We hopped a quick flight from Taipei to Hong Kong with a flight time of just under two hours. We flew coach on a Cathay Pacific A330 which was great for the short flight. I sat in one section of three seats in the middle of Annie and Lizzy and Joe sat across the aisle from us. The girls were really well behaved coloring, watching shows and eating the surprisingly decent in flight meal of beef curry with rice. After we deplaned Joe waited for our luggage with Annie while I took Lizzy to figure out the cab situation, which was very easy. Joe and Annie met us at the taxi stand and we took a ~40 minute ride to the W Hong Kong which is on the Kowloon side. The cab ride cost about US$40 and once again Lizzy slept for the entire ride.
The cab dropped off right in front of the hotel and we were met by a bellman who took our luggage and pointed us towards the elevator bay. Check in is on the 6th floor and the lobby was crowded on this busy holiday Friday afternoon. We found the SPG Platinum desk and were welcomed by a nice woman who made some friendly small talk while she processed our reservation. Check in seemed to take a long time and Annie was getting fairly antsy - later when I was reading reviews for the hotel I noticed that a lot of people complained of inefficient check in. At least we were using the SPG Platinum Desk - the regular line was super backed up.
We were very excited to be upgraded into one of their "Fabulous Suites" and this is another reason why we are fairly loyal to our two main hotel brands. This suite was going for just under $1,000 per night during the Golden week holiday weekend we were there, so it made our points redemption feel even better than originally planned.
We were then offered our Platinum amenity, which was either 500 Starpoints, a W Hong Kong baseball cap, or breakfast each morning for our stay. In what was perhaps the easiest decision we have ever made, we took the breakfast. We wondered if anyone in the history of the world has turned down a week's worth of expensive breakfasts in lieu of a baseball cap.
Our room number was 3801, which was on the top floor for rooms. The hotel also uses Floors 73 (gym) and 76 (pool) but the rooms stop at 38. We were very happy with the amazing room they gave us and it really helped make the stay in Hong Kong a great one.
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| Entry hallway |
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| Living room overlooking a working harbor |
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| 52" LCD TV, perhaps the largest hotel TV we have seen |
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| Looking into the bedroom from the living area |
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| VERY comfortable W bed, slept like babies every night |
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| Shower, bath and TV: lots of cartoons watched in here |
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| Bathroom |
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| Desk with phone to call for Annie's self proclaimed favorite food, "Room Service" |
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| Bath amenities, with nice things for the girls |
The included breakfast buffet was amazing, almost on par with our experience at the
W Singapore. The restaurant was on the 6th floor next to the lobby and had a great spread all four mornings we ate there. It had pretty views out to the working harbor and was surprisingly crowded throughout our stay. To say I love breakfast buffets is an understatement. If we didn't have the girls I could probably sit there for a few hours enjoying myself - eating, drinking coffee, chatting, reading the paper and planning the day. While meals out with young kids are by no means relaxing, I will say that it's definitely getting easier for us as the girls get a bit older.
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| Lot and lots of watermelon each morning |
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| Good bacon, which is a tough find in Tokyo |
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| Pretty sure this was Joe's plate each morning - breakfast of champions |
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| Breakfast dessert |
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| We love buffet breakfasts |
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| Interesting decor throughout the restaurant |
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| Giant communal kitchen table - giving this restaurant its name, "The Kitchen" |
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| Different gummies each morning |
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| Love the cute little bottles of juice and milk |
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| Cereal station |
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| Fruit and fresh pancakes and waffles all the way to the left |
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| A few of the hot selections - mini quiches and lobster eggs Benedict |
We were amazed at how kid-friendly the W Hong Kong was despite its trendy appearance. Both girls loved the kid-sized robes the hotel provided, even if they were still about 4 or 5 years from fitting property. High chairs and plastic tableware was provided at breakfast, there was a yummy and reasonably priced kids' room service menu, and a hotel employee even came and placed rubber corner guards on all of the sharp edges of our furniture.
Some of the nicest features of the hotel were the pool and the gym. The pool was the highest pool we had ever been to, but lacked the amazing surroundings of the slightly lower
Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. And as remarkable (and high) as the pool was, it was hard to believe that just in front of it is the Ritz Carlton Hong Kong which also has a rooftop pool, but we couldn't even see the top most days because of the clouds.
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| Looking up at the Ritz Carlton, from our 76th floor pool. That is a tall hotel! |
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Made lots of use of the hot tub because it was pretty cool with the wind
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We used the fitness center a couple of nights and it had some great views which were very hard to photograph, especially with my iPhone.
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| Spa in the women's locker room |
In addition to the impressive hotel amenities, the location was nice for us as it was co-located with a huge mall called Elements which had a subway station with a connection to Hong Kong Disneyland. The hotel also offered a complimentary shuttle to a number of key tourist locations nearby which was great because everything seemed to be under construction and it didn't seem like there was any way to walk with a stroller.
We would happily come back to the W if we find ourselves back in Hong Kong. For a first time trip, we would highly recommend it to just about anyone.
