The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong

A Hotel That Starts on the 102nd Floor

The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong occupies floors 102 to 118 of the International Commerce Centre, a tower that positions it among the highest hotels in the world, with check-in itself happening high enough above West Kowloon that the city below becomes abstract. Interiors by Singapore studio LTW favour a contemporary register, deliberately restrained so the floor-to-ceiling views do the work rather than competing with the decor. At 312 keys, it is a comparatively intimate property for a building this scale, the 16th Ritz-Carlton in Asia and one built entirely around the fact of its own altitude, in a part of the city that barely existed as a destination a generation ago.

Why It Works

Height here is not a gimmick; it is the organising idea behind every public space. Ozone, on the 118th floor, holds the world's highest al fresco terrace, serving contemporary Asian tapas with a drop that turns Victoria Harbour into a map rather than a view. One floor below, an indoor infinity pool sits beneath a vast LED ceiling screen that changes the sky overhead independent of the weather outside. Few hotels can offer a pool and a bar that both claim a genuine world superlative, and fewer still make both feel like a natural extension of the stay rather than a stunt.

Why This Location

West Kowloon has grown rapidly around the ICC tower, and the hotel sits directly above Kowloon Station, with the Airport Express putting Hong Kong International Airport within easy reach and avoiding Central's traffic entirely. The West Kowloon Cultural District, including the harbourfront promenade and the city's newer museums, has developed within walking distance. For travellers who want a modern Kowloon base with direct transit access rather than a historic Tsim Sha Tsui address, the position offers a different, faster version of the city, one built on the last decade's infrastructure rather than the last century's.

Fast Facts

• Prix : €€€€

• Vibe : contemporary, dramatic, built around altitude

• Chambres : 312 keys, floors 102 to 118 of the ICC tower

• Best For : skyline-view seekers, couples, business travellers near Kowloon Station

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel : the 118th-floor indoor infinity pool under its LED ceiling screen

• Dining : Tin Lung Heen (Cantonese, 102nd floor), Tosca (Southern Italian, open kitchen), Ozone (Asian tapas, 118th floor), The Lounge & Bar, The Chocolate Library

• Amenities : The Ritz-Carlton Spa by Espa with couple's suites, fitness centre, Diamond Ballroom and meeting rooms

• Attractions : Kowloon Station (connected), Airport Express (connected), West Kowloon Cultural District (walking distance)

Ozone and the Infinity Pool: The 118th Floor

The 118th floor functions almost as a destination within the destination: Ozone's al fresco terrace holds its world-record altitude claim while serving a menu built for grazing over cocktails rather than a formal sit-down dinner, and the indoor infinity pool nearby trades a view of the water for a programmed LED sky that can shift from daylight to stars. Together they give the hotel a top floor that works as well for an early evening drink as it does for an afternoon swim, a combination rarely found this high above a city, and rarer still on floors that guests can move between within minutes of each other.

Dining and Spa Sixteen Floors Below

The hotel's other public rooms sit sixteen floors lower, on 102 and 103, giving the property two distinct registers depending on which floor guests choose: Tin Lung Heen for refined Cantonese cooking, Tosca for Southern Italian from an open kitchen, and The Chocolate Library for a themed lounge built entirely around dessert and cocoa. The Ritz-Carlton Spa by Espa, with its couple's suites behind floor-to-ceiling windows on 116, sits between the two clusters, a quiet middle register between the drama of 118 and the more conventional dining floors below, and a useful stop for guests pacing a long stay rather than rushing between extremes.