Accor has signed a management agreement for a new 440-room Novotel Citygate Hong Kong, located in the new Tung Chung business centre, just a few minutes from Hong Kong International Airport. He hotel is scheduled to open early 2006.


Novotel Citygate is on the tip of Lantau Island, a central part of the Citygate project that is one of the largest developments in greater Hong Kong. The hotel is well positioned to capture business from other major projects in the area including AsiaWorld-Expo (opening 21 December 2005), Hong Kong Disneyland, and the Sky Plaza airport expansion project, which is a major commercial and entertainment development with a golf course.

Novotel Citygate is within walking distance to the Ngong Ping 360 SkyRail terminal, a new cable car to the island’s famous Big Buddha temple, and will be near a proposed bridge linking Lantau Island to Macau and on to the Chinese mainland. A hotel shuttle service will offer guests free transport to AsiaWorld-Expo and the Airport. The hotel is also adjacent to the massive Citygate Shopping and Entertainment complex. Downtown Hong Kong and Kowloon will be directly accessible via the adjacent Tung Chung MTR station.

When opened the Novotel will offer guests an extensive food and beverage experience featuring Olea Mediterranean Restaurant, Essence Asian Fusion Buffet Restaurant, Moccato Patisserie, Andante Lobby Lounge and an outdoor café and bar near the swimming pool. There is also a fitness centre, a high-tech multi-purpose meeting space for up to 400 people and divisible into four rooms, supported by a full service ‘Biz Centre’.

Four ‘Biz Executive Floors’ (20 to 23) will cater to an expected strong demand from corporate clientele and conference delegates, served by an exclusive “Biz Lounge” on the 21st floor. All guest rooms will offer an attractive and contemporary interior design, featuring a 32-inch wall mounted LCD television, modern open plan bathroom with sliding screen and large desk with generous workspace.

Novotel Citygate is the first new-build Novotel in Hong Kong, but joins two other Novotels that were added to the Accor group after it acquired the Century hotel network five years ago. Accor also operates the Ibis North Point and Headlands Hotel at the airport.

Accor’s Chief Executive Officer for Greater China, Brian Deeson, said Novotel Citygate gives Accor an even higher profile in one of Asia’s key business and tourism hubs.

“The opening of the Novotel will play an important role in highlighting the growing importance of Tung Chung as a business precinct, conference venue and tourist base.

“We anticipate the hotel becoming a major venue for conferences and functions, especially as it is so convenient to the international airport and transport links into Hong Kong and across to China.

“Air traffic to Hong Kong is likely to grow sharply over the next two years, and with the hotel’s proximity to tourist attractions such as Disneyland and the Big Buddha, the Novotel will be an ideal base for short-term leisure breaks.

“The opening of the Novotel is part of a region wide expansion of the brand. New Novotels were officially launched in Singapore and Jakarta recently, and next year new Novotels will open in Malaysia, China and India.

“Novotel has also been selected as the exclusive hotel for two high-profile airport openings in 2006 – the new Baiyun Airport Guangzhou and Bangkok’s new international airport. It highlights how appropriate the brand is for such key transport and business centres.”

Mr Deeson said that the addition of Novotel Citygate Hong Kong was part of a massive expansion of Accor’s China hotel network, which would see the existing network of hotels almost double from 28 to almost 50 hotels by the end of 2007.

Another option for travellers other than Regal!!!

sounds like the perfect solution with perfect location! :)


renders??? ;)

Nightly in widescreen
Briar Jensen, The writer was a guest of Accor Hotels and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
31 August 2008
Sun Herald

It has the tallest revolving door in the world. Briar Jensen stays in a futuristic airport hotel that 'projects' over Hong Kong.

I'm staying inside a giant LCD screen. That's what the Novotel Citygate Hong Kong looks like from the outside. It's so unbelievably wide and thin, its glass sides resemble a TV screen, albeit a mighty big one. Often airport hotels, given their location, are inconvenient for business, shopping and sightseeing. However, Novotel Citygate at Tung Chung, on Lantau Island, while five minutes from the airport is only 30 minutes from the city centre. It's connected to Hong Kong's only outlet shopping centre (offering 30 to 70 per cent off retail prices) and is close to some of Hong Kong's best attractions.

Many airport hotels also lack panache. Not so Novotel Citygate. Designed by award-winning Hong Kong architect Steve Leung the hotel oozes innovation. The contemporary, minimalist design is subtle and elegant, yet more importantly, comfortable and practical.

In an unusual move, the hotel interior was designed first, with the exterior designed around it to ensure the rooms were not compromised, maximising their form and function.

My suite is a fine example of the method's success. Like the hotel itself, it is long and narrow. Rather than windows, I have a wall of glass, framing the expansive views. It really does feel like I'm inside the LCD screen looking out. This maximises natural light and together with the higher ceiling makes the room feel airy and spacious.

The king-size bed faces the view and my 107-centimetre LCD TV (with personalised welcome message) hangs in front of the window. To one side is a generous sitting area with sofa and coffee table and on the other is a decent-sized desk, though bizarrely it faces away from the view. Furnishings are contemporary without being funky, with an emphasis on timber.

The bathroom, although narrow, feels huge, running the full length of the room. All glass, mirrors and light-coloured timber it takes a few (desperate) seconds to find which glass panel conceals the toilet.

There's oodles of vanity space even with two hand basins, but I can't find the hairdryer (I later learn it's in a drawer so discreet I don't notice it).

Luxuriating in the spa bath is heaven, especially as I can watch TV at the same time. The rooms are surprisingly quiet with windows triple-glazed and acoustic mats under the tiling to absorb vibration from the passing planes.

Admiring the bamboo-filled water feature outside the hotel's entrance I learn it's been designed by a feng shui master to enhance wellbeing and permit the flow of wealth. (Though I'm not sure if that's wealth to guests or hotel management.)

Novotel Citygate has the tallest revolving door in the world, and has certification from Guinness World Records to prove it. Made in Germany, the door is 4.8 metres high. But that's dwarfed by the seven-metre high lobby ceiling with rectangular beaded chandeliers.

Height and glass combine to create a spacious, airy, light-filled lobby that leads to the restaurants, both of which have open kitchens so I can see the chefs at work.

The entrance to Essence, which offers all-day dining, features glass panels with kimono-style motifs and a huge glass wine cellar. The Asian fusion menu here is proving popular with locals too, the evening sittings being booked out weeks in advance. The more casual Olea (olive in Latin) basks in the light from floor-to-ceiling windows and features a fabulous array of olive-themed tableware. Serving Mediterranean cuisine, Olea offers a range of tasting plates and the aromas of freshly baked bread and pizza from the wood-fired oven are mouth-watering.

Pizza and other snacks are available from Andante, the avant-garde lobby lounge, which is dominated by a huge, circular, three-tier, wooden bead chandelier. With wireless broadband access here it's easy to combine business with pleasure. There's a coffee lounge on the second floor, too.

I love the outdoor pool area, which has plenty of deck space for lounging around and, thoughtfully, there's a shallow pool for children. They even have barbecues here on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Unfortunately it's closed in winter, but I prefer that to an indoor pool. For exercise addicts the light-filled gym overlooks the poolside garden.

Novotel offers business guests express check-in at the Biz Lounge, which also has complimentary internet access, continental breakfasts, afternoon tea and evening cocktails.

Asia World Expo and Hong Kong Disneyland are a few minutes' train ride away and the reopened Ngong Ping Skyrail, a cable car that travels from Tung Chung up to Ngong Ping village, is located nearby.

> TRIP NOTES

* Getting there Virgin Atlantic Airways flies daily from Sydney to Hong Kong. Phone 1300 727 340 or see www.virginatlantic.com. Novotel Citygate's airport shuttle runs every 15 minutes between 6am and 11.45pm.

* Staying there Novotel Citygate Hong Kong, 51 Man Tung Road, Tung Chung, Hong Kong. Phone + 852 3602 8888, email info@novotelcitygatehk.com. See www.accorhotels.com/asia. Prices start from $HK1400 ($184) per night.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2008/0815/IMG_2904.jpg

It looks like a huge TV

^^ well certainly there's quite a lot of drama on that big screen every night... ;)

^^ I think it's a treat for those cable car riders in case they get stuck in the air for hours.
MTR Corp. has to keep them companied in the air and turn the TV on when the system fails.
You probably can see the screen from up on the first peak going up.

^^ I think it's a treat for those cable car riders in case they get stuck in the air for hours.
MTR Corp. has to keep them companied in the air and turn the TV on when the system fails.
You probably can see the screen from up on the first peak going up.