InterContinental Hong Kong’s Terrace Suite, Photo Credit: InterContinental Hong Kong
Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star InterContinental Hong Kong has a lot going for it, from its star-rated restaurants to its perfect location right on Victoria Harbour. And while we could go on for hours discussing how spacious and sophisticated the rooms are, we’d like to point out five other things we adore about the luxurious address.
The view
The Hong Kong hotel sits right up against the water, and its walls of windows perfectly frame the dazzling cityscape. With colorful lights of the skyscrapers reflecting in the harbor, red-sailed wooden junk boats line the water.
The floor-to-ceiling windows found in the harbor-view rooms, the hotel’s restaurants and most of its public areas offer glimmering views of the sights.
Harbour View Room, Photo Credit: InterContinental Hong Kong
The transportation options
InterContinental Hong Kong is near MTR stops for East Tsim Sha Tsui and Tsim Sha Tsui stations, so you can easily head north to Mong Kok for bargain-hunting or zip past Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island.
For a breezier trip across the water, walk five minutes to the Star Ferry terminal. The charming wooden boats have been ferrying passengers between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon since 1888, and though the journey now takes just 10 minutes, the boats have barely changed in nearly 130 years.
The handy phone
A clever amenity in the guest rooms is the complimentary handy phone. This smartphone can be used to make calls at no cost to Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, the U.K., the U.S., South Korea and Taiwan.
Even better, it has unlimited 3G data service, so you can either use the phone itself to look things up on the go, or you can turn it into a mobile hot spot and use your own device.
Yan Toh Heen, Photo Credit: InterContinental Hong Kong
The food
The area around InterContinental Hong Kong is full of great places to eat, but the hotel’s restaurants are so delightful you won’t want to step outside.
Four-Star Yan Toh Heen serves beautifully plated Cantonese fare. The freshest seafood, including unique takes on abalone, is a mere request away. Tender roasted meats — an essential element of Cantonese cuisine — and dim sum as pretty as a postcard sit on every table.
You only have until January 1, 2017, to dine at Five-Star Spoon by Alain Ducasse. Then the space will undergo a renovation and then debut in mid-February as Rech, the first outpost of Ducasse’s famed seafood restaurant outside of France.
In both bright spaces, and at Japanese restaurant Nobu, the views of Victoria Harbour and the Hong Kong skyline are just as stunning as the food.
The décor
InterContinental Hong Kong’s tasteful lobby belies the trendy, chic aesthetic found in the restaurants.
At Nobu, for example, the handsome bar is made of wood reclaimed from a tree that was damaged during a typhoon. A whopping 450,000 hand-strung pencil-urchin spines hang from the ceiling, another nod to nature’s importance in the property’s design.
At Yan Toh Heen, the entrance wall is made of the restaurant’s original napkin rings and place settings, the shades of jade offset beautifully by the gleaming marble floor.
