Tried & Tested

Hotel check: Grand Hyatt Hong Kong

7 Dec 2016 by Tom Otley
Grand Hyatt Hong Kong lobby

BACKGROUND 

The Grand Hyatt opened in 1989 and I have stayed several times over the years, most recently when the rooms were renovated between 2013 and 2014.

WHERE IS IT?

Attached to the Hong Kong Convention Centre, which can be reached through the hotel and from there Wan Chai MTR station – it’s about a ten-minute walk from the hotel’s reception.

WHAT’S IT LIKE?

The Grand Hyatt has a very “grand” presence, both from its reflective glass exterior, and with its interior, where the soaring, marble-clad lobby, sweeping staircases, giant art pieces and sculptures dotted around the public areas declare its top-end luxury intentions.

ROOM FACILITIES

The hotel has 545 rooms from the 12th floor up to the 36th. The new rooms were designed by Bar Studio and feel much more spacious. The aim was to make the new design more “residential” with a “living zone” adjacent to the windows, with a chair to look out and relax, and a much larger wooden work desk. As you’d expect, this has been continued with the new Club rooms and suites, except with the extra size the suites are more like luxury apartments. In the case of my 110 sqm Ambassador suite, a small kitchen for preparing food was present alongside the usual tea/coffee-making facilities and minibar.

Two wifi speeds are offered; it’s free for the normal option (this was sufficient for three days’ work including VOIP calls – I wasn’t streaming films). All rooms have a laptop-size safe, iron/ironing board, large flatscreen TV, plenty of power points with adaptors supplied, and the bathrooms have a drawer full of amenities you might have forgotten (even a small pair of scissors).

The Grand Club lounge is spectacular – a split-level lounge on the 30th and 31st floors with great views of Victoria Harbour, and the refurbishment has made this the sort of place you’d want to get back early from work for, not least because the food and drink selection is outstanding – including free-flowing Champagne. Note that Grand Club rooms are on floors 29, 30 and up to 36, though floors 31-36 are accessed by a separate lift. Three private boardrooms are available for the exclusive use of Grand Club guests, plus soft drinks available throughout the day and a good breakfast on offer in the morning.

BUSINESS AND MEETING FACILITIES

The business centre is on the ground floor and has video-conferencing facilities, computer workrooms, conference calling, a reference library, private meeting rooms and can arrange interpreters. On the first floor there’s also The Residence, a suite of three function rooms connected by a kitchen area, which doubles as breakout space, and in total there are 22 event venues, including the Grand Ballroom which can take up to 950 people theatre style.

Grand Club Lounge, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong

RESTAURANTS AND BARS

There are lots of excellent options. One Harbour Road offers fine dining Cantonese, designed as a taipan’s house on the Peak during the 1930s; the Grand Hyatt Steakhouse includes a seafood and oyster bar, a salad bar, wine room and small cigar “tasting” room; there’s Italian restaurant Grissini and for Japanese fare Kaetsu and the Teppanroom. Newly refurbished, bustling and more upmarket than it sounds is the Grand Café for both breakfast and evening buffet food, with many different types of cuisine represented at the various kitchen stations. The Champagne Bar and Waterfall Bar, as well as the expansive mezzanine-level Tiffin lounge, complete the offerings.

LEISURE FACILITIES

These are on the 11th floor spread across 7,400 sqm of space. The gym has been reorganised since I was last in there; it now feels much more spacious, though I was told it is the same size. The Plateau Spa has a number of treatment rooms including ones with views out over the harbour. The 50-metre heated outdoor swimming pool is open year round, and other facilities include a 400-metre jogging track, a golf driving range, two floodlit tennis courts and two squash courts, shared with adjacent buildings.

VERDICT

The refurbishment of this impressive hotel has been a great success, but along with the views it’s the staff that will make you want to return – friendly and helpful, they make staying at the hotel a pleasure.

PRICE

Rates for an Ambassador suite available on request. Internet rates for an Executive room in mid-January start from HK$4,686 (US$604) including taxes and surcharges.

CONTACT

1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong;
tel +852 2588 1234;
hyatt.com

Loading comments...

Search Flight

See a whole year of Reward Seat Availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls