The Peninsula Hong Kong

The Peninsula Hong Kong stands on Salisbury Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, at the southern tip of Kowloon, facing Victoria Harbour and the towers of Hong Kong Island. It opened in 1928 and is the oldest hotel in Hong Kong still in business, and the first of the Peninsula hotels owned by The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels company. Three things set it apart: a colonnaded lobby where afternoon tea has been served since the beginning, a fleet of dark green Rolls-Royce cars and a rooftop with its own helipad.

History

The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels company, controlled by the Kadoorie family, built the hotel for travellers arriving by sea and by rail. The terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway stood next door, and the Peninsula was conceived as the final stop on the overland route from Europe. It opened on 11 December 1928.

In December 1941 the hotel became the setting for the colony's surrender. The Governor, Sir Mark Young, surrendered to the Japanese army at the hotel on Christmas Day, and the building, renamed the Toa Hotel, served as the occupying headquarters until 1945. It returned to its owners after the war and resumed its place as the social centre of Kowloon.

In 1970 the hotel bought its first fleet of Rolls-Royce cars, painted the shade now called Peninsula green. In 1994 a 30-storey tower rose behind the original block, with a twin helipad on the roof, and the hotel was renovated again in the early 2010s.

Architecture and design

The 1928 building is a seven-storey block with a classical facade, deep cornices and a central entrance flanked by lions. Inside, the Lobby keeps its gilded plaster columns and high coffered ceiling, with a string ensemble playing from the gallery during afternoon tea. The 1994 tower doubled the hotel's height and gave the upper rooms open views of the harbour. On its 28th floor, Felix, designed by Philippe Starck, is still one of the city's best known interiors of the 1990s.

Rooms and suites

The hotel has around 300 rooms and suites, split between the original building and the tower. Rooms in the tower look across the harbour to Central; those in the old block face the courtyard or Salisbury Road. The group's own research and technology department designs the in-room controls, a practice that dates back decades. The Peninsula Suite occupies the top of the tower.

Dining

Gaddi's, the French restaurant, opened in 1953 and has kept its formal dining room from that day on. Spring Moon serves Cantonese cooking in a room inspired by 1920s Shanghai. Chesa, a Swiss restaurant, has operated since 1965. Felix, on the 28th floor, is as much a bar as a restaurant. The Lobby is the hotel's heart, and its afternoon tea draws a queue most days. The Verandah serves breakfast and brunch overlooking Salisbury Road.

Wellness

The Peninsula Spa occupies the tower's upper floors, with treatment rooms, thermal areas and a fitness centre. The indoor swimming pool, lined with columns, looks out over the harbour, and a sun terrace sits beside it.

Weddings and events

The Peninsula hosts weddings, banquets and corporate meetings in a series of function rooms in the original building, from small salons to a ballroom-sized banqueting room, and larger receptions can take over the Lobby or the Verandah. Hong Kong weddings traditionally run to banquets of many tables, and the hotel's kitchens are used to them.

Location

The hotel sits at the harbour end of Nathan Road, a few steps from the Star Ferry pier, the Clock Tower of the old railway terminus, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the Museum of Art. Tsim Sha Tsui and East Tsim Sha Tsui MTR stations are within easy reach on foot. The drive in from Hong Kong International Airport is around 45 minutes, or guests can land on the roof: the hotel runs helicopter transfers from its helipad. For a luxury hotel in Hong Kong with a harbour address and a long memory, few match it.