We went for yet another weekend staycation this past weekend, this time at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui. I wanted to give both their hotel restaurants Hugo’s and The Chinese Restaurant a try for some time and the room package which included dining credits plus free breakfast sounds like a deal too good to miss in the time of pandemic lockdown.
My fear of seeing a long waiting line at check-in (with fellow staycation goers) turned out to be unsubstantiated as we were given the room key within 15 minutes of arrival early in the morning. Kudos to the courteous and efficient front desk staff. The room was decent – was a bit disappointed by the “harbor view” partially blocked by the tall buildings in front (despite being on one of the highest floors at the hotel already) – and the small size, which was something I expected for a mid-range business hotel anyway. It's probably because I was a bit spoiled by our previous stay at the hotel right by the harborfront with unobstructed view. But highlight was the bathroom, which was unproportionally spacious with a full-size tub plus the rain shower booth.
Other than that, not a lot to show forth in terms of facilities on-premise. We booked for the room which gave us access to the Regency Club (their executive lounge) at a premium, but the COVID low season meant they were operating at limited hours with the complete food and drink menu only available during happy hours and we couldn't even do the check-in at the lounge – I wish they were more forthcoming on this arrangement when they confirmed my booking or when they sent us repeated reminders about special hygiene measures.
The swimming pool and deck were of decent size, but it’s shared with the residents at the apartment complex under the same roof. And as you could imagine with weekends being the hotel's busiest time – it’s packed with rowdy kids (and adults) starting late morning when the sun came out, and with the ticket stand for entry and the turnstile at exit, it did feel like a public pool rather than the resort-like atmosphere they were trying to portray. We made the right decision of hitting the pool early to avoid the crowd and enjoy the brief quiet moment. There’s also a gym that we didn’t have a chance to visit – we just wanted to chill for the weekend this time.
You can’t beat the hotel’s location though, with the hotel right next to the MTR exit and a shopping mall right underneath. A shopping spree was essentially the only thing we did outside of the hotel for the weekend. Still stuffed with
the dishes we had at brunch at Hugo’s, we went for a light dinner at The Chinese Restaurant at the hotel in the evening. This is probably our second or third time eating here and the food was very nice, with the stir-fried julienned grouper, egg and bean sprouts which was part of their “Hong Kong Traditional Specialties” menu, and the appetizer dish of chilled abalones infused with Chinese rice wine being my favorites of the night. Love that abalone dish to start, with super tender texture and well-infused with the rich wine flavor.
Breakfast in the next morning was served at the Café near the lobby. The slow service – our cup of coffee took a good 20 minutes to arrive after repeated enquiries – was somewhat compensated by the wide variety of dishes on offer, from the usual egg station or noodle booth, to a nice selection of pastries, yogurts and juices, or even Indian curry stew available at the buffet counter. Overall no complaints and our stay did serve the purposes of getting away (slightly) and slowing down with such great value for money for a blissful weekend.
Hyatt Regency Hong Kong: www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/china/hyatt-regency-hong-kong-tsim-sha-tsui/honhr
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