Earning one Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star award is the ultimate achievement, but three Asia hotels went above and beyond, snagging four coveted Five-Stars for the first time. We’ve had an elite group of “triple Five-Stars” — those with a top-rated hotel, restaurant and spa — but upon announcing our debut restaurant ratings in Asia, several hotels with multiple star-rated restaurants pulled ahead. Thanks to that power play, we have an inaugural group of properties that won quadruple Five-Stars.
Since opening in 1963 and launching the Mandarin Oriental brand, the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel has been a favorite. Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, is known for excellent service and top-tier technology. The rooms are as luxurious as you’d expect from the island’s grand dame hotel — travertine and marble bathrooms stocked with Hermès amenities, and walnut furnishings that are both sleek and homey.
The luxury doesn’t stop in the rooms, though; be sure to make reservations at the hotel’s two new Five-Star restaurants, Pierre and Mandarin Grill + Bar. Perched on the 25th floor, Pierre Gagnaire’s eponymous Hong Kong outpost delivers an amazing dining experience, with its creative French menu featuring dishes such as marbled goose foie gras terrine with three different types of brioche, not to mention the stunning views of Victoria Harbour. At Mandarin Grill + Bar, you’ll find exciting twists on classic dishes (try the “bacon and egg,” composed of 18-week Spanish suckling pig, organic duck egg, herbs and truffle jus).
Once you’ve fulfilled your culinary desires, unwind at the Five-Star spa. Though there are just eight treatment rooms, The Mandarin Spa is sprawled out over two floors. The relaxing retreat echoes 1930s Shanghai, with dark wood antiques and lacquer accents. Rather than booking a specific service, reserve a block of time, allowing you to choose your fate depending on your mood upon arriving at the spa. Treatments incorporate the healing philosophies of traditional Chinese medicine while blending in some contemporary techniques as well.
This Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel is the crown jewel of Macau’s City of Dreams complex with its glass façade glimmering day and night. Inside, the sleek Oriental-inspired décor (picture a high-ceilinged lobby filled with bamboo groves and Asian art) reinforces that glamorous tone. The 290 rooms, including 33 opulent villas, are decked out with floor-to-ceiling windows, ensuring you can savor top-notch vistas of Cotai and Taipa; marble bathrooms with deep-soaking tubs and rain showers; and plush beds swathed in 600-thread-count cotton linens.
The luxury seeps into Crown Towers Macau’s amenities, in the form of a delightfully relaxing Five-Star spa. The interiors ooze modernity with dramatic accents such as massive steel doors and curved walls, but there are plenty of soothing touches as well. Unwind in one of The Spa at Crown’s vitality pools prior to your treatment (we suggest the tui na massage, which incorporates strong kneading motions to release blocked energy), then take a dip in the heated outdoor pool for a bit of vitamin D post-treatment.
You’ll want to give your taste buds the same royal treatment, by way of Five-Star dining at Jade Dragon and The Tasting Room. Chef Tam Kwok Fung’s delectable Cantonese cuisine can be had at Jade Dragon. In addition to classics such as roasted goose, the menu offers traditional Chinese medicine soups that help to balance the body and encourage longevity. If you aren’t in the mood for Chinese, reserve a table at The Tasting Room for eclectic European fare. Relish elegant dishes such as oven-baked sea bass with wild mushrooms, yellow wine sauce and Tasmanian black truffles, or unique options such as abalone carbonara-style with 56-month pata negra ham.
Situated within Hong Kong’s International Finance Centre, this Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star dazzler borders the beautiful Victoria Harbour — that means just about everywhere you go in the hotel, you’ll have a great view. The East-meets-West rooms (complete with silk-paneled interiors and marble entryways) boast wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows showing off postcard-worthy panoramas of the harbor, Victoria Peak and Kowloon.
Those marvelous sights don’t go away, even when you’re retreating to Five-Star The Spa at Four Seasons Hong Kong. The 17 treatment rooms have large windows, so even when you’re in the midst of a fusion massage (a combination of hot stone and Swedish techniques), you can soak up that harbor backdrop. Slip deeper into relaxation with a session in the mosaic vitality lounge or the eucalyptus-scented Finnish sauna.
Keeping with the East-meets-West theme, Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong’s two Five-Star restaurants represent flavors from China and France. Divine Cantonese cuisine is whipped up in the kitchen of Lung King Heen, which translates to “View of the Dragon.” Chef Chan Yan Tak creates intricate dishes that combine flavor and texture. Don’t miss out on the wok-fried prawns with dried chili (the chef’s specialty). For some of the finest French fare in Hong Kong, snag a table at Caprice. The ornate dining room — with shimmering chandeliers, dark leather chairs and crisp white tablecloths — is the perfect setting for such a refined meal. The Five-Star restaurant doesn’t have just one chef, but rather a team of 25 toques that works to produce an innovative menu of dishes such as the milk-fed veal chop with roasted lobster, camus artichoke purée and cardinal risotto. Be sure to have a cheese course — the restaurant was the first in Hong Kong to have its own cellar, a wood-paneled space filled with delicious French artisan cheeses.
