The Regent is the calm one on the Kowloon waterfront, all pale oak and dark stone, and the whole place is designed to turn you towards the harbour. From the window table in our suite I watched the Star Ferries go back and forth until the sun dropped behind IFC, and the staff, especially up in the Regent Club, were warmer than at the Rosewood next door. There's no spa, the main pool doesn't look at the skyline, and the entry harbour rooms are compact, with the bathroom open to the bedroom. Book a Harbourview Suite for the club and the space. Rooms here cost about half what they do at the Rosewood, and for most trips to Hong Kong this is where I'd send you. See pictures ↓
Service
We got in around midday, before the suite was ready, so the front desk sent us up to the Regent Club on the second floor to check in. You go in through a mirrored moongate, and inside it's dim and hushed, with warm wood, padded walls and the harbour through the glass on one side. Someone put a glass of fresh juice in my hand, we did the paperwork sitting down, and when the room was ready we were walked up and shown how everything worked. It was a far calmer way to arrive than checking in at the desk downstairs.
The club team are the people I remember. Plates vanished the moment we'd finished, and by the second evening they remembered what we'd had the night before. Housekeeping left a different little Perricone MD treat by the bed each night, and when we ordered from our room, using a QR code on the TV, the food came quickly.
Downstairs it's a big hotel, with nearly 500 rooms, and the front desk can't give everyone that kind of attention, so I'd check in at the club if your room allows it. Even so, everyone who came to our door was smiling, and I didn't once feel hurried.
Rooms
The shades went up by themselves as we walked in, and there was Hong Kong Island, filling the window. Ours was a 53-square-metre Harbourview Suite on a corner of the building, with a wall between the living room and the bedroom, so it felt like a small flat. From the living room you look straight across at the Convention Centre, from the bedroom you look along to Central, and because the corner faces south-west, the sun goes down straight ahead of you. The designer, Chi Wing Lo, had never done a hotel before this one, and he kept the rooms quiet, in pale oak and sand-coloured fabric, with a deep oak ledge running the length of the window.
Waiting on the little glass table by the window were a bottle on ice and a small cake under a glass dome, and that table is where I spent most of my time. The bed has a tall padded leather headboard and a quilted bench at its foot, and it sits right up against the window, so you can lie there and watch the ferries. On the ledge outside, a little bronze pine stands on a granite planter, and at dusk it glows gold against the towers. The minibar is free in the suites, with Regent's own Pilsner, London Essence tonic, mango nectar and coconut water, all in glass bottles. The bathroom has two basins and a big shower, but the toilet is in a small closed room of its own and it's a squeeze.
If you don't need the extra space, the 38-square-metre Classic Harbourview rooms have a daybed the width of the window and Chi Wing Lo's high-backed freestanding tub set by the glass. They're compact, though, and the bathroom is open to the room behind sliding screens, which suits a couple better than two friends. The walls between rooms aren't the thickest either, so pack earplugs if you sleep lightly. Whatever you book, make sure "Harbourview" is in the room name, because the Classic and Premium rooms without it look at the piazza, the pool or Kowloon.
Food and drink
At half past two the club puts out afternoon tea, and the Hong Kong egg tarts were so good I went back for them every day. The sandwiches and macarons get topped up fast, and nearly everyone was drinking the sparkling fruit tea. From half past five the drinks come out, including a barrel-aged Negroni on tap, with cheese, ham, smoked salmon, and chicken wings wrapped in sticky rice that were the best of the lot. It's generous, but it's a spread of snacks, so you'll still want a dinner booking. Breakfast up there is ordered from a menu, with Chinese and Japanese sets alongside the Western classics, plus a small buffet.
If I could only eat one meal here, I'd want it at Lai Ching Heen, the Cantonese restaurant, which has two Michelin stars. The room is made to feel like a jade jewellery box, the place settings are jade, and the harbour fills the windows. I'd go at lunch, when the water is bright, and let them choose the tea, because they take it seriously here and sell a tea-master session with a set lunch if you want to go further. Men need closed shoes, long trousers and sleeves, and I'd book as soon as your dates are fixed.
If you're not in a suite, breakfast is at Harbourside, down at the level of the Avenue of Stars, with tall windows onto the water. The buffet is good, with dim sum, congee, a noodle station, egg tarts and eggs cooked to order, but it fills up at peak times and you'll often wait for a table. Go early, and book a rate with breakfast in it. Nobu has harbour views on the second floor and the Steak House grills over charcoal, but the room I liked best was Qura Bar, with amber and red Murano glass chandeliers and more rare spirits on the shelves than I could get through in a week.
Setting
You come in off Salisbury Road past a cascading fountain, then along a corridor of glowing glass screens over a black granite floor, and at the end the harbour opens up across a wall of glass. The white marble staircase from the old hotel is still there, and the rest is new since the Regent reopened in 2023. At eight the Symphony of Lights starts on the towers across the water, and on most evenings there's live music in the Lobby Lounge. I'd get down there with a glass of wine about ten minutes before.
You couldn't be much closer to the water. Through a door in K11 Musea you can walk straight down onto the Avenue of Stars, East Tsim Sha Tsui MTR is at the end of the driveway, and the Star Ferry is about five minutes' walk. It's the busiest tourist stretch in Kowloon, though, and if your days are on the Island you'll be crossing the harbour every time. A taxi to the airport takes about half an hour.
The pool terrace is where the Rosewood next door pulls ahead. The main pool sits behind the building among palms, so you don't see the skyline from it, but it was quiet enough for me to swim proper lengths. The two infinity spa pools, one hot and one cold, hang out over the harbour with the ferries going by below, and that's where I'd spend the afternoon. There's no spa at all, only massages in your room, and the pool closes at sunset.
Value
Our suite was 53 square metres, exactly the size of the smallest room at the Rosewood next door, and that tells you a lot about how the two compare. On an ordinary night a room here costs about half what the Rosewood charges, and less than the Peninsula down the road. It's in the same range as the Island Shangri-La and the Grand Hyatt across the water, except that here the Island skyline is your view. The cheapest rooms face the city, though, so budget more for the harbour.
I'd put the money into a Harbourview Suite. The hotel doesn't sell club rooms, so a suite is how you get into the Regent Club, and for two of you that means breakfast, afternoon tea and the evening drinks up there, along with the free minibar and three pieces of laundry per stay. It's the version of this hotel I'd want. If you're looking at a Studio Suite, check the club is in the rate, because some of the hotel's offers leave it out.
In a harbour room you can still use the club by paying HK$2,000 a day, about $255, which covers two people. Before you do, ask what moving up to a suite would cost, because the suite brings the club with it and a lot more space. The Rosewood is the more spectacular hotel, with its bigger rooms and a proper spa, but I'd book the Regent for most trips, and IHG members can earn and spend points here.
Who it suits
Couples and first-timers who want the harbour in the window and a calm room after a long day out will be happy here, and so will IHG members, and anyone who'll be up in a club lounge every day. Look elsewhere if you want a spa or a pool with a skyline view, or if your meetings are all on the Island. Rosewood Hong Kong, next door, has bigger rooms, a spa and a 25-metre infinity pool for about twice the price. The Peninsula, a short walk along Salisbury Road, is the one for old Hong Kong glamour, and The Upper House at Pacific Place is smaller and quieter.
More on the area: Hong Kong guide.
