Earlier, I wrote about how I’m planning a trip to Hong Kong, and am deciding on which hotels to stay at. In passing, I mentioned how the Peninsula Hong Kong strikes me as being a ”luxury factory,” with the lobby overflowing with non-hotel guests.
Continue reading: Hotels With Bustling Food & Beverage Outlets: What’s The Sweet Spot?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I recently stayed at The Peninsula in Manila, where only hotel guests are welcome to use the restaurant. Makes a big difference and I was kept up til 3am given intense partying from hoodlums!
I have always preferred hotels without on-site dining. Makes me get out into the great outdoors and really see the place! Travelling and not leaving the hotel is illegal in several jurisdictions.
Everyone's different, but I use points and miles to book luxury travel I wouldn't pay cash for. So if I book a luxury hotel using points (notably most of the hotels Ben references aren't points properties), I have zero interest in eating dinner at the property's 'luxury' restaurant and paying probably the highest prices in the city. All of these hotels are in cities with hundreds/thousands of restaurants. So with the exception of the hotel both having a particularly exceptional restaurant AND holding tables for hotel guests (AND other guests haven't already taken those tables), I don't see much value in great hotel restaurants.
I'll add in another category to your bullet point list - after a recent stay at the Park Hyatt Jakarta (since a few comments on your previous blog mentioned it). It's a great hotel and has fantastic bars and restaurants, clearly popular with both guests and locals. Sounds great... Except the hotel is also a massive conference center (I believe it has 13 different event spaces), and I happened to be there while there were a few taking place. I was enjoying the main bar one evening, which has amazing views, live music, and a great atmosphere. Then in came attendees from two different conferences, completely flooding it and killing the vibe. I couldn't even hear the music after they came in.
I'm surprised to hear your experience at the Ritz. That's never been my experience, though Bar Hemingway of course needs quite a bit of notice given its size.
We checked out of the Ritz-Carlton Shanghai Pudong exactly because of this. Their lobby was overflowing with non-guests. We headed to the JW which we knew was more sane.
Your FourSeasons radar is spot on. By deduction, I presume you are staying at the Four Seasons in HKG.....
I want a hotel that is quiet. I don't necessarily need an onsite restaurant or bar. I can always do Uber Eats. Like others said it often brings crowds and noise.
Speaking of Shanghai, anyone ever taken that wild ‘tourist tunnel’ under the river? A clown pops out half way through…trippy stuff.
Interestingly, this very comment confirmed what people are saying offsite: this account is AI. And should be banned immediately, Ben (of Tipponi).
The incongruent logic is exactly what AI would do while sounding "normal".
Keep this in mind. And know if Ben keeps letting this pass as real, human interaction, you can hit his advertisers.
Also, I know this comment will be censored. So you or s*men-guzzling Buick: You can't hide anymore.
Fake 1990, I actually stayed at the Conrad in Manilla. Honestly, it was just ok (close to MNL airport for connecting flights); Peking duck at their Chinese restaurant, Blue China, was decent. Probably should’ve stayed at the Peninsula. Eh, next time.
—O.G. 1990
Missy, I doubt the initial 1990 comment about the Peninsula was AI; it’s just a guy who likes to troll (and often uses sexually suggestive names). He’s also done fake versions of Eskimo and a few other regulars. Wait… ‘Missy’ are you… him, too? Oof. The plot thickens…
I'm with you. Hotel restaurants are almost always insanely overpriced and a terrible deal. If you care about good food it is usually much better to pick the hotel separately and aim for an area with a good selections of restaurants nearby. This is also one reason I don't place a very high value on things like the FHR property credits. I usually just use them for a few overpriced drinks and eat elsewhere.
Sorry you had to bad experience in Tampa. The edition in London has a fantastic restaurant and they were able to get us in last minute. It was completed booked but they got us in.
Just throwing that out there so people know it’s property specific and not necessarily brand.
I love most Peninsula hotels but will not stay at the HK flagship because it's too much of a circus with non-guests.
I loathe the FS HK and Lung King Heen (both too big/corporate and wildly overrated). The Upper House, on the other hand, is divine.
It has been 15 years, but, I too, had tea at the Peninsula even before Instagram was a thing, but one still "had" to do it. The queue of birkenstock wearing tourists waiting in the very prominent queue was a troublesome distraction if not tacky.
Surely they could (and maybe now do) use a reservation system to manage the sheer number of wannabes?
When I staying in late 2019, found the exact same issue as you describe. Mind you, that was peak Instagram era. Plus the place has kind of run its course, as I noted when I returned in early 2024 - service and food quality had gone downhill and the physical facility was tired and totally falling apart. When I walked into the bathroom, I was shocked to see none other than Tom "Hasselhoff" "The D" DoubleDeuce (also known as Tim Dunce) oiling his nipples as they were "very badly chafed". Terrible! This conduct would not, I repeat, NOT, have been accepted back in 2019!
Rod
Very well thought out comment from Uncle "Mary Poppins" Ronnie. That's the best you could do!?!
I think it depends on the experience and type of service you are looking for. The Penninsula in Hong Kong has very good, classic, traditional service. They do reserve reservations for tea time and for other dining outlets for guests of the hotel being a priority. This said if you can still use the Marriott 85,000 point certificate at the St Regis, I would suggest it. I had a good experience in the recent past at both.
Just needs to be busy enough that they invest in quality food. Too not busy and the quality almost always suffers. Too busy and it sucks if you can’t get a table when you want one
Heck hotels can't even get your standard room ready by 5PM, you think they can get you a table at 8PM for their hottest venue?
And why the comments suddenly becomes a HK hotel bashing theme.
Like other big cities with high demand locations, there will be wait times.
That said, should hotel guests receive special treatments. No.
Demanding a reservation purely because you're a hotel guest is entitlement.
You don't get preferred reservations in NYC restaurants because you reside in West Village either right?
Be civilized, and wait in line like other people.
There are top restaurants that are associated with the hotels that are absolutely worth trying. Plenitude in Paris at the Cheval Blanc, SingleThread at the SingleThread Inn, Four Seasons Tokyo and SEZANNE and so on. Even points hotels like the Ritz Hong Kong and Tin Lung Heen, or the Waldorf Amsterdam and Spectrum.
Totally agree with this. Stayed at the Shangri La London (high up with views) a few years back. Couldn’t get a table for lunch as they were packing them in for afternoon tea. Seems to be a common problem in London with everyone wanting afternoon tea at a hotel without even staying there. No space for hotel guests is disappointing.
Definitely a ‘fake’ Eskimo post …. how refreshing, more than ten words and no racism to be endured.
Yes, quite!
If we all post as 1990 or ‘Ben’ or ‘Lucky’ then misappropriation of logins might just be curtailed, yes Ben?
Get real fake Peninsular guests. Only in your dreams would you be allowed to be an overnight guest there.
Actually, the reality of the situation is that only points prols are affected by overcrowding in hotel food outlets. Discerning hotel guests take meals in the privacy of their suites, served by a personal butler.
Ronnie, what is a “Conference Hotel”?
Something which is only present in the U.S.?
Funny you mention Tampa EDITION. This is the hotel that sprung immediately to mind and I would definitely put in this category. I had an equally bad experience there for numerous reasons including them prioritising F&B guests over hotel guests. Booked Amex FHR for 1 night in November 2024.
1. When I arrived the lobby was mobbed with people at the bar and throughout the lobby. People drinking before the hockey game at stadium. What seemed to be a high school homecoming celebration. No doorman or other to help through the crowds and find the inconspicuous check in desk.
2. When I got on flight upgrade had been cleared to bayview suite. At check-in informed me that not only had I not been upgraded, I had been downgraded to entry level double bed room.
3. Informed that the rooftop pool, bar and restaurant were all closed from 3pm for a private event (the high school homecoming event!). I could use the JW Marriott pool, but unfortunately that had now been closed due to a fire alarm.
4. Not to worry they were giving me $75 F&B credit in the hotel, together with my $100 FHR credit and $80 breakfast credit for my 1 night stay. But it was Saturday night and all the restaurants were booked except the lobby.
5. My room was right above the entrance so all I heard was the queue for the night club and the amped up sports cars they arrived in at the valet.
Such a shame because was such a nice hotel. But clearly prioritising its F&B venues at the weekend over its hotel guests.
The Ops Manager refused to budge on anything and was dismissal of my complaints. However, the General Manager did respond to my email complaint later in the week and comped the stay.
Because I am a glutton for punishment I stayed again on FHR this past November. Room wasn't ready at 2pm arrival and not until after 6pm. They said it was because they were trying to put me in an upgraded room, but that never materialised! At least no downgrade, but they were refusing guaranteed late checkouts to all FHR guests!
Real Aero, both of the above ‘1990’s were not me. How ‘fun’ that you fell for it. Oof.
—O.G. 1990
Actually, 1990, one takes absolutely no notice of the probability of the fake posters misappropriating genuine contributors posts. If Ben, couldn’t care less, clearly others are of the very same mindset, therefore, the value of this site is being diminished daily, yes?
Agreed that FS (as always) strikes the right balance.
The key is for the food/drinks and service to be comparable to that of the surrounding neighborhood, while making sure the venue is not a destination unto itself to attract people that are not otherwise in the neighborhood.
“I’m offended by all these non-guests disrupting my afternoon tea” said the non-guest
You had 1 out of 2 chance to guess it right and you still screw it up.
No wonder you cost HM the war. You screwed up the war too. BA doesn't want a knob like you to be their apologist.
Regent Taipei does not hold any tables for the hotel guests at any of their restaurants.
Data Point: I'll be staying at the Pen in Chicago next week; it's restaurant week, and the main restaurant there is booked out for what I needed. I called yesterday and gave them a date and a couple of times I wanted, and they said either one was fine.
So whilst I can't speak for the entire chain, for sure the Pen in Chicago either keeps tables held back or makes room for hotel guests, which is a very nice perk.