Best Hotels in Hong Kong– While Australia’s popular masses are fleeing the country this winter in search of balmy European climes, it’s only a slight exaggeration to say that every other travel writer I’ve spoken to this past quarter appears to be headed for hotels in Asia — more specifically, Hong Kong.
Quite aside from the fact that the Asian financial centre has staged a massive comeback since late 2022 (the Hong Kong Tourism Board has allocated some $48 million to secure that momentum), there are also a number of contextual reasons as to why this year promises to be such a busy one in the +852.
For starters, the 500,000 free flights issued by the various local airlines have certainly expedited things; while the return of major regional events like Clockenflap or the ‘Asia’s 50 Best’ awards ceremonies gives international visitors a real occasion to visit.
This, invariably, brings us to a discussion about hotels: whether you plan on being right in the thick of things on Hong Kong Island, or holed up across the water in vibrant Tsim Sha Tsui.
Superficially, this shortlist shall look a lot like any other ‘best hotels’ round-up you’ve seen floating about the internet; but — assuming you haven’t scrolled straight past these introductory pleasantries in search of the Table of Contents — my hope is you’ll get something additional out of our guide to the best hotels in Hong Kong.
Much of that is down to my personal fondness for and lived experience in many of these hotels: a privilege that I don’t take for granted; and am excited to leverage for the benefit of our readers — whether you’re a Platinum card-carrying business traveller or simply hankering for a holiday, I invite you to peruse some of our favourite properties in Hong Kong.
Offering full-turbo excellence across any metric one cares to judge hotels by (e.g. location, dining, facilities — you name it) the ‘secret sauce’ of the OG Mandarin, a property which now lends its name to some of the most sumptuous luxury accommodations around the globe, is in its service.
Take a look around the gilded and exquisitely perfumed lobby — ‘cosy’ by the standards of Hong Kong’s newer mega-luxury hotels — and you’ll be reminded of such other iconic institutions as The Savoy or Imperial Hotel.
From the smartly liveried waiters who will pour you a perfect silver tankard of lager at The Chinnery to the beaming therapists who have made The Mandarin Spa a health & wellness destination renowned across the region; there really aren’t enough superlatives in the world’s biggest thesaurus that capture Hongkongers’ love for this grand, elegantly aged dame of a hotel.
The Best Hong Kong Hotels To Book In 2024
Hong Kong Island
1. The St. Regis Hong Kong
Pitched at a slight remove from the relentless energy of Central, the St. Regis brand’s local outpost is located in the easterly Hong Kong Island district of Wanchai — an area well-known for its preponderance of excellent regional Chinese eateries and (somewhat less excitingly) the Hong Kong Convention Center.
When the property made its debut in 2019, luxury travellers clutched their pearls at the sight of its thoroughly contemporary look and emphasis on modernity. Despite that, it has gradually established itself as a favourite of elite business travellers — particularly those who don’t need instant access to the city’s major financial institutions — and monied creatives; wearing its association with the Marriott Group (St. Regis’ parent operator) very lightly.
Still, in the bones, the diligent observer will be able to discern the famed ‘House of Astor’ DNA. Communal spaces are delicately scented; Champagne is sabered (and then divvied out amongst unsuspecting guests) during the week; and, despite its location, there’s a palpably private ambience built into the whole affair.
2. Four Seasons Hong Kong (REVIEWED)
While Mike White’s excellent HBO dramedy The White Lotus would have you believe that the allure of the Four Seasons is in secluded, splashy (and possibly lethal) coastal resorts; it has, to the best of my own experience, always been a brand which thrives in the city.
The Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong is an exemplary case study of this phenomenon.
7 Michelin stars? Check. Bevvy of industry awards? Check. 25-minute train ride to Hong Kong International Airport? You betcha.
The point being (without wishing to get carried away), this is a hotel in which every possible inconvenience has been eliminated — minus your bill. Demonstrably able to offer something to every stripe of guest, whether they’re a high-flying executive; intrepid foodie; generous parent; or a wellness fiend, this Four Seasons property is an excellent launchpad for all of your activities in Hong Kong that is almost without equal.
3. The Landmark Mandarin Oriental (REVIEWED)
Situated an almost comically short distance from its classical sibling property (i.e. five minute’ walk on a slow day) The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, often referred to by shorthand as ‘Landmark MO’, is the other feather in the cap of the eponymous luxury hotel group’s presence in Hong Kong.
Hipper and [marginally] less flashy than its sister hotel on Connaught Road; the city’s seasoned gossip columnists love to pitch this spot as the place where the young, beautiful and generationally wealthy tend to congregate when in need of some R&R. And they’re certainly not wrong.
A cavalcade of restaurants — including Chef Richard Ekkebus’s inventive two-Michelin-starred Amber — consistently draws in patrons; while the property’s many themed suites, such as one outfitted with an 85-inch cinema wall, encourage you to utilise space for purposes that go beyond the mundane.
4. The Hari Hong Kong
An enviable perch from which to explore some of the most popular Hong Kong neighbourhoods (Causeway Bay, famous for its malls, is just 10 minutes away on foot) The Hari is equal parts boutique hotel and city bolthole.
The property is part of a burgeoning hotel group that also operates a sister property in the London neighbourhood of Belgravia, and it shows. Between the eclectic influences of its restaurants to the very tactile aesthetic that plays out across 200+ rooms (supplied by designer Tara Bernerd), there’s a strong element of British cool at work in this newest of Hong Kong hotels (which only opened in December of 2020).
Considering its location and facilities, nightly rates here also offer relatively robust value.
Kowloon
5. Rosewood Hong Kong (REVIEWED)
Despite having had the good fortune to stay at Rosewood Hong Kong some half-a-dozen times over the past few years (crucially, on my own dime and for work) I can honestly say I never tire of talking/thinking about my next visit — something I highly recommend even if you’re just passing through.
The Asian flagship at the heart of Rosewood Hotel Group’s burgeoning global ambitions, this is a hotel that it’s difficult not to be bowled over by (even if for no other reason than sheer bloody spectacle).
Yes: occasionally, the dining options can prove hit or miss; the pool area is improbably windy; and finding your way through the hotel’s labyrinthine guts takes a bit of getting used to. And yet, once that’s all accounted for, what you’re left with is that rarest of creatures in the world of luxury hotels: a true ‘destination’.
Needless to say, if you want hard intel on the hotel’s occupancy; dining options; spa offering; and all that jazz, I encourage you to take a look at our review (published earlier in the year) below.
6. Eaton HK
The cool, dialled-in neighbourhood bolthole that we were all disappointed Soho House Hong Kong didn’t turn out to be, the Eaton is a pretty unique inclusion on our list of the best Hong Kong hotels for a number of interconnected reasons.
Firstly, it’s technically a heritage property. Part of a revitalization project orchestrated by Eaton Workshop founder Katherine Lo (whose family owns/operates the property) the Eaton is located farther into the Kowloon Peninsula — in the historic and beautifully ramshackle district of Jordan.
Ideal for cosmopolitan road warriors who are keen to get amongst the ‘real’ vistas of Hong Kong (with everything good and heartbreaking that that entails) this hotel takes a number of tropes popularised by buzzy boutique operators (think The Hoxton or Trunk) and puts them to work locally.
A ‘cheap hotel’ by the admittedly grandiose standards of our list, all of the rooms at the Eaton are on the compact side (the largest ‘Artist Studio’ is around 56 sqm), yet make up for this with quality Aussie amenities, an irreverent aesthetic that is more Hackney than HK and unhurried, friendly hospitality.
The surrounding district is, inexplicably, home to some of Hong Kong’s best indie cafes (Pro Tip: try Kubrick down the road). Even if you’re staying in, between Michelin-starred Cantonese fine diner Yat Tung Heen, and the vibey rooftop bar that is Terrible Baby, you’ll be hard-pressed to have a bad meal.
7. The Peninsula Hong Kong
‘The Pen’, Hong Kong’s ‘Grand Old Dame’, the “finest hotel east of Suez”: The Peninsula Hong Kong has raked in a slew of honorifics over the past century, and for good reason.
Less a hotel and more of a cultural institution, that The Peninsula is so widely beloved — in a city where everybody is famously picky — speaks volumes about its centrality to the shared cultural memory of Hong Kong.
Here, you’re just as likely to rub shoulders with tycoons who’ve freshly helicoptered in from a day ‘at the office’ in Mainland China as you are awe-struck tourists, queuing diligently in the lobby for the hotel’s legendary afternoon tea spread of Devonshire scones and Deutz Champagne.
As you might expect then, old-school glamour is in plentiful supply: from classic French cuisine (that looks like it has been teleported from some grand dining room on the Place Vendôme) to the array of rooms that co-mingle a chinoiserie aesthetic with superyacht tech; it’s truly impressive, and indeed a little terrifying, how every element of hospitality at the Peninsula is so carefully considered.Plain and simple: a must-visit for anybody curious about the difference between a great and merely good luxury hotel.