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Starwood properties in Hong Kong

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  • Starwood properties in Hong Kong

    Le Meridien Cyberport, #7-8, 23
    Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers, #2
    W Hong Kong, #28-33, #43, #97-98
    Last edited by KeithMEL; 5 August 2009, 08:16 PM.
    All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

  • #2
    Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers
    20 Nathan Rd, Kowloon

    My sole aim of visiting Hong Kong, besides spending time with the folks when they're actually there, is to get totally and utterly off my face at Lan Kwai Fong/Wanchai. Well, and maybe some yum cha during the day to recover from the previous night's excesses.Which had meant that I've nearly always gotten a hotel in Central, if not on HK Island. And which had meant that I'd never stayed off HK Island before.

    However this time I'd really needed the stay credits to requalify for SPG PLT. And staying at the Sheraton meant that I could always pop back to the hotel for a shower prior to another all-nighter at LKF, unlike the LM which was all the way in Cyberport. So the Sheraton it was, as well as my first nights spent off HK Island.

    The decor of the hotel was more contemporary and less staid than I'd thought, even though the property has been around for a while. I'd booked a Harbor View Room and received an upgrade to.... a Harbor View Room. My key card pack even had a "You've been upgraded" sticker on it. So I pointed out that I'd originally booked a Harbor View Room anyway - only to be told that this is the best they can do. Then why tell me I've been upgraded when the opposite is true? From research I'd known in advance that PLTs do not get upgraded beyond the Harbor View Room unless a Towers room has been booked, however I do not appreciate being lied to.

    The room itself was quite adequately modern, with nice views of Victoria Harbour and the Central skyline. I'd managed to catch the light show on the 2nd evening of my stay which was pretty cool. Free bottle of water daily. The master light switch seemed to be defective however - it was anything but 'master' and I still had to walk all over the room to turn off everything when it was time for bed.









    The hotel is located near some pretty good shopping, as well as some interesting pubs on Ashley Rd which had some pretty keen prices for mid day drinkies. There is an MTR station outside the hotel and LKF is a mere 7 mins' ride away to Central.

    There is an Executive Lounge on the 9th floor though I didn't get around to checking it out. Complimentary continental brekkies was served at the ground floor cafe every morning.

    The staff had placed an extraordinarily large block on my debit card at check in. Had a rather panickly phone call from my bank in the morning wondering about the v large authorisation that'd been placed on the card - it was way more than the figure the check in agents had advised. Though only an authorisation the debit card is linked to my savings acct and so i was worried about not having access to funds I might need whilst traveling. The bank agreed to talk to the "credit department" of the hotel and they'd managed to work something out. I'd scrutinised my bill at check out to find a few mistakes on the bill, eg internet that I'd never used.

    A rather mixed experience on the whole, and I'm not in a hurry to return to the Sheraton. Looking forward to my W stay on my next visit to HK in Oct - yippee!
    All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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    • #3
      The room looks identical to the one I had a few months ago.

      You did well to swerve the lounge. It's an awful windowless, featureless place, quite obviously an afterthought to try and placate Plats by offering 'lounge access' and the worst lounge of any Starwood property I've stayed in so far.

      I loved the harbour views from my room but I also won't be in a hurry to return to this place either.

      Comment


      • #4
        IIRC, the room I was given last December as a PLT was on the highest non-Towers floor ?

        Originally posted by MAN Flyer View Post
        You did well to swerve the lounge. It's an awful windowless, featureless place, quite obviously an afterthought to try and placate Plats by offering 'lounge access' and the worst lounge of any Starwood property I've stayed in so far.
        I also didn't visit the lounge and seem to remember that the piece of paper given at check-in mentions that it's (all or most of the time ?) unmanned and some sort of combination number is required to access it ? I had visions of a solitary coffee machine inside so didn't bother to look.

        I also didn't like the area - Nathan Road which is packed with tourists and touts.

        Having said all of the above, it was New Year's Eve and when I looked a few weeks before that, I couldn't find an available reasonable room anywhere at a price which wasn't sky high. A quick call to PLT concierge and a room at the Sheraton was mine (with a rack rate which was reasonable in the circumstances (around HK$2,700 IIRC)).

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        • #5
          The lounge is grim with a very basic drink selection and virtually nothing to read. They had a staff member in there, who was very nice in fairness. She had her work cut out trying to placate an extremely drunk lady who was making a real spectacle of herself and annoying all the other guests in there.

          I don't mind the Nathan Road area (in fact I quite enjoy the mayhem), it was the general attitude of the Hotel I wasn't impressed with.

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          • #6
            Advice Needed

            I would like to know, which Starwood hotel is recommended. Basically it is a choice between Sheraton and LeMeridien Cyberport. (It excludes W Hong Kong which is only for certain type of travelers. )
            Easiness in taking the train from the airport?
            View wise?
            Or Intercontinental is a better one to choose?
            Thanks in advance.

            Comment


            • #7
              LM Cyberport is not the most convenient location-wise, assuming you're aiming to be downtown. Cyberport is a fair way away from downtown HK but is halfway between downtown and Stanley Market and Ocean Park if you're looking to visit those places. HKD90/20mins cab ride, or HKD5 (last time I was there)/40 mins bus ride to downtown, the hotel is simply next to the bus terminus. They also operate a shuttle bus to HK AE station but I can't remember if you had to pay a fee. The decor is rather W-esque btw, being part of the Art+Tech/LM101 project. The beds are VERY comfy. If you get a forest view room, then all you get are views of trees and maybe office buildings. Ocean view room will feature views of the sea. Never stayed there as PLT but as Gold i got an upgrade to a corner room which featured views of both the sea and the forest. Service here is fab! Worth considering if you want some peace and quiet, and relatively low rates. I also much prefer the decor here to the Sheraton's. But the LM wouldn't be my first pick due to the inconvenient location to downtown.

              Here are some pics of the LM Cyberport (click on thumbnails to get full view - beware, they are v large files as i've yet to resize them):














              to be continued in the next post due to image restriction...
              Last edited by KeithMEL; 17 September 2008, 10:37 AM.
              All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

              Comment


              • #8



















                The Sheraton is near an MTR station which is in turn only a couple of stops away from Kowloon AE station. Excellent views of the harbour if you book or get upgraded to harbour view rooms. Apparently PLTs are pretty much guaranteed an upgrade to harbour view rooms.

                Oh and reports on TOF suggest that the W isn't v good view-wise, so not a good idea for anyone who like the harbour views. That might not be a deciding factor for other kinds of travelers of course.
                All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thanks...

                  Looks like harbour view is more interesting, i.e. Sheraton.
                  Now, hope the IC lovers would chime in with suggestions.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by SQ LPP View Post
                    Thanks...

                    Looks like harbour view is more interesting, i.e. Sheraton.
                    Now, hope the IC lovers would chime in with suggestions.
                    nickbot wrote a great review of the IC Grand Stamford as part of his TR:
                    http://www.sqtalk.com/forums/showthr...t=4869&page=12
                    (post 177 onwards)
                    All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by KeithMEL View Post
                      nickbot wrote a great review of the IC Grand Stamford as part of his TR:
                      Thanks for the linky KeithMEL

                      Originally posted by SQ LPP View Post
                      Now, hope the IC lovers would chime in with suggestions.
                      Yup, I'm an IC lover, so at your request I shall go OT from the Starwood focus of this thread The IC Grand Stamford was fine for us lowly Y travellers (see review), but you might want to check out the IC HKG which is just a short distance down the waterfront towards Tsim Sha Tsui pier IIRC. Would have thought, as a Royal Ambassador, you would get a good room at either property, but the Grand Stamford was significantly cheaper than the IC HKG when we were booking, so this made the decision for us.

                      Location wise, I think KeithMEL and others are far more clued up on HKG than I am however

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        The Sheraton definitely has nice views (notwithstanding that horrible building across the road. Is it the cultural centre, museum or something ?). However, apart from it being in a handy location at the top of Nathan Road I can't think of any other plus points. The lounge they give you access to as a Plat is a disgrace, and easily the worst lounge I have seen in a starwood property. I believe you can spend points to get access to another lounge.

                        Last year I stayed in the Renaissance, which is above the Exhibition Centre on the island, mainly as it had a really good rate less than a week out. I had a nice harbour view from my room and it's within staggering distance of W*n Ch*i.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          In case anybody is wondering, there is a thread for IC properties in HK. I've just managed to track it down :
                          http://www.sqtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4155
                          All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Thanks KeithMEL, completely forgot about that thread; feel free to move/delete my posts as appropriate

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by MAN Flyer View Post
                              I believe you can spend points to get access to another lounge.
                              I believe that's the lounge for the Towers part of the hotel which, as KeithMEL points out above, PLTs don't get upgraded to.

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