I was allocated a room on the 11th floor, which wasn’t exactly a high floor, given Hong Kong’s countless skyscrapers and high rise apartments. Nonetheless, getting a harbour view room should guarantee a great view, whereas the views from a standard room pales very much in comparison.
When I first entered the room, I had no idea how to activate the power to turn on the lights and air conditioning. This was because I was actually required to use an extremely dated method of inserting the room key into a keyhole and turning it to activate the power. Though ancient systems like this are hard to change, I felt that the hotel could have placed a sign or notice to advise guests on how to turn on the room power.
Generally, the room was extremely small and cramped so much so that there was barely enough space to put my luggage and walk around the room freely. This will make it quite a pain to move around the room as your companion or luggage will be in the way most of the time. But once again, this is only for the standard rooms and should you get a harbour view room, space should no be much of an issue.
I must say that the room I lodged at was definitely the smallest one I have ever been to. Thus, I did a search of the room size and discovered that it was a mere 16 square meters, almost half or two thirds the size of a standard room in most other hotels. Despite the size, the room was actually quite comfortable and clean, meeting the standards in these areas for a 4 star hotel. I was pleased as the carpet was smooth and clean while the walls were free from stains and chipped paint. The room was also adequately lit, with an abundance of sunlight shining through the large windows in the day time. At night, two spotlights strategically positioned on the ceiling provides ample light to each bed for some might reading.
However, the air conditioning unit was house in a wooden frame at the top of the ceiling and it was rather noisy, occasionally making some bad-sounding “coughs” which gave me a feeling that it was an extremely old unit.
Another thing that left me disappointed was the view. As mentioned before, the views from my room – the standard twin room – was simply unspectacular and dull. Basically, the room faced Robinson Road and several other high rise apartments, depriving the room of any city or skyline views. The harbour view rooms, on the other hand had rather amazing views of the Hong Kong skyline – something that guests would definitely appreciate.
I also noticed that the window frames were quite dirty and not well maintained. This definitely did not leave a good impression and made me feel that only the places seen easily were well maintained. Thankfully, this dirty part of the window frame was kept well hidden behind the curtains and did not bother me.
Initially, I was also troubled because my room faced the road and I could potentially be kept awake should there be vehicles on the road at night. Thankfully, there was some level of noise illation with the windows shut and the only vehicle noises I heard were those of sports cars with their engines revving.
The beds provided adequate comfort, though I felt that thy were a little too much on the hard side. However, this is solely a personal preference and I am sure that those who prefer harder beds will have a good rest in the room. Sheets were also clean and made daily by the housekeeping staff. However, I lament the fact that there was only one pillow on each bed, without a separate pillow menu or spare pillows of different softness. Quite disappointing for a 4 star hotel and I think more improvements can be made in this area.
The bedside table was neat, with all the necessary amenities provided such as a telephone, notepad and pen, TV remote control and a basic alarm clock. However, the size of the table was rather miserable and with so many things on it already, I found it hard to store my belongings. One thing which I appreciated was that the hotel did not just pad the top of the bed frame, but they also took the extra step to pad the sides of the bedside able as well, so as to prevent guests from knocking their heads on the table. I found this a thoughtful addition to the room which enhanced my sleep quality.
The work desk was deplorable, as it was extremely small and surely, it wasn’t meant for working at. Given that many of the hotel’s guests are businessmen, it is definitely disappointing to see such a miserably sized and cluttered work desk in he room. With so little space and so many items on it, I could not even fit a laptop on it. Instead, the purpose of the work desk was more for placing your belongings and charging your accessories with the numerous sockets. At the very least, the sockets were conveniently located, without requiring me to bend over or squat down to locate them in the already cramped room.
Though the work desk lacked in space, it was not as sparse as I had expected it to be. For once, there was a folder with maps of the area, a notice for shuttle bus timings, room service menus and even writing pads of various sizes. I’m sure that even regular tourists and not only businessmen would fund some of these items helpful.
The work desk also served as a pantry area, holding a boiler, cups, sachets of coffee,tea and sugar and also a basket of tidbits. The selection of tidbits was meagre and basic, but at least the choices available were the more popular ones, such as chips and peanuts. However, I wished that the hotel could have better planned and optimised the space in the room so as to provide a better pantry area and a wider array of snacks, since there was no convenience store in the hotel or around it.
The mini bar was no where to be found when I looked around the room. Initially, I though that it was extremely disappointing as a mini bar is a so called necessity in hotels of this calibre. However, I was surprised to discover that the mini bar was actually cleverly concealed behind a cupboard under the bedside table! To my delight, the doors opened to a well appointed mini bar, stocked with a variety of soft drinks, bottled water, beers and a can of juice. There were even chilled glasses should you wan to pour your cold drinks out. My only complaint was that bottled water was not complimentary – something which should have been provided by s 4 star hotel.
Leave a Reply