What good will that do me in HKG?

There are a number of super fine luxury hotels in Hong Kong. The W can't really compare with them in most categories, including breakfast. But it's not trying to. It's the W.

I wasn't telling you to go to Ritz for breakfast. I was just saying any Ritz is better than W HKG's breakfast. For the price they charge (US$45 when I was there last time), I expected more since most Ritz don't charge much more than that, if any.

I actually prefer many Ws over Ritz. At many properties (including this weekend at W MSP), I received more personalized service than many of the Ritz and Four Seaons I've been to. Unfortunately, this W isn't one of them.

Could be, W's still beat all the LC-properties b'fasts I've been to. And this was the best morning I've had before flying longhaul: wakeup in W-bed, swim on the rooftop pool and breakfast. The overall happiness I left the place with could be a factor here :cool:

Does anyone know if there are any two-bed suites in the W HK (or at least two-bed suites that are within the likely Platinum upgrade range)?

I am checking out of the W today and I don't want to go!

Booked 3 award nights including year end Plat gift and was upgraded to a Fantastic Suite without asking, begging or checking availability online. Great recognition at check in, was asked if I would like late check out and amenity taken care of.

The room, WOW, in style, space and comfort. The hotel, stunning. Even the chance of a suite upgrade would make me choose the W, it just doesn't seem possible at the Sheraton.

I realised I went from Sydney airport to the hotel without ever stepping outside, too easy. I had no trouble finding my way through Elements as there are plenty of signs. Ok, the Sheraton has a better view but I prefer this location. I suppose it depends if you like being in the middle of the hustle and bustle but here you can choose when to be in the thick of it and when to escape. I liked being able to pop out for something without playing dodgem and I certainly don't miss the hawkers. Getting anywhere is easy, quick and cheap. The free shuttle is clean and comfortable.

There is no “attitude” here, just a lovely, friendly bunch of people. I could not find fault with anyone, they are well organized, helpful and really have made this stay special. 10/10 and thank you.^

I nearly deducted half a point when I checked my folio and there it was..MR Snufl, will I never get this sorted?;)

This is the type of stay you imagine when you read about SPG status benefits, I love this hotel! I'll will be back, probably with the daughter in tow, once she sees the photos.:rolleyes:

I know, right?! Worst feeling ever! That's my one major complaint every time I stay there - having to leave. :D Glad you had an aWesome W Hong Kong experience, it's fast becoming my fave W. :)

A couple weeks ago...

* Fantastic suite without prompting (which is truly outstanding from an interior design perspective)
* 6pm checkout without pushback
* Friendly, helpful staff
* Love the full-sized bliss products!

Only complaint, if I could possibly call it that, is no one came outside to assist with luggage when I arrived at 11:45pm.

And of course I do prefer the view from the Sheraton, even if this is in a good location for many purposes. So future trips ... Towers harbor view at the Sheraton or the W HKG? A tough chocie indeed :) But I'll probably forgo towers benefits and view for a nice suite at the W. ^

Lots of photos in this post (part of larger trip report):
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/11724985-post6.html

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/acco...0521-bgup.html

Nice review of one of my faves. In fact the only criticism I can think of is that over weekdays, unless there's a special party happening, the Living Room can be rather dead. It has a more weekend scene like much of Honkers. Though I'm told the fab (and cute!) DJ Angus now plays on Thu nights and Sun arvos as well! Sick!

Just stayed here for the first time last Tuesday night. From the time I left the plane to getting to my room, it was less than 45 minutes. Not Singapore, but pretty damn good.

Was on an award stay and was upgraded to a harbor view room (gold) without prompting. This is my new favourite HK hotel. No more Sheraton (although I will miss the better Harbour View) or Cyberport. I'm HH Diamond, and I won't be missing the Conrad.

Staff were great. Living room was pretty dead, but given that it was a week night it was expected. I love the design of the rooms and common areas. Didn't use the gym. The pool is one of the best in the world though. It will be better when they finally get their liquor license. Didn't eat at the restaurant as it looked much too expensive, especially compared to options in Elements. TST is a quick cheap cab ride away, and the Island is easily accessible via MTR.

Trip back to the airport was just as easy - checked in downstairs and straight to the airport. No hassles. I will be back.

Ritz is gone in Hong Kong until later this year, it will reapper next to W Hotel at the same shopping complex, at the top floor of the next HK super high-rise

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Proper...on/Default.htm

I checked in for a 3 night stay commencing last Friday.

Enquired if there were any suites available? and the friendly agent said I have already been preallocated a suite but had to find one available given my check in time of 11am.

Impressed with everything, esp the room and how everything is at the push of a button. Would have been even more WoWed if I could contol the room using voice recognition ;) however maybe they could consider adding this once they have to renovate :D

Only negatives was the in house resto / living room prices were definitely on the pricier side of things. $65HKD + 10% service tax for a coffee? now thats asking too much!!

24-Hour Room Service: W Hong Kong, Kowloon
 

I guess the Independent reporters are staying mostly at the W nowadays:

By Helen Georghiou
Saturday, 6 June 2009

This property, on the Kowloon side of the harbour, is the first W to open anywhere in the People's Republic of China and is certainly one of the collection's sleekest, if not one of the most eye-catching hotels in Hong Kong. The soaring, two-storey Living Room's most startling feature is an ethereal folly above the cocktail bar. Rippling, mirrored panels bear scattered artwork of butterflies and fairies, so that the images look very different depending on where you stand. A contemporary array of low-slung chairs, sofas and small tables is dotted around and the lights are low. They want it to "wink, woo and wow" and it does, wonderfully.

But that's not it ...

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/...n-1697792.html

Yes, I am getting quite annoyed at this guy, too. Upon checkin yesterday, the very first thing he said after "Hello" was that the hotel is extending the very, very special rate of USD 139 to you again, and it really is a very, very good offer, etc. I told him never to say this to me again as I didn't feel it appropriate that he had to emphasize this all the time. I explained to him that it was the hotel's mistake at offering the HKD 370 rate in the first place, and if they had the decency to honor it, THEN that would be a truly special rate.

checked out last week
 

I checked out this past Tuesday from this hotel after a 5 night (5th night free!) point stay. Here are my detailed comments:

If you like W hotels - you'll LOVE this hotel.

Location:

The hotel is directly above a very high end mall (Elements) on top of the Kowloon/Airport Express MTR station. Once you arrive at the station, go up the escalator to the mall and follow the signs to the W hotel. The mall has some spiffy expensive stores (Tiffany, Prada, Armani, Diesel, Shanghai Tang) but also some relatively reasonable options (H&M) if you have some last minute fashion needs. The hotel has a reasonably convenient shuttle that will take you to the Nathan Road area of Kowloon or to the ferry terminal for a ferry to Hong Kong or elsewhere. Taxis are also readily available and pretty cheap - just know that any trip to Hong Kong will carry a 55 HKD surcharge for travel through the tunnel. The hotel is among several new high rise apartment buildings and a currently under construction 118 story office/hotel building and there is a restaurant and courtyard area between all the buildings that I wasn't able to check out. Overall, as it's directly above an MTR station, the location is as good as you can get unless you wish to be right in the middle of the the Wan Chai or Central area in Hong Kong itself. Definitely take the Airport Express to get to this hotel from HKG - it's so incredibly easy, you'd be silly to waste the money on a car or taxi.

Check In/Staff:

Friendly and welcoming staff. On the scale of "W Attitude Problem" (yes I know this is controversial, but I maintain, "tude" is a systematic problem among staff at W's in general) I'd rank this in the middle to lower. The staff had more attitude problems than the W Istanbul or W Montreal - but nothing near the W San Francisco. I was upgraded to corner, harbor view room and the it was very seamless. Concierges were friendly and outgoing and gave very good advice. Also, this hotel is very well lit for a W and the design
and music in the lobby and elevators are beautiful - however I can't say I'm a big fan of the wall hangings along the exterior (a bunch of painted tree logs strung together and hung up vertically), but maybe I just didn't get it. You have to take the elevator from the ground floor to the 6th floor for check in and then walk to another set of elevators to go up to the rooms/pool/spa. A little annoying but not bad as lots of hotels have this arrangement.

Room:

BEAUTIFUL ... but as with most W's often "function" was sacrificed for the sake of "form". Fancy angular stone sinks - that didn't drain completely and splashed everywhere if you turned on the faucet too high. Relaxing and amazing shower/tub with TV and a view of the city - but as you stood outside to get the temp right the water got all over the bathroom. Wonderful mood and theme settings on the lights such as day, dream, and night - but if you ever wanted to turn a single light or set of lights on or off, you're pretty much out of luck. Huge flat screen TV and amazing surround stereo - that required an engineer to come up and fix to sync the sound and picture properly. It's a w, I'm not saying I'm surprised ... form before function is the rule of the brand. The bed was amazing, and the corner room with a view was breathtaking. After you got a hang of the "form" you learned to live with the associated function.

Dining/Room Service:

The prices for the dining and room service at this hotel were expensive but not unexpected (or egregious like the W Istanbul). I was very impressed particularly with the 24 hour room service menu - most hotels only have a few crappy sandwiches, but you could get really good food (I had Phuket Style noodles at 2 AM after a "night out") all night at this W. We never had a chance to go to either of the restaurants, but the lobby bar is beautiful and the mojitos and other specialty drinks they make were really really good. They have a brunch/dinner buffet that was limited and we didn't feel was worth the price so I'd avoid that in the future. Also, there is a fantastic and inexpensive bakery/deli in the mall very close to the W - you can't miss it.

Pool:

A M A Z I N G. I've never seen anything like it. You feel so AWESOME just being up there. As of last week apparently they *just* got the liquor license to serve drinks by the pool, but they are now serving the pool from the bar downstairs (70 floors below) so they have a minimum 4 drinks per order and it takes a while. The attendant said soon they'd open a bar up there as they now have a license.

Random stuff/advice about Hong Kong in general from a first time visitor:

We had an amazing dinner at Cepage in Wan Chai while there - I'd recommend it. Other fanstastic bars/restaurants we went to include Classified, DYMK, the Priory, and Maxim's Dim Sum. SoHo and Wan Chai were our favorite places to go out at night.

Lamma island is amazing and worth a day to take a ferry to and hike across (best day of the trip) - be sure to stop at herbotea. Good beaches too.

Skip the night market in Kowloon unless you want cheap junk. Also in Kowloon, the southern part of Nathan Road is too touristy for its own good - start north at the Austin Road intersection and walk north for a better experience. Lastly, the Hong Kong Museum of History in Kowloon is really spectacular and worth a visit.

In Hong Kong, the botanical gardens and aviary are definitely small but a welcome respite from the heat if you're touring the central district or on your way back from/to Victoria Peak. Pretty birds and cool carnivorous plants. The peak tram up to Victoria Peak is worth a trip but definitely do the 2 or so mile circle hike - really beautiful. Do a walking tour of Hollywood Road from Possession Point and check out the Cat Street antique shops and stands.