Conrad or Sheraton Hong Kong?
 

Family vacation in July with 2 adults and two teens. Will be in Hong Kong for two days as part of a larger trip. I can use points for two rooms at either the Conrad or the Sheraton. I am Gold with Hilton and Platinum with Starwood.

I have stayed at the Sheraton before and thought it was nice. I am just looking for anyone's advice who has stayed at both and could recommend the advantages or disadvantages of both. I am primarilly interested in location, walking distance to attractions, amenities (lounge access), etc.
Thank you.

These are the two hotels I usually stay at in HK. Now, with the Conrad as a Gold I would think the access to the lounge might be doubtful but you should get a couple of nice rooms along with breakfast at the downstairs restaurant which is ok but not great IMO. The Conrad is in central attached to the Pacific Place shopping center which is very nice but my wife prefers to shop at the little shops in Kowloon which is where the Sheraton is. I actually find the Sheraton to be nice rooms and the only thing missing is a proper lounge for Plats. They have a Plat lounge which is just a closed room with a fountain soda machine. I think Plats get continental breakfast at the restaurant downstairs which is quite good. We always paid the difference and got the full breakfast as the difference was not that much and much better breakfast than theh Conrad.

Unless you need to be in the central area I wouls say Sheraton has a much better location as you can walk to many places and with the Conrad you will need to traverse the mall to get to the MTR and then cross over to Kowloon for most of your entertainment options and while not a huge task that train can get full in rush hour. Also, the airport express will be slightly cheaper to the Kowloon stop (if you use that option).

Now, you would get stay/night credit with Hilton for the award stay and would not get that with SPG if that makes a difference.

I do like the Sheraton as it is a decent hotel although I think the main wing is more 4 star than 5 (the towers is more 5 star) and it is in a good location.

The Sheraton is fine, but after the devaluation, I find it to be totally overpriced at 16k points per night. In fact, I'm tempted to say, meet me in the Coupon Connection and I'll be happy to trade your 64k points for enough giftcards to cover your 2-day/2-room stay. Location-wise, I prefer the Sheraton (although many here disagree), but the Conrad is the better hotel.

What are these "entertainment" options that you speak of in Kowloon? And within walking distance?

The ONLY reason to even consider the Sheraton, IMO, is because the OP is SPG PLT and thus might get some sick upgrade. That's not guaranteed, of course.
Otherwise, this (to me) is a no-brainer in favour of the Conrad. Better hotel, much better neighbourhood, better location for kid-friendly activities (backs to HK Park, walk to Peak Tram, most 'touristy' stuff is closer to Central/Queensway than to Kowloon.)

The OP will be traveling in July, during the Sheraton's low season, and will only need to redeem 12,000 points to get a free room per night.

As an SPG Platinum, you will either likely receive a harbour view room or a garden-view suite. I would bet only one room would be upgraded though. I have never stayed at the Conrad, so I do not know what your upgrade chances would be, but I sort of doubt a Gold would get two rooms upgraded to the executive floor.

Since it sounds like the OP will only be in HK two days, the Conrad is probably a better location, but that really is negligible IMO. The two hotels are only one stop apart on the MTR, and it is very efficient and easy to use. Probably the No. 1 attraction for a HK visitor would be the Peak Tram, which is walking distance from the Conrad. But because of the MTR, staying at the Sheraton would only make the trip about 15 minutes longer.

If I were the OP, I would consider spending 2,500 points per room per night and upgrade to the Towers at the Sheraton. Then everyone in his party would get access to the Towers lounge (which is much superior to the platinum lounge in the regular hotel anyways) and a host of other bennies.

Agreed. As a local, I would say that both are great hotels.

As the OP has said, he's more interested in the location of the hotel. In this case, Admiralty is more convenient and generally considered to be a better neighborhood. The Conrad, along with JW Marriott and Island Shangri-La, is attached to Pacific Place, which IMO is the best shopping mall in HKG (I don't like the IFC or Elements).

The majority of tourist attractions are on the island. Although it's only one stop on the MTR between Tsim Sha Tsui and Admiralty, OP is a travelling in a party of 5 which makes it rather inconvenient and pricey for them. It would be more sensible for them to stay on the island.

There is no real tourist attraction within walking distance of the Sheraton, apart from the Avenue of Stars which is nothing spectacular. And if you ever find yourself on the Nathan Road, you may end up at some dodgy shop which will push you to buy digi cams for 3x the retail price.

Ultimately, I prefer the Conrad to the Sheraton.

Hope this helps. ;)

Thank you for all of your comments and suggestions. We will go with the Conrad.