Chilling at the Top

The Four Seasons Hong Kong marketing team was kind enough to extend us access to the Executive Club Lounge facilities throughout our stay (which otherwise would have cost extra unless you booked for a "selected" suite), in addition to the generous gift of the hotel stay voucher. And that turned out to be one of the favorite bits about our Central weekend staycation.

The lounge has everything one needs, whether you are travelling for business or leisure, or in our case, neither. It’s located on the top floor of the hotel, up on the 45th floor, with great view of Victoria Harbor, either though the windows or directly from the balcony outside that stretches through the length of the lounge area. On a mild day, we thought the corner at the balcony facing the west side offered the best chill-out spot of the whole hotel, with the best view to be enjoyed with a glass of champagne on the side, especially for the gorgeous sunset in the evening. Inside the lounge one could sit back leisurely at the couches, or there's more proper space for casual meetings or work.

Of course we enjoyed its food and drink offering the most. The lounge opens early morning til late night, with food available almost the entire time (from breakfast in the morning, to afternoon tea and light supper in the afternoon) We went up to the lounge on the first day right on time to catch the sunset, and was impressed with the array of dishes on offer - from simple canapes to a few cooked dishes and sweet snacks. They even had a noodles bar at the back which offered a daily selection of freshly made soup noodles in late afternoon as part of their light supper menu. Both the Singapore-style laksa on the first day and the Thai boat noodles on the second day were amazingly good with punchy flavor. Good selection of wines and liquors were available throughout the day - my favorite ones were the pair of California wines, including the Far Niente Chardonnay and the Chateau Montelena Cab, both big, full-bodied, typical Napa Valley bottles.

Well, we were tempted just to spend the entire time at the executive lounge and just ate and drank our hearts out, but we did pop down to visit our old friends at Caprice one evening and hang out at the bar area for some nice cheese and drinks. Gorgeous cheese selection, as usual, and we also enjoyed the couple specialty drinks newly introduced in their bar menu, including the truffle negroni and the old-fashioned, both of which prepared in front of us by the table. And Chef Guillaume and Vivien sent us a couple other dishes from their new seasonal menu and both were outstanding. The spelt risotto was mixed with bits of cheese and ginger bread giving it a hint of sweetness, and the peach dessert with the creamy espuma, yogurt cream and raspberries was beautifully presented and refreshing.

I jokingly said staying at the Four Seasons was like being on a luxury cruise, where there's food and drinks available all day long and there's no need to worry about what to do at all. That to us made the perfect staycation.

(Hong Kong Weekend Staycation - Part 2)