geilux

Hi,

I am looking for any kind of information on the new W hotel which is planning a grand opening on July 31st.

Location, rates, description, etc.

Thanks a lot.

Best regards from Luxembourg

Geilux

Keith009

I actually emailed the GM about it some months ago and was told that online reservations will be taken from February or March. But no action so far.

The W will be located in a new development in Kowloon. It's on top of a high end shopping mall. This map might help. I usually try to stay near the nightlife in Central (Lan Kwai Fong) for a quick stagger back to bed after a long night (unless I end up in Wan Chai ), and unfortunately the W seems a bit of a schlep away. Yeah yeah I'm a boring visitor who doesn't step out of his comfort zone, lest I be reminded of that by the anti-LKF brigade.

Here is one of my reviews of a W Hotel (Chicago-Lakeshore) for a "description" of what the W brand is like. The decor of the Hong Kong property might well be rather different of course - but the W concept means you can expect a modern, ultra trendy hotel.

Regardless, I am aiming to stay there for my visit in September just to check it out so I'd hope the opening doesn't get delayed much more.

neuro0

1 Austin Road West · Kowloon Station, Kowloon · Hong Kong

This should be right above or very near the Kowloon station of the airport express train.

SanDiego1K

I'm going to move this to the Starwood forum, where we have two Starwood Lurkers who might be able to speak to this.

SanDiego1K
Senior Moderator

danwhy

The website is slim but does have some of the information you were looking for.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotel...ropertyID=1965

ailiton

It is directly above Kowloon station, which is one stop away from Lan Kwai Fong.

The shopping mall that it is situated above is called "elements" (with or without an S, I can't remember).

Keith009

That's good to know, thanks! Someone told me that it was "near the airport." So I was confused for a while as the map clearly shows HK Island nearby. I'm guessing that person meant it is convenient to get to the airport from the W via the airport express from Kowloon station, rather than the W being physically near the airport. I've never stayed off HK Island so staying at the W will be my first time staying in Kowloon. I'm guessing it's quite easy to cab it from Central back to Kowloon in the wee hours of the morning?

Steve M

The map is incorrect. It shows a location near Tsim Sha Tsui Station. If you locate Austin Road on the map, the W will be located on the far western end of the road. The Kowloon Station area and the new shopping center are kind of off by themselves, and are about a mile on foot from the main Kowloon retail/dining/entertainment area of TST. The last time I was there (2.5 years ago), the stuff around Kowloon Station was mostly under construction, so there may a bunch of stuff there now, but don't expect it to be in TST - the map is wrong.

adamak

Elements's official website : http://www.elementshk.com/eng/index.htm
Very nice, new mega mall. I was there past Dec. Upscale, kinda like IFC, but with more open space. The location is OK, easy to get to the HK side, but a bit tricky if you want to get to Mongkok or TST (cab or walk). A lot more convinent to get to /from airport, obviously. Think I can check in early at the Kowloon station, then linger around the mall before heading to airport.

No info about W hotel so far on their site. I'm not sure which "side" of the mall the W will be located at. But assuming it's facing the harbour, the W should have better view than Sheraton.

stimpy

If it's at the Elements mall, it will be looking up at the new Ritz Carlton which I think will be the tallest hotel in Asia when it opens next year.

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

RedPanda5

i was going to say the grand hyatt shanghai is probably taller, but then I looked it up! Everybody needs to one up each other don't they

rdchen

The Ritz HK will be taller than the grand hyatt shanghai, but I think the soon to be opened Park Hyatt Shanghai might be taller than the Ritz HK.

RedPanda5

hmm the park hyatt shanghai is at the top of the Shanghai World Financial Center which is about 100ft taller than the Ritz HK building

Haha they will have two hotels right next to each other, when I was last at the GH Shanghai they SWFC was going up and I could see them working on it from my room.

Starwood Lurker II

Hi everyone,

From the information I have obtained, it seems that the opening of W Hong Kong might be delayed to September.

The actual confirmed date will be announced later. I will also update this thread with any news. I have attended the presentation for this hotel and there are great differences when you look at the exterior between day and night.

The hotel, however, starts from the 16th floor onwards. It has 393 guest rooms and 38 suites, excluding 3 WOW suites. There is a bliss spa as well. On the 76th floor there is a rooftop swimming pool. It should be located near or on the ICC building(which is one of the tallest buildings) near to the Elements shopping centre.

It is 8 minutes from the Central LRT station as well.

I can't wait to visit it either. Let's hope I get enough petition over here to allow me to do a simple review on this hotel. LOL!

Let me check if I can get any more details. What else would you like to know?

Thank you and have a nice day!

[email protected]

Keith009

Thanks for that Thyetus! ^ It all sounds very exciting, and I am particularly intrigued by the "great differences" of the hotel exterior by day vs by night.

I intend to visit HKG in late Sept/early Oct and so I hope the property doesn't get delayed much further!

I would support any petition that allows a sneak peak of the hotel to get a taste of what's to come.

OT - speaking of petitions I've been petitioning to Santa for Bliss Spa (let alone a W) to come down under but to no avail thus far.