Not on Hong Kong Island, but in the middle of Kowloon – W Hong Kong really got us hooked up with its cool suite, rooftop pool and breathtaking views. Everything was easy, stylish and well thought out – from the pool with a view to the departure on the Airport Express. Why was this hotel a real travel highlight for us? Read now!
Review #68
Content
Location
Unlike many other luxury hotels, the W Hong Kong is not located on Hong Kong Island, but in Tsim Sha Tsui in the lively Kowloon district. It is located directly next to the ICC Tower, which is also home to the Ritz-Carlton.
Arrival
Most guests at the W Hong Kong will certainly arrive by plane. Otherwise, you can of course also arrive in the city by bus or car as you will also find exciting cities such as Macau and Shenzhen in the surrounding area. From mainland China, there is of course also the very convenient option of arriving by train.
We came from our short stay in Bali and flew the four and a half hours with Hong Kong Airlines on a rater disastrous flight to this beautiful and bustling city.
How you get to the hotel
The easiest way to get to the city is to take the Airport Express Train from the airport. The train departs directly in front of the terminal and the second stop is Kowloon, which is located right below the hotel. Approximately every 10 minutes a train departs and takes a good 30 minutes to Kowloon station. You can already get your first fantastic views of this great city during this time. The best way to buy tickets is right at the entrance to the station still inside the terminal. At the time of our stay, a ride cost around 25 euros per person per way.
Of course, you can also travel by cab, train or bus. But the Airport Express Train is actually the option that is not super expensive, but still rather convenient. Of course, there are also parking facilities for cars at the W Hong Kong.
We had already spent one night at the JW Marriott Hong Kong and therefore arrived at the W Hong Kong after a 20 minutes ride on the MTR. From Austin train station, however, it is about a 15-minute walk to the hotel.
Check-in
As mentioned before, we arrived at the W Hong Kong by foot coming from the MTR station feeling a little sweaty and at first I was a little confused as I couldn’t see a real check-in counter by the entrance. However, check-in takes place on the 6th floor of the building, so we had to take the elevator for a quick ride up first.
Once we reached the top, I was worried about a queue marked with barrier tape, but it was our turn straight away and the process was relaxed and uncomplicated. As a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium member, we were able to redeem a Suite Night Upgrade and were upgraded to the Marvelous Suite upon arrival. As a welcome gift, we had the choice between 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy points or complimentary breakfast for two. Of course and as always, we chose breakfast – but in the end the points still ended up in our account anyhow.
W Hong Kong at a glance
W Hong Kong was opened in August 2008, is part of the Cullian complex and the Union Square development project. Part of this is also the ICC building right next door, which is home to the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, among others. In addition to the hotel, this high-rise building also houses luxury apartments.
The hotel rooms are located on floors 16 to 38, with the lobby with WOOBAR and the all-day-dining restaurant KITCHEN located on the 6th floor. The 7th floor is for the spa and fitness studio. However, the pool with the Jacuzzi and the pool bar is located on the 76th floor and offers fantastic views over the city and the surrounding area.
The W Hong Kong is also located right next to the Elements Mall, which can easily be accessed from the hotel. There is also access to the Airport Express Train station.
As in many hotels in warmer regions, the air conditioning at W Hong Kong is unfortunately set very cold and cold air is constantly dropping out of the ceiling. In addition, as in almost every W Hotel, the characteristic scent is very present throughout the hotel.
Suite
As usual, we booked the smallest room category – in this case a Wonderful Room, but used a Suite Night Upgrade and were upgraded to one of the Marvelous Suites.
Our Suite No. 3311 is located in the corner of the 33rd floor and is the largest suite on this floor. This Suite will be our home for the night. Let’s check it out together!
Welcome
We noticed the welcome gift as soon as we entered the suite. W Hong Kong gifted us with a bottle of B&G Sparkling Wine. Plus a handwritten card with a welcome message.
Living room
As soon as you enter, you are greeted by a large mirror as a room divider, which separates the actual living room from the entrance area. To the right of the entrance door is a power room and just around the corner in the living area is a kind of bar area with the minibar, Nespresso machine, kettle, coffee, tea, snacks and crockery. In front of it is a somehow undefined sculpture, doubling as a champagne cooler?
The huge living room awaits you with sofa area, dining table, bike (in case the gym is too full) and spectacular view. You can really spread out here and even eat together if you want to. Of course, there is also a huge TV installed in the wall by the sofa area. Everything is really stylish and comfortable.
Bedroom
You enter the bedroom through a passageway from the living room, which is fully glazed with mirrors and can be closed if wanted. The fantastic king-size bed offers a total of 4 pillows, two of which are very firm and voluminous and two of which are filled with feathers and are softer but still wonderfully cozy.
The two bedside cabinets are fixed storage surfaces, containing all the controls for the entire room and parts of the suite on the front edge. The one on the right serves as a storage surface for the telephone, a clock radio including an induction charging function, pen and notepad. The left-hand one simply holds water and glasses. There are also individual reading lamps on each side of the headboard.
Opposite the bed, a TV is set into the wall and right next to it, in front of one of the floor-to-ceiling windows, is a desk with plenty of power outlets, a LAN connection and one of the best views in the city! Working here really is fun!
Fun fact: The blackout blinds can also be controlled electronically from the bed. So in the morning you don’t even have to get up to let the sun in and soak in the breathtaking views from your bed all at the same time!
Bathroom
When walking into the bathroom from the bedroom, you first enter a separate dressing room. There is space here to store a suitcase and hang up your clothes or put them in compartments. Bathrobes are hanging in the built-in wardrobe and slippers are ready for you. The safe can also be found here.
The actual bathroom is particularly impressive thanks to the huge window front and the amazing view. The room has a washstand with one washbasin, where you will also find all the amenities. These include Skin Regimen body lotion and Momo body wash.
Directly opposite the entrance is a dressing table with a Dyson hairdryer and a bathtub in front of the huge window, with a walk-in rain shower right next to it with the same view. There is also a toilet between the shower and the wardrobe.
As in the WOW Suite at W Singapore, a television is installed in the wall at the foot of the bathtub, but in this case it is obviously no longer functional and has been covered with mirror foil.
Turndown
Of course, a suite at the W Hong Kong also offers a very personal turndown service. In the evening, the comforter was folded back, a small chocolate was ready as a night cap, the curtains were closed and the bedroom was lit only by the reading lamps.
View
The view from the 33rd floor is truly spectacular! You have fantastic views over different parts of the city from every room in the suite and you can even enjoy the view from your bed or while taking a shower. Which at least I find really very special!
Hotel activities
Pool
The pool is located on a terrace on the 76th floor, is temperature-controlled and offers a fantastic view over Hong Kong. There is also a hot tub, which was pleasantly warm even in January, and in comparison you can still see from this perspective how incredibly high the neighboring ICC Tower still is.
There are several loungers to choose from and to the right around the corner from the entrance is the WetDeck pool bar, which also has its own seating up here. The entire area is open from 6 am to 10 pm. Great for an early morning refreshment in the pool or a swim into the sunset.
Magazines, water and towels are available at the entrance and you will be asked for your room number at reception upon entering.
Gym
The gym is located on the 73rd floor and is well equipped but was quite busy on all our visits and so the pictures are rather rudimentary.
Spa
Located on the 73rd floor is the spa with various treatment rooms, sauna, aroma steam bath and another hot tub with a fantastic view which can be used by all guests.
Restaurants
Restaurant
The all-day dining restaurant at the W Hong Kong is simply called Kitchen and offers international cuisine in buffet form for all main meals.
Bar
The Woobar is located right next to the reception on the 6th floor and offers cocktails, small snacks and, at certain party times, its own DJ on the console.
Breakfast
The W Hong Kong offers a very large buffet breakfast. Located in a large room behind the seating area, all the food and drinks are arranged around an open show kitchen in the center. The selection is really very large and, in addition to the standard European dishes, offers a huge number of different options from Asian cuisines, such as India, Japan and, of course, China. The dishes are constantly being made and replenished. You can also order your desired egg dishes fresh at an egg station. There is no à la carte selection, but hot drinks are ordered and served at your seat.
Check-out
The check-out was just as uncomplicated as the check-in. The billing was correct and the points were booked correctly, everything was perfectly prepared and really only took a few minutes. We were asked how we had enjoyed our stay and whether we needed any help with our departure.
Costs
This one night at the Marvelous Suite of the W Hong Kong cost us HKD 2,712 – mind you, this was actually the price for the Wonderful room. At the time of our stay, this corresponded to around 305 euros.
Breakfast was included because of our Marriott Bonvoy status and the upgrade came via a Suite Night Upgrade Certificate. All in all, a really great offer compared to the official direct booking price of over 1,100 euros.
Onward journey
The Airport Express Train departs directly from the basement of the hotel, so we were on our way to the airport in no time at all. As with the arrival, we were able to buy the tickets directly at the station and were at Hong Kong Airport a good 25 minutes later.
From there we flew back home on the Turkish Airlines 777 – 300 to Istanbul, from where we continued our journey back home.
Conclusion
The W Hong Kong really is a great hotel. The service was consistently good, the view from the suite and the pool deck truly fantastic, the design really cool and the location ideal for exploring Tsim Sha Tsui and the Harbour Front in particular. All this makes the W Hong Kong one of our highlights of the trip!
Recommendation
We can definitely recommend W Hong Kong! The hotel is a real experience, especially for couples and solo travelers. However, it is less suitable for families with children – the brand is really rather sexy and grown-up and there are absolutely no specific places for the little ones to feel particularly comfortable or where then can simply let off steam.
On our internal Evrywhre scale, we rate W Hong Kong as a premium property.
Hotel Homepage
Rating
We award the W Hong Kong a full 10 out of 10 possible points.
The full score is well deserved and we can award it with a clear conscience. A great stay from start to finish.
Go there?
Yes, absolutely.
YouTube Review
If you’d like to see even more and, above all, moving pictures of this great hotel, I can only warmly recommend our YouTube review by Fabi. Take a look and have fun!
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