Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong stands at 8 Finance Street on the Central waterfront, the hotel tower of the International Finance Centre, next to Two IFC and above the Airport Express terminus. It opened in 2005 and quickly set the city's standard for a certain kind of modern luxury: large rooms with floor-to-ceiling glass on the harbour, a pool deck in the open air, and a dining floor that collected more Michelin stars than any other hotel in the world.

History

The International Finance Centre was built on reclaimed land in front of Central during the late 1990s and early 2000s, with Two IFC completed in 2003 as the tallest building in Hong Kong at the time. The 45-storey hotel tower was the last component, and Four Seasons opened it in October 2005, replacing the Ritz-Carlton on Chater Road as the newest luxury address in Central. In 2009 Lung King Heen became the first Chinese restaurant anywhere to be awarded three Michelin stars, in the first Hong Kong and Macau edition of the guide. Caprice, the French restaurant, reached three stars a decade later, and the hotel has since held the pair without interruption.

Architecture and design

The hotel tower belongs to the IFC complex designed by Cesar Pelli's practice with Rocco Design, and shares its silver curtain wall and tapering profile. The hotel occupies the full height of its tower; the lobby and restaurants sit in the lower floors, and guest rooms rise above them, every one with a glass wall. The interiors use pale stone, dark wood and Chinese motifs in a restrained way, and the pool deck on the sixth floor opens onto the harbour with nothing between it and the water but the ferry piers.

Rooms and suites

The hotel has 399 rooms and suites. Rooms on the harbour side look straight across to Tsim Sha Tsui and the Kowloon hills; those on the other side face the Peak and the towers of Central. Executive Club rooms include access to a club lounge, and the suites on the upper floors are among the largest in the district. Families are catered for with children's amenities, which is less usual in a business hotel of this kind.

Dining

Lung King Heen, under chef Chan Yan Tak, serves Cantonese cuisine in a room with silver leaf and harbour views and has held three Michelin stars since 2009. Caprice, the French restaurant, has an open kitchen, a cheese cellar and three stars of its own. Noi, an Italian restaurant opened in 2022 under chef Paulo Airaudo, added a further star. Argo, the bar opened in 2021, is known for its cocktail list built around ingredients and their origins, and The Lounge serves afternoon tea. The Blue Bar is the hotel's evening bar. Between them, the restaurants hold seven Michelin stars, a total few hotels anywhere approach.

Wellness

The spa occupies the sixth floor with treatment rooms, a vitality pool, saunas and steam rooms. The pool deck outside has two infinity-edge pools, one of them heated, a whirlpool and a row of cabanas, with the harbour as the backdrop. A fitness centre is open around the clock.

Weddings and events

The hotel hosts weddings, product launches and corporate meetings in a ballroom and a series of function rooms on its lower floors, several of them with daylight. Wedding ceremonies are also held on the pool deck, which is unusual for Central, and Chinese banquets are served from the Lung King Heen kitchen.

Location

The hotel sits above Hong Kong station, the terminus of the Airport Express, so Hong Kong International Airport is about 24 minutes away by train, no car needed. The IFC mall is connected directly, the Star Ferry and outlying island ferry piers are across the road, and Central MTR station is reached through covered walkways. Fifteen minutes on foot covers the Peak Tram, Statue Square and the Lan Kwai Fong bars. For a luxury hotel in Hong Kong where arriving and departing matter as much as dining, it is hard to beat.