khabah

HK already has its InterCon - it's not the same, but it's one nonetheless!

Point taken re the interior works [I do recall seeing a photo from last July that showed scaffolding set up along the full height of the interior of the lobby windows], but to still see the logo outside the building, the trees up on the pool deck and the gazebo on the Presidential Suite terrace standing makes it seem like the project is frozen or moving at a snail's pace. Again, were I IHG, I'd be capitalizing on every opportunity to market the Regent brand and to focus on the unique history of this beloved hotel as the flagship Regent. I'd love to see what they've got planned for the interiors - at 300 million dollars for the transformation, it better be mind-blowing!

khabah

Chinatrvl

Maybe not the best time to stress new hotel openings. The partial re-opening of the renovated part of the MO was very quiet in HK - at a time, where the news are about hotels being permanently closed down and transformed to condominiums (Novotel etc.) Anyway, I guess we're all looking forward to staying there

Raynyan

IHG appointed Mr. Michel Chertouh as the Managing Director of REGENT Hong Kong. He relocate from ANA Tokyo. French nice guy has over 30 years career in IHG. Before Tokyo, he served as General Manager in Bali Resort, Hanoi, Rio de Janeiro, Mar Menor & La Torre Golf Resorts, and São Paulo.

Now hotel opening scheduled later May of 2022, but it will be partial opening. Grand opening will be at the end of 2022 to before CNY 2023.

khabah

Raynyan Thanks for the update - always a good sign when the ship's captain is installed, so to speak. May is less than a year away and the building looks like it has a long way to go work and design-wise, so I personally hope to see more info about this hotel sneaking out.

khabah

khabah

Found these updates on Google photos, dated October 14th: the street-facing façade has been covered for a few weeks, and they're now covering up the harbor-facing side. Glad to see this finally moving along after looking stagnant for ages.

Still seems like a lot to get done before mid-next year, but what do I know.

khabah

Atacama40

Agree, a very good guy, the right stuff for the role. The ex-ICHK GM has moved to ICPL as of last year. The long standing ICPL GM has gone on to a 'yet to be announced' role elsewhere in IHG.

Unterwegs

Where is the ICPL?

minz56

Park Lane, London, I assume

Atacama40

Exactly that minz and unterwegs, Park Lane yes. Apologies, we get used to short form but should not assume everyone knows that.

khabah

Based on this new rendering I got my hands on below, it seems that the exterior will not be as dramatically redone as initially portrayed. The first [and only] rendering of the exterior shared showed blue-grey glass that was flush against the sides of the building with built-in light blades in the concrete/stone along the guest floors, and the podium redone in a darker, grey stone. The new rendering shows the podium redone in darker tones, but it appears that the current setup of windows inset from the concrete/stone will remain, but lighting added along the length of the building on each floor and tiny REGENT logos in the corner where the IC logo was, and in the lower right along the long harbor-facing side of the building.

A little underwhelming, to be completely honest. The red building matched the previous New World Centre development it was a part of before the rest of the complex was demolished to make way for the Victoria Dockside redevelopment. While I liked the old Regent design, I fear it may look a bit too vintage and out of context with the rest of the buildings around it. Oh well - with the less dramatic exterior redo and the fact that they're not changing the rooms inventory, we'll no doubt see this hotel open by the first half of this year as scheduled.

khabah

Atacama40

As you say kahbah, a little underwhelming from what originally read as a ground up major redevelopment. It sounds more of a renovation at this point.

Thanks for keeping us posted with the images though.

lost_in_translation

I imagine the owner is looking very carefully at the future of Hong Kong and sensibly wondering if / how long it would actually take to make their money back on a huge redevelopment.

Atacama40

Solid point. IHG sold that plot off what maybe three years back and it was worth a mint. But given the direction of travel in HK, it could well be as you say.

Unterwegs

Agree. Before they closed for renovation I usually stayed there for a few days to get over jet lag when travelling in Asia. But (aside from Covid) I most likely will not stay longer in Hong Kong than necessary.

Atacama40

Precisely so Unterwegs, the same here. And was never a hardship to stop at the IC or indeed visit HK. But the winds of change in town there there cause one to think twice now.