190: Intercontinental Hotel, Hong Kong

Well, oddly enough as Ive slammed other 5 star hotels in the book, I could see how this one made its entrance.

The views at the Intercontinental Hotel were magnificent, easily the best place to go and view the falling nightlights of Hong Kong and Victoria Harbour.

The best is watching not only the tower block lights come on- but also the light show from a number of the towers. Add some absolutely divine martinis.....and array of lovely nibblies..and its the perfect place to settle in for a night in a bar.

I wont go into the rest of it of the hotel (albeit their website lists some 495 rooms with BOSE DVD/CD home entertainment sound systems, iPod docking station, 24-hour butler service and in-room dining as well as concierge services- all pretty standard nowadays for 5 star hotels)…nor did I have the time to sample the restaurants by Nobu or Alain Ducasse.
This hotel is in here for its lobby lounge with its views.

Interestingly , when in China a few weeks later, I read about the opening in March 2011 of the world’s tallest hotel, the Ritz Carlton in Hong Kong.

Now it will be interesting to go back and see the view from there- the Intercontinental is ground level with the beauty of huge seamless glass windows stretching up what appears to be a good 30 odd metres high giving you an unparalleled…but ground view of the lights over the harbour. The Ritz on the other hand is at some 1600 feet high in the International Commerce Centre, the fourth highest building in the world, and thus looks down at the lights. Not one for those prone to vertigo Id suggest!!

189: Victoria Peak and Victoria Harbour of the 1000 places to see before you die

This is only a half review as I didn’t have time to revisit the Peak (saw it as a child) and only the harbour…. So…

Now, firstly Hong Kong is a lot of reclaimed land- and there has been some controversy over the environmental damage that that has done to the Harbour given the amount of water traffic on it. Looking at the muddied waters I was flabbergasted that there used to be swimming and water polo competitions in it because it definitely is not clean!! Over a couple of hundred thousand boats come into the harbour annually. Suffice to say there is a number of NGO’s and environmental bodies all lobbying furiously on the subject of reclamation which goes on apace in this country.

The reclamation has seen some eight islands in the harbour already disappear as they were connected to other land masses and now only four islands remain- Green, Little Green and Tsing Yi Islands and Kowloon Rock.
Now there is a number of ways to see the Harbour- from Victoria Peak (damm!!), from the Kowloon side (tick the Intercontinental Hotel for that one), from the Culture Centre (tick) or on a Star Ferry ride across the harbour (tick, tick, tick and tick!!). At a pound to cross from one side to the other I decided to do it a few times- each time on a different boat- they have quaint names like Twinkling Star, Night Star, Golden Star, Morning Star and Heaven Star among others.

To add to the beauty, one night sets in the tall buildings on Hong Kong Island host a light show known as the Symphony of Lights. Its pretty surreal to see these huge spotlights dance across the harbour, backdropped by the twinkling office lights, lit up by neon signs and blinking lights in a rainbow of colours going up and down the skyscrapers.

When I visit Hong Kong again ill do the peak and add to this blog (did it when i was 10 but cant remember it!!)