Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong

The Hotel That Set Hong Kong's Standard, Since 1963

Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong opened on the Connaught Road waterfront in 1963 as the city's tallest building, designed by architect John Howarth with interiors by Don Ashton that first articulated the East-meets-West identity now common across the city's five-star hotels. The harbour it once faced directly has since been pushed back by land reclamation, but the hotel's standing in Central has not moved an inch. Major refits have kept the rooms current while the public spaces, the lobby, the bars, the restaurants, have been treated as heritage rather than inventory to be gutted on a schedule. It remains the reference point every newer luxury address in the city is still measured against.

Why It Works

Six decades of continuous operation have given the hotel a depth of service culture that cannot be built quickly: staff who have worked here for years, rituals that have outlasted several renovations, and a guest book that has included fashion shows, celebrity galas and decades of regular returning travellers. The world's first Krug Room, created in partnership with the champagne house, sits alongside Man Wah's Cantonese cooking on the 25th floor and Mandarin Grill + Bar's redesign under Sir Terence Conran. Few hotels anywhere can claim this density of institutional history still operating at full strength.

Why This Location

Connaught Road Central puts the hotel at the heart of the financial district, a short walk from the Star Ferry pier, the Central-Mid-Levels Escalators and the elevated walkway system that threads through Central's towers without ever touching street level. IFC mall and Central MTR station sit close by, and Hong Kong Park and the Peak Tram terminus are both within easy reach. For travellers who want the original Central address, not a newer development built around it, the position is unmatched.

Fast Facts

• Prix : €€€€

• Vibe : heritage, East-meets-West, institutional

• Chambres : rooms and suites across the hotel's original tower, refreshed through successive renovations

• Best For : travellers who value heritage and service history, business stays in Central, classic hotel bars

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel : The Chinnery, once a gentlemen's-only retreat, now open to all and still pouring colonial-era cocktails

• Dining : Man Wah (Cantonese, 25th floor), Mandarin Grill + Bar (Conran redesign), The Chinnery (bar), the Krug Room

• Amenities : rooftop swimming pool, Mandarin Spa, fitness facilities, Harbour Room event and performance space

• Attractions : Star Ferry pier (short walk), Central-Mid-Levels Escalators (nearby), IFC mall and Central MTR station (nearby)

A Bar With a History: The Chinnery

The Chinnery opened as a bar conceived in the style of a gentlemen's club, closed to women for its first decades before opening to all guests, and it has kept the dark wood, colonial-era atmosphere and classic cocktail list that made its reputation rather than chasing a contemporary redesign. It is the kind of bar that rewards sitting still with a drink rather than photographing it, more interested in conversation than spectacle. Few hotel bars in the city can draw on this much unbroken history while still functioning as a genuine local favourite rather than a museum piece.

Man Wah and the Grill: Two Kitchens, Six Decades Apart

Man Wah serves Cantonese cooking from the 25th floor, a kitchen that has built its own Michelin recognition on technique rather than novelty, while Mandarin Grill + Bar, redesigned under Sir Terence Conran, carries the hotel's Western dining tradition forward from what was originally a grill house. The pairing mirrors the hotel's own founding idea: East and West given equal weight rather than one treated as the exotic add-on to the other. Guests who dine at both across a stay get a condensed version of the hotel's entire philosophy, one course at a time.