I’ll admit it: Because the editor of {a magazine}, I’ve stayed in my justifiable share of spectacular luxurious resorts internationally, from Singapore to Seoul, the Maldives and past. However on my most up-to-date journey to Hong Kong, I had the chance to remain at one of many cities’ new additions—the Rosewood Hong Kong—and I used to be blown away by the sheer luxuriousness of all of it.
Towering on the banks of the Kowloon waterfront, the gleaming “vertical property” (because the property refers to itself), opened its doorways 4 years in the past to a lot fanfare in Hong Kong. Boasting 413 rooms, eleven meals and beverage ideas, a fully-equipped spa and wellness centre, a surprising swimming pool overlooking the Victoria Harbour, a luxurious government lounge known as the Manor Membership to cater to the wants of its top-tier visitors, the property positively oozes luxurious from each crevice.
Proper off the airplane, I’m greeted by a devoted workers member who escorts me by means of immigration and baggage declare, earlier than delivering me to a nattily dressed chauffeur ready by a steel-blue Jaguar XJ, who then whisks me off to the lodge. Getting into the dazzling foyer, one wonders if it’s a lodge or a cavernous artwork gallery—sitting on the garden is British modern artist Thomas Houseago’s monumental bronze sculpture, Sleeping Girl, whereas the lodge is dwelling to extra outstanding artists and their works, together with Damien Hirst’s Zodiac work in The Butterfly Room (I’m advised the artworks are from the Cheng household’s intensive personal assortment—swish, certainly).
However there’s additionally historical past and coronary heart right here: constructed on the previous website of New World Centre, CEO Sonia Cheng selected this actual location for the Rosewood model’s seventh location in Asia as an homage to her grandfather, enterprise tycoon Cheng Yu-tung, and her household. The bustling waterfront was as soon as the crown jewel of the Cheng household’s burgeoning property portfolio, boasting leisure retailers, buying centres and resorts within the ’70s and ’80s, so it’s a homecoming of kinds to have the Rosewood Hong Kong located right here.
All through the lodge, you’ll additionally discover intelligent nods to the household’s historical past: ornamental components similar to horses and racing posters and illustrations communicate to the Cheng household’s equestrian ties; Chinese language restaurant The Legacy Home pays tribute to their roots by serving up jazzed up Shunde delicacies; and conventional Chinese language ornamental components—the auspicious Eight Trigrams octagon and fortunate bat motifs, to call a couple of—have been integrated throughout the lodge’s inside design.
With their driving philosophy being “A Sense of Place”, the Rosewood Hong Kong imbues its rooms and areas with this ethos. I had the pleasure of staying in a Grand Harbour View Room on the fortieth flooring, with its sweeping view of Hong Kong Island, the place I can solely describe the quantity of consideration paid to consolation with one phrase: lavish. For one, the partitions are decked out in Loro Piana cloth (one thing you’d solely observe if you happen to really feel compelled to the touch and admire it, as I used to be); the lavatory is a palace of marble that makes the act of bathing and preparing an opulent expertise; and the art work by Hong Kong artist William Lo was a pleasant contact of grounding the room and tying it in to the heritage of Hong Kong.
For these wanting past leisure of their rooms, the Rosewood Hong Kong additionally has probably the most intensive wellness choices on either side of the harbour. Slip into Asaya, the built-in wellness centre that occupies your entire sixth flooring of the lodge, the place it is possible for you to to have a calming therapeutic massage, get your hair and nails performed, partake in health courses starting from vinyasa to qigong, seize a chew on the health-focused eating outlet Asaya Kitchen, or simply lay down by the infinity pool and revel in breathtaking views of the harbour and metropolis. For these trying to recharge and reinvigorate their drained muscle tissue, I might extremely advocate the 90-minute Aroma Atelier, for which you’ll be able to decide your individual aromatherapy oils to your remedy.
To finish off your day, a drink (or three) at Darkside, the lodge’s award-winning bar, can be the proper capstone. Right here, you may be take pleasure in basic cocktails jazzed up by the skilled bartenders, peruse the bar’s sizeable assortment of darkish spirits—fantastic rum, whisky and calvados—and an expertly curated number of fantastic cigars. Fortunate patrons may even be provided a dram proper out the barrel—Darkside retains one ageing in its spirits library.
However, if you happen to’re a mahjong fanatic like me, the bar’s fabulously ingenious “The Artwork of Mahjong” cocktail menu is a must-try. Taking inspiration from the beloved tile-based sport, the bar’s eight star cocktails draw on Hong Kong’s wealthy meals heritage: private favourites of mine included the cognac-based Chrysanthemum for its floral profile, and the Winter, a rum-based cocktail that jogged my memory of the comforting candy potato soup dessert that’s ever-so-popular within the metropolis. Sizzling tip: ask assistant bar supervisor KT for his suggestions—they’re all the time spot on.
In my thoughts, the Rosewood Hong Kong is undoubtedly making its mark as probably the most luxurious resorts in Asia. From the luxurious interiors, to the beautiful artworks, and their unparalleled service, Kowloon is definitely no “darkish facet” any longer with this magnificent new oasis by the harbour.
Rosewood Hong Kong
Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Street, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
+852 3891 8888
rosewoodhotels.com/en/hong-kon
This story was first seen on Grazia.Sg
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