Review: St. Regis Hong Kong (Great Marriott Bonvoy Property)

During my Aria Suite Adventure to Hong Kong, I spent a couple of nights at the 127-room St. Regis Hong Kong. This hotel has been on my radar since it first opened in 2019, and it’s one of the points hotels that I’ve most wanted to visit.

I very much enjoyed my stay at the St. Regis Hong Kong. The property has gorgeous design, friendly and attentive service, an impressive array of restaurants and bars, and an unlimited a la carte breakfast concept. The hotel also has a boutique feel, especially compared to some of the more “grand” hotels in Hong Kong.

I’d highly recommend this hotel, with one caveat. The St. Regis doesn’t have amazing views. Personally, an incredible view is something I probably value more in Hong Kong than just about anywhere else, as I think the Hong Kong skyline is one-of-a-kind. So that’s the one reason I’d probably consider staying elsewhere, though admittedly most rooms with a view of Victoria Harbour come at a steep premium.

Booking the St. Regis Hong Kong

I paid cash for my stay at the St. Regis Hong Kong, and the rate was roughly $450 per night, for the two nights. I booked through the Marriott STARS program, which offers extra perks, like complimentary breakfast, a room upgrade subject to availability, a $100 property credit, and more. Ford and his team can help with these requests, and can be reached at [email protected].

Admittedly aside from the $100 credit, many of those perks are redundant, given my Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador status.

I could have of course redeemed Marriott Bonvoy® points for my stay, though the hotel was charging around 95,000 points per night. Given my valuation of 0.7 cents per Marriott Bonvoy point, paying cash was the better value.

St. Regis Hong Kong location

The St. Regis Hong Kong is located on Hong Kong Island, in Wan Chai. It’s housed in a fairly intimate 27-floor standalone building.

When visiting Hong Kong, personally I’m indifferent as to whether I stay in Kowloon or on Hong Kong Island. I like the former for the views and more “local” feel, while I perhaps prefer the latter for how clean it is, and the general “downtown” vibe.

The St. Regis is set back a couple of blocks from Victoria Harbour. It’s just a little bit behind the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, right near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The hotel is a short walk from the Star Ferry pier, making it easy to get between the two sides of the city.

The hotel’s entrance is easy to miss from the main road, as there’s a large, covered driveway. But as soon as you pull up to the entrance, the great service begins. Once I arrived, the friendly bellmen helped me with my bags, and escorted me up to the lobby.

St. Regis Hong Kong lobby & check-in

The St. Regis Hong Kong has a small ground floor welcome area, with one seating area, useful if you’re waiting for a car or taxi.

However, the main lobby is on the second floor, so you’ll always have to take the elevator up there (you can’t go from guest rooms directly to the ground floor, as two elevator rides are required). I love the design of the St. Regis Hong Kong. It has such a luxurious and grand aesthetic, despite being a relatively boutique property.

The lobby has soaring ceilings, with reception and the concierge desk to the left, and some lobby seating to the right.

I arrived at the hotel mid-afternoon, and had a friendly and efficient check-in process. Within minutes, I was given a key to my room. I had booked a standard room, and on account of my Ambassador status and Marriott STARS booking, I was upgraded to a partial harbor view corner room. There was no suite upgrade available, which is of course fair enough.

St. Regis Hong Kong king corner room

With keys in hand, I headed up to the 27th floor (the hotel’s top floor), where my room, 2701, was located.

Each floor of the hotel is quite small, given that the building isn’t very large. Upon exiting the elevator I turned left, and then my room was the last one at the end of the hall, on the left.

For a non-suite, this room was very generously sized, at 53 square meters (570 square feet). I’d even argue it’s almost like a junior suite, as there’s a seating area and a large bathroom.

Anyway, the room boasted an entryway with some closet space to the left, the bathroom to the right, and the rest of the room straight ahead.

The room featured a king size bed, with a soft mattress and plush bedding.

Across from the bed was a sitting area with a small couch and a chair, a TV, and then a chair with ottoman on the opposite side of the room.

Waiting on the dining table was a welcome amenity with a note from my awesome Ambassador, Mike. The amenity consisted of a bottle of Lhuillier Brut Champagne, plus a decadent chocolate tart.

I thought the room’s decor was gorgeous. It was modern, while still feeling elegant and warm.

The tech throughout the room was great, with electric drapes and curtains, and control panels next to the bed.

Back near the entrance was a well stocked minibar, with complimentary coffee and tea, plus drinks and snacks for purchase.

One thing I couldn’t make sense of was that there was almost a barista-style Nespresso machine with a frother, yet there was no milk anywhere in the room. Was this just for show, was the milk missing, or…?

The bathroom was also spacious, with double sinks, a soaking tub, and a walk-in shower with exceptional water pressure (it was like being in a car wash, in the best way possible).

The toilet was off in a separate room, and I found it disappointing that this wasn’t a bidet-style toilet, since that’s typically pretty standard at high-end Asian hotels. It felt like no expenses were spared with the design of this hotel, but that was one of the few exceptions.

Toiletries were in reusable containers, from a brand I’ve not seen before at St. Regis properties.

There were also a variety of basic toiletry products in the bathroom. I appreciate when hotels have these placed in guest rooms, rather than only providing them on demand.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, one of the things I don’t love about the St. Regis Hong Kong is the views. I was in a partial harbor view room, which is about as good as views get from non-specialty suites. Indeed, the room had an angled view of the harbor in the distance, which was better than nothing.

The general cityscape in Hong Kong is interesting as well, so it’s a unique view in the other direction.

However, the hotel is also pretty close to another building, so you don’t feel like you have much privacy in your room if your curtains are open.

The St. Regis Hong Kong offers butler service in all rooms, and that includes St. Regis’ signature complimentary coffee and tea service. At this property, it’s available 24/7, with a huge variety of drinks offered.

You can order just about any coffee imaginable (from an iced latte to an espresso), plus you can order from a huge selection of tea, as well as orange juice. I appreciate the hotel’s generous implementation of this benefit, as it was one of the things that stood out to me about the guest experience.

All-in-all, I was delighted with the room, and found it to be spacious, comfortable, and functionally designed. Wi-Fi in the room was fast and free, and both housekeeping and turndown service were thorough and efficient.

St. Regis Hong Kong spa, pool, and gym

The St. Regis Hong Kong wellness area is located on the seventh floor, and this includes the spa, pool, and gym. The spa isn’t branded and is on the small side. I didn’t have a chance to get any treatments, though you can find the spa menu and price list below.

The St. Regis Hong Kong has an outdoor pool, open daily from 7AM until 10PM. It’s nice that the hotel has a pool (since many city hotels don’t), but I wouldn’t consider this to be a particularly inspiring setup. While there’s no hot tub, the pool is heated, so it’s warm even in winter. The hotel also has a pool bar serving drinks and snacks, but at least in winter, it’s not very popular.

The St. Regis Hong Kong boasts a 24/7 gym, which is generously sized, given the hotel’s low room count. It has an excellent selection of equipment for both weights and cardio.

Lastly, the St. Regis Hong Kong wellness area has a changing room, which also has a sauna.

St. Regis Hong Kong restaurants & bars

The St. Regis Hong Kong punches above its weight when it comes to fine dining, in addition to having the standard St. Regis food and beverage outlets. To summarize:

• The Drawing Room is the St. Regis’ lobby lounge, serving drinks, snacks, breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner
• The St. Regis Bar is the St. Regis’ signature open, open in the afternoon and evenings for drinks and snacks
• L’Envol is the St. Regis’ two Michelin star French restaurant, led by Chef Olivier Elzer
• Rùn is the St. Regis two Michelin star Chinese restaurant, led by Chef Hung Chi-Kwong

Having two restaurants that each have two Michelin stars is impressive. Then again, people will have differing opinions as to how useful it is to have such fine dining restaurants, since it’s not like the average guest can just pop in there for a drink, and they’re also quite popular with outsiders. Let me focus primarily on The Drawing Room and St. Regis Bar.

The Drawing Room is a pretty space in the back of the lobby, with couches, dining tables, and lounge-style seating.

There’s even a nice patio, weather permitting.

Then the St. Regis Bar is immediately next to that, and it’s an intimate space with a few tables, plus some high-top seating.

The bar has a cool three-part mural, that’s said to tell the story of Hong Kong.

Breakfast is served in The Drawing Room from 7AM until 10:30AM. Unlike many other Asian properties, there’s no mega buffet here, but instead there’s a large a la carte menu, and you can order as many things as you’d like. You can find the menu below.

This was included because I booked through Marriott STARS, though Marriott Platinum members and above can also select breakfast as their welcome amenity.

Upon sitting down, I was brought a fruit plate, a pastry basket, and was offered my choice of drinks. I had a freshly squeezed orange juice, plus an americano. It’s not a big deal, but you’d think they could do a little better than some random melons.

I decided to order the Japanese breakfast, with grilled miso marinated salmon, and it came with steamed rice, miso soup, tsukemono, spinach, and tamagoyaki. This was delicious.

I was basically full at this point, but decided to order something else, just for research, of course. 😉 So I selected the Korean croffle — I had never had one of these before, but I guess it’s supposed to be half croissant and half waffle.

Later in the evening, I met a friend for drinks at the St. Regis Bar. I love the hotel’s cocktail list, as the cocktails are location specific, and are presented in a cool way, in a book that’s almost supposed to look like a map.

I’m boring, though, and just ordered my typical negroni, which came with a big, St. Regis branded ice cube. It was also served with olives, mixed nuts, and popcorn.

St. Regis Hong Kong service

The St. Regis Hong Kong has exceptional service across the board, from the front desk, to the restaurant and bar staff, to the people working in the wellness area. In terms of service, this property very much has a boutique vibe, where the hotel staff get to know guests.

For example, when I returned to the bar area the second evening, the host remembered my name and drink order, which sure is impressive. Across the board, this hotel provides genuine hospitality, and that’s such a refreshing contrast to what we’re used to in the United States. I really can’t say enough good things about the staff here.

Bottom line

The St. Regis Hong Kong is a very good hotel, with a boutique feel, an elegant and luxurious design, exceptional service, and an impressive array of restaurants and bars. There’s also a nice wellness area, including a top notch gym and an outdoor pool. I also like the hotel’s unlimited a la carte breakfast concept.

I’d absolutely recommend the St. Regis Hong Kong, as I find it to be a great property. However, personally I value a harbor view in Hong Kong, so for my own travels, I’d probably prioritize another property in the future. That’s just me, though, and that’s a specific preference.

What’s your take on the St. Regis Hong Kong?