W Hong Kong, Kowloon

Exploiting a winning combination of location, chic and whimsical, cutting edge design, the W brand brings its urban style to the commercial waterfront harbour in West Kowloon.

Boasting the city’s highest swimming pool and 393 luxuriously appointed guest rooms and suites, W hypnotizes with the unconventional design creation from Yasimuchi Morita of Glamorous Corp and Nicholas Graham of G+A studios.

Playful and artful

The design theme revolves around interpretations of nature and—true to the urban and youthful W style—is executed in a riot of colours, textures and whimsical furniture pieces.

Architects applied the language of design to make a confident statement about the W brand—evident in the external floral fascia engraved with the iconic hotel logo, in the surreal design of the lobby, in wood, stone, water, fire and metal used generously throughout the hotel, finally in the vivid colors and the attention-grabbing art.

The wow gradient

True to the W tradition, the 393 rooms (including 42 suites) carry superlative adjectives as names: from Fabulous and “WOW” or Extreme WOW Suite.

Full of personality and quirkiness, guest rooms are anything but ordinary. Wood grain ornaments and multi-textured wallpapers, handmade soft furnishings and bright-coloured rugs set the mood, and views of the city’s remarkable skyline (or harbour) act as part of design and expand the sense of space.

Dining, dazzled

It’s hard not to find a restaurant, bistro or a bar at every corner in Kowloon, but W Hong Kong offers its own range of dining and drinking experiences.

The Living Room stands out with eccentric interior, evident in the stunning graphic mural inspired by Chinoiserie aesthetic, while at Kitchen floor-to-ceiling windows dominate the main area, inviting to marvel at the Busy Hong Kong harbour and Central Skyline. The interior is more sober here, but not by much: vintage and contemporary furniture are done up in lively colours and a structural column is covered with thousands of golden goose eggs.

Calm at the pool

Another stunning decorative feature adorns the outside pool area, located on the 76th Floor. The massive mural by Australian designer Fabio Ongarato depicts birds and butterflies, and is made out of thousands of 10 milimetre tiles.

With the Bliss Spa nearby, the pool is a good place to bring rest and relaxation to the overwhelmed senses.

in our opinion

With a cutting-edge design concept such as that of W Hong Kong, a stay here isn’t so much about comfort as it is about the design and architectural experience—though no comforts are missing.

Clever, unconventional, with a very good location: W Hong Kong certainly stands out amongst all other five-star hotels in the city.

What we love

• WET®—one of the world's highest rooftop swimming pools, on the 76th floor. It offers amazing views of the harbour and the city;
• Rooms are well insulated from noise and have automatic shades and blinds that close with touch of a button;
• The concierge staff is excellent and look after your every need;
• Extremely convenient location. The Airport Express station is located just below the hotel, with on-site airline check-in counters. Checking-in your luggage practically in the hotel is quite something!
• The metro is of course part of the same station—the journey to Central Hong Kong takes only 5 minutes. In addition, the hotel offers complimentary van transportation to the Star Ferry, every 30 minutes;
• The hotel is built right above the Elements Mall, a great venue for fabulous shopping and dining;

What you should know

• Some would say that the location on the Kowloon side is not the same as the Hong Kong proper—but see the note about convenient transport, above. Plus, our HK experience says that if you want the REAL city experience then you ARE in the right place;
• There is no high speed internet in the rooms, only available in the lobby;
• W Hong Kong does feel a little bit over-designed… But maybe we are getting old!