This is a hotel with the WOW effect: W Hong Kong review

Of all the 5-star signs in the Marriott chain I have to say. the one where I am most comfortable is definitely W Hotel. Certainly St Regis and Ritz Carlton are, in some ways, synonymous with luxury and elegance, but if I can choose I prefer W, although it is not always a good choice.

W Hotels does not aim to revolutionize the world of the hotel industry, quite the contrary. These hotels seek to captivate the guest with beauty, modern art, design, and form, often as original as the new hotel in Edinburgh.

These hotels are designed for my generation, i.e., travelers who are in their 30s and 50s, wanderlusters who want to treat themselves well but don't want opulent environments where waiters travel in slippers so as not to make noise, guests who like to hunt for details, sip cocktails while the DJ fills the place with bass and not where there is a string trio at tea time.

However, the result is not always as hoped. I have been to heaven in Bali e Muscat, to hell to New York e Los Angeles and since the price is never cheap, it's not the best when things don't run smoothly.

Reservation

Having to spend about 36 hours at Hong Kong, and after having already tried several hotels in the city I decided to try one of the most beautiful and exclusive properties in the Marriott portfolio. The need to get closer to the 75-night milestone to renew my Titanium status And the guaranteed late check-out at 4 p.m. did the rest.

The cost of the room was about 500$ for one night, so I wisely Decided to use 55k Bonvoy points To save my wallet and treat myself to a night Before resuming the journey around Asia..

Location

From the outside, the W Hong Kong, has nothing shared at the hotel in Barcelona or Sydney, indeed. It is one of many new buildings in the most up-and-coming neighborhood of West Kowloon, we are, however, far from the concrete towers that mark the rest of the Hong Kong Skyline.

Overlooks Kowloon Bay and is located above a shopping complex that also houses the subway with a direct connection to the airport, and not only that since this very station is where you can check in and send your luggage as has been the case, for example, recently at Termini, without having to lug your bags around.

Check-in

In a W Hotel you look for energy, vibe, a mood that transports the guest to a different dimension, and this hotel was just that. From the moment you set foot in the hotel the W, and what it entails, welcomes the guest in all its facets.

Behind the check-in desk is this huge, almost psychedelic flashing screen. It is incredibly huge and colorful and makes a stark contrast to the shiny black uniforms of the staff. Needless to say, everything went smoothly and from basic room we found ourselves in one of the best rooms in the hotel, a Fabulous Room with a harbor view.

The room

In a W one expects nonconformity and design, and here was everything I expected (and more).

The willingness to play with the guest begins with the names of the rooms and environments (the pool is in the Wet Floor) or with design choices, such as "hiding" elevator buttons inside paintings or The room number in a book. The entire "book" also serves as a "Do Not Disturb" sign; once the button is pressed, a red light comes on, warning room service members to keep walking.

As soon as you step into the room you are left open-mouthed by the sight, of course there are those who might turn up their noses and say, "but you want to put a view of a snowy forest..." true, but I love life, lights, seeing the passage of time from the window, and here there was all that as well as the fantastic Hong Kong Bay.

In the room everything makes sense, there is everything you would expect from a facility of this category, but without a doubt the real pluses of our room were the view and the bathroom. Technology serves man, not the other way around. Honorable mention for the mattress and topper that allowed us to sleep like we were inside a cloud.

By day, by night, from sunrise to sunset it always seemed to be somewhere different, a real spectacle.

Sleeping without closing the (electric) curtains was not difficult at all, the difficult thing was to close my eyes and stop looking out the window.

There was room in the room for everything, and I must say. my huge yellow Level8 trunk and my faithful traveling companion in aluminum on wheels absolutely did not disfigure in this context.

As mentioned, the bathroom, overlooking the room, was the other undisputed star. Little plastic and Bliss products, the same ones used in the hotel's spa.

From the menu to choose the type of pillow, to the (restocked) mini-bar, from a workstation perfect for smart working to Nespresso capsules, and best of all, there was even a button to rule the dark and turn off all the lights, without having to hunt for the last click.

The swimming pool

We are in a rooftop pool that has no nothing to envy the best swimming pools I found around the world. We are on the 76th floor, sure will not be the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, but it is not exactly Pension Maria.

The wet deck is not only a refuge away from everyone, but also a perfect place to relax. An Olympic-size pool runs parallel to the glass pool fence from where you can watch the world around you. An iconic mosaic wall looms over the entrance depicting an explosion of life.

The play of reflections between clouds, skyscrapers and blue sky gave optical illusions that made the buildings disappear.

Needless to say, enjoying these environments without screaming children and no one training for the Paris Olympics made it all very, very, relaxing even considering the noise that one instead experiences constantly on the streets of Hong Kong.

Food & Beverage

The WOOBAR is decidedly nontrivial in terms of decor. Butterflies hang from the ceiling, a huge neon W houses the DJ console.

During the day the atmosphere is quiet and serene; more suit and tie than fashion show. But as in all W Hotels and as soon as the sun goes down that Woo comes to life, transforming like Clark Kent into Superman, as soon as the first track plays the ambiance heats up and the rest is taken care of by cocktails prepared by professional bartenders.

Then there are two restaurants, Kitchen and Sing Yin. The former is the breakfast host and offers international cuisine to its patrons. While the second offers typical Cantonese cuisine. We did not take advantage of these offerings, because when we are out and about we like to "randomly" enter places that are hardly reviewed in gourmet guides.

Breakfast

Breakfast, when I travel, is my main meal. For me it's like it's always Sunday and always brunch time, and I was really comfortable here.

We tasted everything from Asian to international food. Sweet and sour pork versus eggs Benedict. Sweets of pure decadence covered in sugar, freshly squeezed juices all the way to ice cream.

Impossible to make a list of everything there was, certainly I didn't see the fried squid (I only found that at Movenpick in Prague), but otherwise there was just about anything you could think of eating at a wedding banquet, considering then that you could always order on the spot at one of the various express kitchens: noodles, congee all the way up to even eggs. If you're curious, browse the gallery above.

In conclusion

This was yet another WOW experience in a W Hotel., however, too bad that everything is so up and down and there is no certainty that the next time will be the same. Would I return to this hotel? definitely yes. Would I come back to this hotel? probably not, but only because I like to wander, try things and go for discovery, If not, I would never have slept in an Ovolo Hotel. nor would I return to a rip-off place like a W Hotel.

 

• Bonvoy
• sleep with points