not sure whether it's in the phase 7 development or phase 6. :)

W Hotels to debut in China
W continues global expansion with new hotels in Hong Kong and Shanghai


(Issued by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. )

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) announced today that W Hotels will debut in the People's Republic of China with a 383-room waterfront hotel in Hong Kong scheduled to open in early 2008. The company has also signed a letter of agreement to develop a W hotel in Shanghai. W is the world's fastest growing collection of world-class design hotels, having announced six new projects this year alone, including new hotels in Barcelona, Spain; Scottsdale, Arizona; Hoboken, New Jersey and the Maldives.

The W Hong Kong will be developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties and located right next to Hong Kong's future Cultural and Entertainment District on the West Kowloon Waterfront. This new area will feature high-end retail, office, art museums, theatres, man-made gardens and lagoons, a yacht anchorage, lush landscape, a promenade, and food and beverage outlets along the waterfront when it is fully completed in 2010. The W Hong Kong will feature exciting dining, nightlife and entertainment options including a dazzling roof top bar, major spa, destination health club, indoor and outdoor pool and the W Retail store. The hotel will also house extensive meeting facilities.

Starwood and Sun Hung Kai Properties have also signed a letter of agreement to develop a W Hotel in Lujiazui, the financial district in Pudong district, Shanghai.

"New York City, London, Miami and Los Angeles have long had a stronghold on the world's top design hotels, but Starwood sees enormous potential in developing this genre globally. There is perhaps no more dynamic a market in the world today than China," said Barry S. Sternlicht, Starwood's Chairman and CEO, and founder of W Hotels. "We are firm believers in the importance of China in the world travel market for decades to come. In addition to our two new W projects, we have 25 hotels currently open or under construction in China under our St. Regis, Westin, Sheraton and Four Points by Sheraton brands."

"W is the world's most innovative and stylish hospitality brand and is the natural choice for our stunning new Kowloon Station Development project on the West Kowloon Waterfront," said Walter Kwok, Chairman and Chief Executive of Sun Hung Kai Properties. "As the largest developer of innovative and contemporary real estate developments in Hong Kong and China, Sun Hung Kai Properties is delighted to be working with the W brand to launch this exciting new hotel in Hong Kong"

Currently there are 18 W Hotels worldwide in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, Silicon Valley, Atlanta, San Diego, Sydney and Mexico City. Eight W Hotels are under development or construction: The W Seoul (August, 2004); the W Montreal (September, 2004); the W Maldives-Fesdhu (2006); the W Hoboken Hotel and Residences (2006); the W Dallas Hotel and Residences (2007) the W Fort Lauderdale Hotel and Residences (2007); the W Scottsdale Hotel and Residences (2007) and the W Barcelona (2008).

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has expanded its portfolio in Asia Pacific significantly with the opening of seven hotels in the past year, including three Sheraton hotels in China (in Sanya, Jiuzhaigou and Dongguan), two hotels in Thailand (The Westin Grande Sukhumvit in Bangkok, and the Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort) and two Sheraton hotels in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi). There are currently 15 Starwood hotels under construction in Asia-Pacific, from China to Korea to Thailand and Bangladesh.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 750 properties in more than 80 countries and 110,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. With internationally recognized brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts including: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwood.com

W Hotels are amazing. Their design is absolutely top notch. HK doesn't have any lack of fine hotels, but one more can't hurt!

I hope W Hotels expands to mainland China next, because Beijing and Shanghai could still use super-luxury hotels. Those Hyatts need some competition.

Yes, they're finally getting it. And thanks for the link.

W-Hotel set to open at Kowloon station
18 April 2008
South China Morning Post

Sun Hung Kai Properties has announced that its W-Hotel at Kowloon station will open in July. The first W-Hotel establishment in Hong Kong in The Cullinan II will blend international and oriental design in about 400 deluxe rooms that set new standards for Hong Kong's hotel industry, the group says. The hotel will take up 25 floors between the first and 38th floors of The Cullinan II.

holy... how on earth did u find this thread??? lol

good that the W hotel is going to open as scheduled :)

Is the search function working? :)

holy... how on earth did u find this thread??? lol

good that the W hotel is going to open as scheduled :)

I remember willie's threads :)
Before I became a mod I had a spreadsheet that listed all the threads in the Hong Kong section to facilitate searches and reviving old threads. I'll try to tidy that up to share amongst everyone here if you guys want.

I remember willie's threads :)
Before I became a mod I had a spreadsheet that listed all the threads in the Hong Kong section to facilitate searches and reviving old threads. I'll try to tidy that up to share amongst everyone here if you guys want.

Talk about organised! That would be great.

Would you be able to make it into a table to put as a 'sticky' on the main HK page?

I too have been amazed by HKSkyline's ability to reuse old threads.

Before I became a mod I had a spreadsheet that listed all the threads in the Hong Kong section to facilitate searches and reviving old threads. I'll try to tidy that up to share amongst everyone here if you guys want.

The mystery has been solved :) The loser ;)

Starwood sees demand for W hotel brand
18 August 2008
South China Morning Post

New York-listed Starwood Hotels and Resorts opens its first W Hotel in Hong Kong next month against a troubled backdrop for the global tourism industry.

The W chain is branded to distinguish it from the Sheraton and Westin hotels also operated by Starwood. The 393-room W Hotel due to open in tower two of the Cullinan development on the West Kowloon waterfront will be the first of its kind in China.

Damon Page, the general manager of W Hotel Hong Kong, said bookings for the about 200 guest rooms available since the hotel's soft opening on August 8 were strong, with a minimum charge of more than HK$2,200 per room per night.

"We are now fine-tuning our hotel and will offer rates that are competitive with comparable hotels such as the Shangri-La in Kowloon and the Marriott and Conrad hotels across the harbour," Mr Page said.

The W Hotel tariff was about half the nearly HK$4,000 per night that five-star hotels in Central charged on average, some analysts said.

Competition among hotels for visitors is heating up in Kowloon, with the 30-year-old Miramar Hotel on Nathan Road due to relaunch after a HK$300 million makeover.

W Hotel competed on offering "whatever guests want and whenever they want it, as long as it is legal", and would focus on lifting its brand awareness in the city rather than chasing after higher room rates and occupancy, Mr Page said.

If the relaunch of Miramar Hotel is a prologue to longer-term competition in the industry, the real battle for W Hotel will take place when the 300-room Ritz-Carlton atop the 118-storey International Commerce Centre (ICC) opens next door.

"We see Ritz and W complementing each other," Mr Page said. "Competition is healthy."

The two hotels are key components of the residential cum office and retail development at Kowloon Station, a location that some analysts are predicting will emerge as a business and financial hub once the ICC is completed in 2010.

As the United States-led economic slowdown spreads, Mr Page expects demand for high-end hotels in the vicinity will rise along with the relocation of major investment banks and offices to ICC.

About 90 per cent of ICC's office space has so far been leased and tenants include Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank.

UBS analyst Eric Wong said the growing supply of top-end hotels meant a more competitive landscape, but it still was not enough to meet rising demand for such accommodation in Hong Kong.

"The newcomers are still not enough to feed demand. The more new international hotels come to the city, the better," Mr Wong said.

"Have you ever seen any world cities that have an average occupancy in five-star hotels that hovers consistently at 80 per cent? Hong Kong is one of the very few."

Although punishing oil prices have hurt demand for long-haul travelling, Mr Wong expected that the yield of Hong Kong's high-end hotel sector, or revenue per available room, would grow 8 per cent this year.

Its amazing hotel, good luck hongkong!

Nice hotel!

very nice this!!!!!

How can Ritz and W considered competition? W is hip and sexy, Ritz is regal and elegant. Totally different styles.

I would stay @ Ritz tho just for the view!

Wild wow W in the East
17 March 2009
Straits Times

The chain's new hotel in Kowloon has the highest swimming pool in the city, 76 storeys above ground

The mantra of W hotels may be 'whatever, whenever', but for its latest luxury hotel in Hong Kong, W may very well stand for West meets East.

Instead of the stereotypical interpretation of East-West decor - chinoiserie wallpaper, big red lanterns and Chinese paintings galore - the designers of the luxe W Hong Kong in Kowloon have gone for a collaborative approach.

The two lead designers, Japanese Yasimuchi Morita of Glamorous Corp and Nic Graham of g+a from Australia, worked their magic so well that the blend of East and West is almost seamless in the 76-storey hotel which opened in January.

Here the five fengshui elements of wood, metal, water, fire and water are used not for auspicious purposes, but as quirky touches.

Mr Miguel Ko, president of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Asia Pacific, which owns W Hotels, says: 'Hong Kong is one of the world's financial capitals and a business and cultural hub. Its identity as a cosmopolitan centre where East meets West is reflected in its cuisine, music and traditions, truly a great fit with what the W brand has to offer.'

The hotel is the company's first property in China and third in Asia, after Seoul and Maldives.

Stepping into the lobby, dubbed the Living Room, you are greeted by massive tree-like columns, complete with fake woodgrain bark, rising eight storeys high.

Butterfly motifs that seem to flit across the ceiling add to the feel of a nature-inspired oasis in the city. The faux bois and butterfly designs are repeated on alternate floors in the 393 guest rooms, which include 42 suites.

Room rates start from HK$2,500 (S$495) to HK$4,500 a night, depending on the season and room type.

For frequent business travellers, the distinctive decor means not waking up in a cookie-cutter room, disoriented and not knowing which city or hotel they are in.

'The spaces are uniquely contemporary whilst balancing the energy that is Hong Kong,' says Mr Graham. Hotto-trot amenities include iPod docking stations and Bang and Olufsen electronics to please the wired generation.

Whimsical design elements, which has been the W brand's signature since its first landmark hotel in New York opened in 1998, pop up in unexpected places, adding warm touches to the so-cool-it-hurts environment, which, frankly, can get tiresome after a while.

As you make your way to check in, you walk past murals which you think are oversized book illustrations, only to realise that they are holographic images which change with every step you take.

Lift lobbies on the guest floors are lined from floor to ceiling with books, curios and cleverly disguised buttons to summon the elevators. And if you do not bother to look up, you will have missed the collection of artfully drawn mad hats on the ceiling.

Located right at the top of the skyscraper on the 76th storey, 211m high, is the highest swimming pool in the city. It boasts panaromic views as well as an intricate mega-scale mosaic wall of butterflies by Australian designer Fabio Ongarato.

Situated along the waterfront in the up-and-coming financial and cultural district of west Kowloon, the hotel offers stunning views of the harbour - this is the water element of the design.

The slick interior is juxtaposed with the gritty scene of cranes and container ships hard at work, offering a glimpse of Hong Kong seldom seen by tourists.

While the red-themed restaurant with wood-fired stove is named, appropriately, Fire, the other elements of metal and earth are more subtly worked into the decor in the form of shiny silver pears arranged in clusters and tufts of immaculately trimmed grass in little glass pots.

The East-meets-West philosophy extends to the abundant art on display, including Chinese artist Song Xue's playful painting of a Mao silhouette holding the letter W, and a gravity-defying sculpture of a seal balancing a Steinway piano on its nose by Michael Parekowhai from New Zealand. A Damien Hirst piece stands nonchalantly on an easel in the lobby, on loan from an art gallery.

The hotel's priciest suite, known as Extreme WOW, cannot be beaten for its rockstar bling factor.

For HK$45,000 a night, you get to lounge in a recliner shaped like a life-sized bear in black fur, frolic on a bed right under a mirrored ceiling, do laps in a bath-tub that can fit 10 and sit on what may literally be called a throne - a Swarovski crystal-encrusted toilet bowl.

Now, that really puts the W in wow.

Hong Kong stopover in style

May 28, 2009 - 2:02PM

A surreal Hong Kong experience convinces Rob McFarland of the power of the stopover.

It's the age-old question when flying back from Europe: to stopover or not to stopover? Do you utilise precious time that could be spent in your destination on a night somewhere along the way that may or may not leave you feeling less zombie-like when you arrive home?

Until recently I'd always subscribed to the straight-through theory don't muck around with all the hassle of getting to some anonymous airport hotel just hunker down, grin and bear it. And then I stayed in the W Hong Kong.

Opened in September last year, its location two floors above the Airport Express train station in West Kowloon makes it the ideal stopover candidate when flying via Hong Kong. W claims it is the closest luxury hotel to Hong Kong airport and I was checked in and lying on my bed 90 minutes after my flight touched down. The other bonus is that when you leave, you can check in your bags and get your boarding pass in the terminal downstairs, leaving you free to explore the city with just your hand luggage.

From the moment I arrive it is clear this is far from an I-could-be-anywhere airport hotel. Staff dressed in black and wearing Ray-Bans relieve me of my luggage at the front door and a short lift ride later I'm sitting in a funky, LCD screen-backed reception area with a welcome drink. Behind me is a holographic wall that changes each time I look at it (a little disconcerting when you've just got off a 12-hour flight) and dotted around are striking pieces of contemporary art such as an enormous swirling pink vase and a life-size sculpture of a horse.

The slightly surreal fairytale theme continues when I get out of the lift and am surrounded by an Alice In Wonderland-style corridor of books that leads me to my suite: a modest little number called Fantastic. It's the sort of ambitious naming policy that could easily create unrealistic expectations but thankfully the room delivers.

There's a spacious lounge area with two couches, a writing desk and a flat-screen television the size of an IMAX cinema. Next door is a king-size bed with a feather and goose-down duvet and yet another flat-screen television that is hooked up to a state-of-the-art Bose sound system.

Just when I thought it was safe to put down the remote control, I venture into the bathroom to find a sumptuous suite fashioned out of volcanic rock with a deep bath tub and, yep, you guessed it, another television this time set into the wall and with its own waterproof remote control. As someone who doesn't own a television, I'm a little daunted.

What is refreshing is that the designers have eschewed the traditional hotel staple of browns, beiges and creams and have opted for a bold palette of purples, greens and blues.

There is a deliciously tactile feel about the place, with beaded cushions and hessian-style walls with lots of mirrors to create a light and airy space. Even the fittings are different unusual taps, plugs and switches that intrigue rather than irritate.

Floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedroom provide sweeping views across the container port to Hong Kong Island in the distance. I sit mesmerised for half an hour watching ferries, tugs and tankers scuttle up and down the busy waterway while cranes load stacks of multi-coloured containers.

What impresses me most is the thought that has clearly gone into the room's design. One switch next to the bed to turn off all the lights, brilliant. A safe with a power socket inside what a good idea. Soap-dish sized waterproof books to read in the bath, inspired. An all-in-one remote control you don't need a PhD to operate finally!

Venture outside the room and there are the usual accompaniments you'd expect in a hotel of this calibre. A good-sized outdoor pool on the 76th floor (the highest in Hong Kong), a gym crammed with all the latest high-tech equipment and the first Bliss spa in Asia.

Bliss spas started in 1996 in New York and, with their fun, no-attitude approach, they're a good fit for the W brand. Don't expect celery sticks and pan-pipe lift muzak here; I get to choose from a brownie buffet before enjoying a deliciously indulgent "Homme Improvement" facial accompanied by a jazz-blues soundtrack.

The hotel has two dining options: Fire, a refined restaurant with a fine-dining feel, and Kitchen, a more relaxed bistro-style area that serves "global comfort food".

Of the two, I prefer Kitchen. With its old-fashioned jars of jam and bottles of juice, it feels a bit like an upmarket deli but even here they've managed to innovate. My bircher muesli and fresh fruit is prepared in front of me by a teppanyaki chef and there's a communal table where people travelling on their own can mingle and chat (should they wish). When my bill arrives, it is slipped inside a book on French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

W Hong Kong excels by making you feel like you're staying in an exclusive boutique hotel, when in actual fact the property has almost 400 rooms. The staff are young and enthusiastic, the design is refreshingly different and the attention to detail is impressive for a hotel of this size.

While its convenient location makes it perfect for a one-night stopover, next time I'll be staying longer.

The writer was a guest of W Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Tourist Board.

Source:
http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/business-travel/hong-kong-stopover-in-style-20090528-bohm.html?page=-1

I thought W is a bit pricey given its harbour views aren't that great (doesn't even face the skyline side) and it's already more $$$ than the Four Seasons!

What? What is the starting rate for W?

From a previous post in here :

Wild wow W in the East
17 March 2009
Straits Times

Room rates start from HK$2,500 (S$495) to HK$4,500 a night, depending on the season and room type.

The hotel's priciest suite, known as Extreme WOW, cannot be beaten for its rockstar bling factor.

For HK$45,000 a night, you get to lounge in a recliner shaped like a life-sized bear in black fur, frolic on a bed right under a mirrored ceiling, do laps in a bath-tub that can fit 10 and sit on what may literally be called a throne - a Swarovski crystal-encrusted toilet bowl.

Now, that really puts the W in wow.

The Four Seasons goes for less than HK$2,500 a night?

The Four Seasons goes for less than HK$2,500 a night?
I know people who stayed last year in the low $2xxx range.

Surely that's corporate/club/package rate rather than regular rate though?

Pretty sure the 'regular' advertised rate is not lower than HK$2,500 a night.