there tho.

Kacee

Last time I was here the scones with clotted cream were gone. Big disappointment. They really set this breakfast apart for me.

anabolism

If it helps, the lounge always has scones and clotted cream at afternoon tea. I haven't had breakfast in the restaurant in a few years (always go to the lounge for the quieter environment), but it used to be that you could ask a server for something that wasn't out.

StuckinITH

At afternoon tea, I saw a young couple that thought it was clotted cream and scones. They emptied the whole bowl of clotted cream.

We also only had breakfast in the lounge. We like quietness at breakfast time and were there between 6:30 and 7:00 AM in the week-end. It was just perfect.

The _Banking_Scot

hi,

was that this afternoon? In which case I just missed you as I just left and am now in hkg en route to barcelona. More detailed comments will be posted when I am back on my desktop in a few days

regards

tbs

wantan

+1

This lounge dosen't have the dinner spread ala Conrad Bangkok, nor the all-day open bar at Conrad Singapore.

Apart from the views (to be fair, all the EL's in Asia have good views) , IMHO the "perk" of this lounge is the congee that is served till closing.

Just crossed my mind that his property used/is (?) still regularly upgrading Golds to Lounge. If that's the case, as it was when I had my 1st stay there, then it definitely makes a great 1st impression.

StuckinITH

No, it was last weekend.

As a Gold, I did get upgraded on my first stay. On my second stay (that was on the same trip, bookending a stay in another hotel for work) I had directly reserved an Executive King Harbour View as I wanted to guarantee that I would get the view at least on one of my stays. My wife was traveling with me and she had wanted to stay at the Conrad for a long time.

evergrn

In Asia, I've been to EL at Conrad Tokyo & HKG many times each, Hilton SIN, Hilton Phuket, Hiltons all over Jpn.
I concur that it's not excellent, but I still love it. It's still my favorite EL.

Evening spread food: I would say this EL is a bit below average in terms of quality. They don't serve expensive things. They bring out mostly things like egg rolls, quiche, samosa, chicken skewer, fried fish, french fries, chicken nuggets, char siu so that's 20% meat... whereas Conrad Tokyo and other Asian Hiltons bring out more expensive-ish items. But as a guy who's not used to eating cutesy expensive finger foods, the food at Conrad HKG works for me.

Afternoon tea food: Again average at best. Conrad Tokyo (ice cream, truffles) & Hilton SIN (sometimes macarons!) better. However, some EL's in Asia don't even offer afternoon tea.

Round-the-clock food: Average. At least they always have a little something at all hours outside of food times... cookies, chips, fruit.

Coffee/tea: TWG teabags are about the best one can get at any hotel lounge, so Conrad HKG gets high marks there. However, I don't think their espresso machine is particularly good.

Service: Excellent. I like the HKG EL staff, more than at any other EL I've been to (although I do like the staff at SIN Hilton a lot).

Ambiance: Excellent (helped by the view).

teemuflyer

My suspicion on the food at the HKG Conrad EL is limited somewhat by the size of the kitchen as well. I have been at this Conrad when they have moved the EL temporarily down to the lobby bar area when the upstairs space was reserved for a private event. Wow, the spread was amazing the both times this scenario played out, probably helped out the proximity of full kitchens everywhere.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

I stayed here for 3 nights (6th to 9th Dec) after spending 3 nights at the Hyatt Regency TST. I took a taxi from the Hyatt TST ( HK$200 ) including the tolls for the Western Harbour crossing ( had been advised that the cross harbour crossing was always congested) and luggage. I paid for an executive peak view room to guarantee lounge access

The entrance and lobby area was beautifully decorated for christmas and was busy with a people gathering for a convention ending reception. I asked the bellboy if I could check in at the lounge and after a brief chat at reception he escorted me up to floor 59 ( you press your room key against the button in the lift then press the desired floor)
The lounge agent was busy with another guest but was invited to take a seat and was asked for a drink. I chose a latte and as it was being served I was invited to check in.
I was delighted to be upgraded to a Executive Harbour view ( room 5609) and was able to go to the room straight away ( around 230pm).
The food in the lounge is as evrgrn described but I liked the afternoon tea ( a major step up from the Hyatt Regency TST) with sandwiches and scones
A bowl of fruit was replenished daily and there was a welcome gift of coloured macaroons (no tea but I am not a great tea drinker). I did like the nespresso machine and the bathrom was beautiful ( the shower was a bit smaller after the huge bath/shower in the Hyatt) and the bed was hughe and comfortable with a comfortable bathrobe. Water was replenished daily and at evening turndown. The harbour views are fantastic on a reasonable day ( on one day there was light drizzle and the top of the IFC and ritz carlton were in the clouds

I got 2 Conrad bears and the plastic duck.

A nespresso machine with 6 capsules ( 2 each of 2 kinds plus 2 decaffinated ) was provided and refilled daily ( i think there is a kettle also)
The South China morning post was delivered daily in a black Conrad Newspaper bag

I did have to wait occassionally for a couple of minutes for a lift.
The evening snacks ( 5-7pm) were very good but was crowded on Saturday night ( had to wait a couple of minutes then escorted to the high table being on my own whilst couples who arrived after me were given tables as guests left- a minor point)
I felt that if you had afternoon tea around 4-430pm you did not feel like evening snacks straight at 5 so generally had the evening snacks around 645pm just before the evening snacks were cleared ( the quiche in the oven was good)
Breakfast in the lounge was very good ( a queue was building up around 9am on Sunday ) but on other days there was plenty of room. On Sunday I was asked if I wanted eggs or an omellette made to order ( not offered on other days but I found the buffett food more than adequate.

Upon entering the lounge I was generally asked if I wanted a drink - i would ask for a coffee but if no one was there I would help myself and was generally asked for my room number ( I generally told the lounge receptionist when I came in) but a couple of the lounge staff did try to make the effort to recall my room number after a couple of visits. I founf the staff younger than my last visit but were friendly and hard working and kept the tables clear of used dishes as soon as possible

The fitness centre was very good ( open 24hrs) and the pool ( open to 10pm) was very good with 2 white christmas trees lit up at night added something special to a night swim.

There is a laundry close by ( head to the Admiralty MTR then to Pacific Place 3 then along Queen Road East and take a left by the Marks and Specers food hall and it is just round the corner ( Oceanic laundry-for a little bit extra they can deliver to the conrad)

The Pacific Place mall ( gateway to the MTR) was beautifully decorated for christmas ( queues for Chanel and meeting santa on saturday pm)

I was given a 2pm late check out on Sunday and was able to use the lounge . Just before leaving for the airport at 440pm the loune staff asked me if I wanted a glass of wine or champagne ( I got a glass of champagne even though the drinks service was not starting until 5pm)

I had a minor issue at check out when the initial bill only showed the higher rate ( I had one night at HKG$4000 and 2 nights at HKG$3500) for all nights but mentioned it and the lounge agent said she saw the correct ( mixed rates on screen) but they had a system upgrade that day but a few clicks and the correct bill was produced. They did ask if I wanted to be charged in HKG or GBP ( I chose HKG as the GBP rate was a little poor) .So it is worth checking your bill when checking out.

Overall an excellent stay.

Regards

TBS

evergrn

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

I was not given the option of the restaurant breakfast ( I am HH gold) but did not ask and the lounge breakfast with harbour view is excellent. I do not know if on sunday ( when the lounge was busy) restaurant access would be provided
Agree with your lounge comments

Regards

evergrn