We just had the chance to spend a couple of nights at the Rosewood Hong Kong, which is the hotel on this trip that I was most excited to check out.
Continue reading: Staying At The Rosewood Hong Kong, Recently Rated The World’s Best Hotel
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Glad you liked it too! Your experience and sentiment mirror mine (minus I didn't stay there for free, sadly lol), and you put it nicely, it feels like no expense was spared in the room design and materials used. The wall treatments are crazy. And unlike a lot of modern ultra luxury hotels, it actually feels warm and homey. Makes me want to go back soon!
Looks amazing, but as for the towel shelf in the shower, I've seen that many times, including, say, a Hilton Garden Inn.
Obviously not inexpensive, but those room rates (especially for suites) are substantially less expensive than I would have expected. There are so many lesser hotels that cost more (sometimes considerably so).
Beautiful. Ben, would you recommend paying extra for the Club Manor access, or, just go with entry-level, using a program like FHR, hope for upgrade to a decent view, etc.?
Ben- regarding design, I have to assume you've been to the Inn at Little Washington and experienced their over-the-top design? (If not, why not?) While not of the same style as this Rosewood, the exhaggerated feel is also showcased elsewhere.
If it were comped, I would stay here too. However, I'm someone that will drive 90 minutes and stay overnight at a Holiday Inn Express for a mini-getaway to make sure my free night cert doesn't expire unused.
I thought the same thing! That didn't seem so revolutionary to me, but perhaps there is something unique about this towel shelf?
I’m not surprised you found eating at a restaurant was a decent value. We are so conditioned to expect extortion from a restaurant in the US. One of the nicest things about traveling is rediscovering food and drink at fair prices.
The Peninsular Hotel is actually a truly classic, historic Hong Kong Hotel. It possesses real grandeur, being both exceptionally elegant and nostalgic too. The Rolls Royce airport pickup and drop off completes the overall unforgettable experience.
The Rosewood is an expensive modern, New Hong Kong, anywhere in the world hotel.
Most chaps take their ‘dragons’ with them Ronnie …. they are not ‘wasted’ on the walls either …. used as ‘bed warmers’ perhaps? 🙂
“I don’t want to know how much money was spent”
By now, NWD shareholders would like to know 😉
They've had these at 2-star hotels for 70 years. Its called a towel rack, and it's that metal thing at the end of the shower/tub combo.
When a gushing review comes to the conclusion that "aspects of the experience might feel a bit impersonal", I think I can safely conclude that the hotel doesn't meet the mark claiming to be the best hotel in the world. Even when you cheekily already limit this to "large city hotel" (whatever that means... only city hotels with 400+ keys?).
I am also missing a picture of the welcome amenity and assume this was also not meeting the standard of what a discerning traveller would expect in a suite or the best hotel in the world.
Reading your hotel and flight reviews in Asia, I feel you are just very easily impressed - standards in the region are much higher than what people get to experience in the US. There are different shades of good and you sometimes seem to be unable to distinguish them.
So Pete, what is wrong with mainland Hong Kong? Just interested, not critical.
LOL, at least we know Gene never stayed at this property before because it's not like what you think at all.
It’s not a shelf. The showers in the suites have two separate entrances and two separated sets of rain heads. Between them on the wall side is a marble bench built into the tiling. Opposite that is a glass cabinet with a glass door. Inside the glass cabinet are fresh towels. You have a shower, sit and steam on the bench then take a towel from the cabinet to dry yourself or wear and then you exit the shower. Perhaps not life changing but pleasant.
Indeed, and I doubt I ever will (although $1,100 for a suite is an attractive price). I'm fare more likely to stay at Grand Hyatt or InterContinental with a free suite upgrade for less than half of that price.
I’m a big fan of your work Ben but I just don’t like that you and Ford seem to be in cahoots nowadays. Your credibility has historically come from your impartiality and policy of not accepting comped rooms. Whether it’s you or Ford accepting the “hospitality” is beside the point - your household is accepting these freebies and the conflict of interest is evident.
I think this results in a review that’s way below standard and very superficial. There is so little detail and so few specifics that I almost felt you had a tour of the hotel rather than staying! Im sure you did stay, so maybe this isn’t meant to be a review but a gushing endorsement? I don’t mean to be unkind but I think you’re diminishing your (well earned) reputation.
To be fair on Ben, he made it quite clear this was not the full review and multiple more in-depth articles are to come. Your criticism may come from a reasonable place but the apparent lack of reading comprehension undermines it.
Yeah we get it, you're bougie. What's the point of so many posts about hotels that you can't book with points on a miles and points blog?
A room without butler service in totality beneath someone with your status in life. Lol
My experience there was very different. I was very excited to stay there, and the Rolls Royce transfer was epic, but besides that I thought it was completely soulless. Tired rooms, influencers and tour groups everywhere, virtually inexistent service... Maybe I had bad luck but it was enough for me to never want to return, at that price point.
@ jcil -- Sorry, what have I said that suggests I feel that way? I stay at a lot more hotels that don't have butler service than that do, but when available (and useful), it's a service worth mentioning.
@ Mantis -- I discussed this a bit in a recent post:
https://onemileatatime.com/insights/hotel-industry-evolved-preferences/
The reality is that these hotels are bookable with points through credit card travel portals, there are credit cards offering credits at these hotels, etc.
The Waldorf Astoria Maldives is bookable with points, but at the rate of 250K points per night. How useful is that for the average traveler?
@ Tony -- I appreciate you reading, and the feedback. This isn't the actual review, but just a preview, as I often do for hotel stays. There will be a full review with thousands of words and 100+ pictures coming soon.
I hear you about these kinds of reviews being less independent, and that's fair. Ultimately I still try to separate things out, and be transparent. A vast majority of my hotel stays are paid for out of pocket, and I try to make that clear.
The reality is that when Ford earns or receives a stay somewhere at a hotel that interests me, I can't help but tag along, out of interest, if nothing else. But I get it, and I respect your point. 🙂
@ SMK77 -- Actually, the welcome amenity consisted of tarts with caviar, so I think it's one that a "discerning traveller" would appreciate. This isn't a full review, but instead, is intended to be a preview. It's intentionally kept shorter. I'll have all the details in the full review.
For the record, the hotel isn't making the claim that it's the best in the world, based on its own criteria. It was awarded that by another organization, and it's simply stating that it received this honor.
As I've said year after year when the 50 Best list is published, personally I don't consider any huge hotel to be the single best in the world. But because of how the system of awarding this works, those are often the hotels that win. That's why I think the hotels that win are generally excellent, but maybe not necessarily the absolute best (an honor that I don't think can easily be determined anyway).
meh -truly meh. Obviously the rosewood owners have some influence on the rankings!
Color me shocked that no expense is spared in design but the suites still have a non-electric toilet (no heated seats!). HK is known for setting the AC on frigid and those icy cold porcelain seats are a rude morning awakening for me.
Look forward to your in-depth review of the Manor Club!
An interesting observation Clem, can one assume that your stay was prior to the extensive restoration works in 2024?
I urge you to experience your website on a mobile phone. It is literally unusable because of the ads (cannot scroll because the ad covers the entire page)
Agreed. I'm in the UK so used to an all-in price declared up front but last time in NYC, what looked like a reasonable price for Michelin starred food (Nix, Kajitsu and Dovetail, all since closed unfortunately) soon escalates once sales tax and an effectively mandatory tip are added. Food was good at all three though, though Dovetail gets docked a few points for twice bringing me meat dishes when I'd said I was vegetarian in the booking and on arrival! I got an apology from the GM but don't know whether the done thing would have been to reduce the tip below 20%?
"For the record, the hotel isn't making the claim that it's the best in the world, based on its own criteria. It was awarded that by another organization, and it's simply stating that it received this honor."
I don't understand. If I am telling everyone I am awarded Number 1 hotel in the world, I am not telling the world that I am Number 2? What is the hotel trying to say here?
They are charging 800 USD a night for impersonal service and they can get away with it because they don't claim they are the best hotel?
But in short: you have no view and will not communicate one even if the hotel clearly is not one of the best? Surreal.
@ SMK77 -- I think we're talking past one another here. The hotel isn't trying to "say" anything here. The hotel was awarded first place by an independent, third party. I'm just mentioning that award was done, not that the Rosewood Hong Kong is screaming from the rooftops "we're the best hotel in the world, bow down to us!"
Regarding service, I'm simply making the point that based on my experience, no hotel in the world with (let's say) 300+ rooms is going to have truly personal service for every guest who walks in, unlike a hotel with 30 rooms. I don't think that's a controversial take, that's just a function of math.
Being from Dallas, I still take pride in the fact that the Rosewood Hotel Group was started by the Hunt family and to this day, it's still a treat to go to the Mansion on Turtle Creek here in Dallas. Glad to hear that Rosewood is still maintaining the high standards that it has always had.
And maybe, just maybe this hotel gets to the top of the list in part by giving free stays to travel advisors like Ford....
Build a Trump tower next to it and I will visit Hong Kong. President Trump is the greatest leader the world has ever seen.
“our shower had what looked like a bookshelf within it, where towels were stored, so that you could grab a towel after showering, without even having to open the door” ..the Marriott Courtyard at Irvine Spectrum has the same thing 😉
@Ben…your article mentions $800, $1,100 and $1,200…I’m guessing you mean USD but it’s not clear the you don’t mean HKD. Twenty sovereign countries use their own version of a dollar. The $ sign can mean something very different to someone else. I think it would help your international audience to provide the ISO currency codes when you review hotel prices outside of the US (CAD, AUD, NZD, HKD, SGD etc. or USD if you are converting)
I'm not sure if this is 100% accurate (I was only there for a week) but I think the biggest difference is the mix of tourists on each side of the river, and the restaurant/bars/scene that this leads to. In Kowloon it seemed to be almost entirely Mainland Chinese, which meant that the scene was mostly targted at them with a few HK Cafes etc. remaining. On HK Island it was a much broader mix (still some Mainlanders but mixed in with Westerners and other Asians) which seemed to lead a higher concentration of the mix of food/drink outlets that I went to HK hoping to find.
Is there any advantage to booking via a luxury travel advisor (i.e similar to the free breakfast, upgrades etc when booking 4 Seasons, or Hyatt Prive etc)
Please do not review comped hotels or airlines. I've been reading OMAAT for years and independence is a key to your success.
I disagree. It’s vital that stays, flights, or experiences provided on a complimentary basis are clearly and openly declared as such, and Ben is always scrupulous about this. It’s up to the reader to apply their own filter to reviews so declared. In this case, Ben’s glowing report is in keeping with the hotel’s awarded status as “best in the world’. We are, of course, entitled to disagree with both the award and Ben’s review if we so desire.
May I suggest a compromise? Ben can continue to review these properties for those who enjoy the reviews, and you simply don't read them.
I do not have this experience. I read with stock Chrome and get a small, easily dismissible ad on the bottom 20% of the screen.
Pay no mind to the negative comments like "your bougie." I think you're anything but that, and your reviews re always very candid and objective. You're the only travel blogger I read regularly, and it's because you do not come across as arrogant and you have credibility. Keep up the good work!
@Mantis
I for one appreciate the different perspective given by reviewing boutique/luxury hotels outside of the big points chains. It offers a a meaningful and valuable comparison in terms of expected service and hard product at a given price point. Not to mention Ben's (accurate) observation that many luxury/aspirational points hotels aren't actually realistically bookable with points these days, either due to the insane per night point cost or hotels increasingly playing availability games.
Just to pile on - these reviews are extremely useful because there is a pretty massive gap for high quality luxury hotel reviews. You basically have CN Traveler and the like, which are both shallow and biased - more like a paid advertisement than a true review.