Peninsula Hong Kong
The Peninsula Hong Kong
Salisbury Road Kowloon, HK
Peninsula Hong Kong (8 Photos)
The Peninsula Hong Kong
Rolls-Royce Arrival Experience
The Peninsula experience started immediately after leaving the jetbridge at HKG as there was a gentleman with a third-party service ready to whisk me in a cart to immigration.
After making my way through immigration and customs, I was handed over to an employee of the Peninsula who brought me to the limo lounge where I had a wait of just a minute or two for the Rolls-Royce to be brought over. The drive to the Pen was not long as it was late in the evening.
Check In
Upon arrival at the hotel I was greeted by the bell staff and a lady who escorted me directly to the room to do check-in. Originally, I was brought to a Kowloon view room, what I booked. But I asked if there were any upgrades available per the FHR program through which I booked. She made a quick call and then we were off to a superior suite on the 5th floor.
Check-in formalities were quickly sorted along with details of the FHR benefits. I was then given a tour of the suite and a tutorial on how to use the tablet system. The tablets are used to control just about everything in the room, there was a little bit of a learning curve, even for me as a millenial!
Room
The room itself was large, the website says 950 sqft, but it seemed larger. It could also be a function of the TALL ceilings. This room was in the old building of the hotel, which has ceilings much higher than the tower.
When you first walk into the suite, you are greeted with the "dressing area" of the suite. This area houses two closets, the vallet box, luggage rack, and safe.
Luggage storage, drawers, and vallet box
Closets on the left and right
Next is the bathroom, with the centerpiece being the soaking tub. There are his and hers vanities along with a TV near the bathtub and little rooms for the toilet and shower.
Next, we move to the living area which featured a huge entertainment center, couch with chaise lounger, and desk. All the furniture was in great condition and showed very limited wear.
Lastly, there was the bedroom. It again had a large entertainment center, but also a make-up table with a motorized, pop-up mirror as well as a nail dryer.
Overall, I enjoyed the room. I was traveling alone, so the space was not needed. But I like having a separate space to work because if I do it in bed, I usually fall asleep quite early! If there is one thing I could fault with the room, it was the location of the bathroom. It was located near the room entrance and not next to the bedroom, so if getting up in the middle of the night for water or to use the bathroom, one needs to turn the light on to find the way since it is so far.
Dining
Breakfast through FHR can be had at Veranda (buffet), The Lobby (Peninsula Set Breakfast), or in-room dining (again set breakfast). The first morning, I tried the buffet which had both western and local options. Everything tasted nice and the view of the driveway and across the harbor were nice.
But what stood out was breakfast the second morning at The Lobby. The service was spot on. I was addressed by name at every interaction and I was well looked after.
Lastly, I used the $100 USD F&B credit at Felix. Felix is the restaurant at the top of the hotel. I had a prime window seat for the meal, but the food was not good. I had duck consomme which had way too much salt added and then lamb chops which were extremely fatty. I would have believed you had you told me I was eating a porterhouse because of all the fat. Plus the service was somewhat removed and slow.
Overall
The hotel itself is beautiful. I would recommend staying at least once. I felt like I was in a movie walking in with the string musicians, busteling lobby, etc. I really cannot get over how the hotel felt. But next time, I want to try the FS or one of the Mandarin Oriental hotels since their locations in Central are a lot better for what I was doing. With Hong Kong having such a strong luxury hotel market, I'm sure you cannot go wrong with any.
I did a site tour recently (sadly no videos allowed) - I like the 'jet interior' finish of the rooms and the refreshed colour palate from what it was before (realise that was a while ago!)
The rooms are actually fairly spacious and some of the upper floors have great views. Even in the tower rooms, the smaller ceiling height didn't make me feel as though the rooms are tiny (as at the MO).
We arrived very late at night and our son was dead tired and was asleep once we walked in the room. They gave us an "upgrade" from a king bedroom to a twin bedroom. I quickly asked them "what?" They said that they could move us or bring in a new bed after we put our son in the rollaway and was asleep.
Really, we're supposed to be waking up our son and looking for a new room or setting up a new bed late at night.
I would have much preferred a Motel 6 and a decent night of sleep with a king bed as I just found their twin beds with tiny blankets unbearable.
FWIW: I emailed the TA who was mentioned before about this and he was not able to do anything. I then went down to the lobby and they offered a fruit basket and ultimately gave us 50% off the RR transfer after I expressed how tired I was. In hindsight, the hotel was completely worthless as I didn't sleep. I don't feel happy about what I paid there and what I got.
Said TA in an earlier thread was completely worthless and after I complained said "Dude you gotta explain/give me more info." when he should have said, "I'm sorry about this, please let me make this right" and have actually done something.
FWIW: The upgrade was supposedly a better view and it was a horrible view.
We arrived very late at night and our son was dead tired and was asleep once we walked in the room. They gave us an "upgrade" from a king bedroom to a twin bedroom. I quickly asked them "what?" They said that they could move us or bring in a new bed after we put our son in the rollaway and was asleep.
Really, we're supposed to be waking up our son and looking for a new room or setting up a new bed late at night.
I would have much preferred a Motel 6 and a decent night of sleep with a king bed as I just found their twin beds with tiny blankets unbearable.
FWIW: I emailed the TA who was mentioned before about this and he was not able to do anything. I then went down to the lobby and they offered a fruit basket and ultimately gave us 50% off the RR transfer after I expressed how tired I was. In hindsight, the hotel was completely worthless as I didn't sleep. I don't feel happy about what I paid there and what I got.
Said TA in an earlier thread was completely worthless and after I complained said "Dude you gotta explain/give me more info." when he should have said, "I'm sorry about this, please let me make this right" and have actually done something.
FWIW: The upgrade was supposedly a better view and it was a horrible view.
unfortunate room did not have connecting with king
(surprising that every category can have twin beds)
all room categories can have connecting. re suites:
suite - adjoining
deluxe - adjoining
harbour
deluxe harbour - connecting
grand harbour - connecting
marco polo
peninsula - connecting
After the handover to China, the emphasis gradually changed. Hong Kong Island became the go-to location, with Four Seasons opening and Landmark MO.
Suddenly, Kowlooon was for the Chinese and HK Island was for the rest of the high-end International market.
The Pen has tried to keep up, but it has become a victim of its guests.