Rosewood Hong Kong review: Heart Score 8.4

Service

At its best the service here is superb. Staff use your name, a WhatsApp message gets an answer in a couple of minutes, and if you're celebrating something there's a cake and a handwritten note in the room.

The trouble is that it's less consistent than a hotel with this reputation should be. This is a 413-room hotel that half of Hong Kong wants to visit. Check-in at the lobby desk can be slow and a bit brisk, sometimes with a paid upgrade offered before a glass of water. Housekeeping is usually excellent, but it has off days, so look the room over when you arrive and speak up straight away. When something does go wrong, they put it right quickly.

The fix is the Manor Club on the 40th floor. Club guests check in up there, sitting down, with the harbour in front of them, and the team soon knows who you are. Suites add a butler who'll unpack, press a shirt and chase a hard dinner booking. That is the hotel people rave about. In a standard room, it can feel like a beautiful room in a big, busy building.

Rooms

These are the best hotel rooms in Hong Kong, and I don't think it's close. Even the entry rooms are 53 square metres, which is huge for this city, and they feel like a well-off friend's apartment: dark wood, lacquer, soft fabric on the walls, a walk-in wardrobe. The marble bathroom is the showpiece, with a freestanding tub by the window, twin sinks and a double shower. It's a rich look, with a lot of mirror and marble, and if you like your rooms pale and plain you may find it a bit much.

The view is the decision. Kowloon Peak View rooms face north over the city towards Lion Rock. They're the same size and a good deal cheaper, but that view isn't why you came. I'd book a Harbour View room at least, and a Grand Harbour View if you can, which looks straight across the water to Wan Chai and Central. Press the button, the curtains open, and the whole skyline is there from the bed.

The lighting is moody, which is lovely in the evening and less so when you're hunting for something in a suitcase. A lot of the floor space goes to the bathroom and the entrance hall, so three of you in a standard room will feel it. Families should look at the suites, which start at 1,270 square feet.

Food and drink

There are eleven restaurants and bars here, and two have a Michelin star. CHAAT is the one I'd build a trip around: refined Indian cooking that starts from street food, and it's the hardest table in the building to get. The Legacy House is the grand Cantonese one. I'd go at lunch for dim sum, the roast goose and the crispy pigeon, though at dinner I find it good but not thrilling for what it costs. Both book out well ahead, so reserve before you fly.

After that, DarkSide. It's a dim, glamorous bar with rare spirits and a live jazz band every night from about eight, and it's my favourite room in the hotel. Afternoon tea in The Butterfly Room, under the Damien Hirst butterflies, is a Hong Kong institution now, and tables are released online two months ahead. Marmo Bistro does French classics and Bayfare Social does Spanish tapas.

Breakfast is the letdown. It's served in Holt's Cafe, which has no view and isn't big enough for the hotel above it. At nine on a weekend there's a queue at the door, the room is noisy, and things you've ordered can take half an hour or not arrive at all. Go before eight, or book the club, where breakfast comes with a window seat and no line. And don't eat every meal in the hotel. Much of the best food in Hong Kong is out in the streets.

Setting

The hotel sits right on the Kowloon waterfront, facing Hong Kong Island, and I think this is the right side of the harbour to sleep on. You look at the skyline instead of standing in it. A lift from the forecourt drops you onto the Avenue of Stars promenade, the Star Ferry is a short walk along the water, and you can reach the MTR and the K11 Musea mall under cover when it rains.

Inside, it feels more like a grand house than a tower. Every guest floor has its own little lounge with books, art and somewhere to sit. The Asaya spa takes two floors, and the 25-metre infinity pool on the sixth floor looks east down the harbour. The gym, with the same view, is the best hotel gym I know.

The trade-off is the bustle. The hotel is joined to the mall, the restaurants are full of people who aren't staying, and the lobby and lifts are busy. The pool is smaller than the photographs suggest and first come, first served, and one corner is often taken by people photographing themselves. It's also not a neighbourhood for strolling out to dinner, so you'll use taxis more than you expect. If your days are meetings in Central, you'll cross the harbour each time, and that's slow at rush hour.

Value

It's the most talked-about hotel in the world right now, and it's priced like it. Kowloon Peak View rooms start at around $750 a night in the quieter months. Harbour views run from roughly $900 to $1,100, more in October and November, and a Club Grand Harbour View room is about $1,300. On some dates that's double the very good hotels nearby.

So here's how I'd spend it. The harbour view is worth paying for. The Manor Club is too, at $300 to $400 a night more, because it gives you breakfast, afternoon tea and a generous spread of food and drinks in the evening, and it's where the service is at its best. At eight o'clock, when the harbour light show starts, there's no better seat in the city. A standard room without the club is the weakest value in the building. If that's the budget, I'd look next door or across the water.

Booking through an advisor matters more here than at most hotels. It usually adds breakfast for two and a hotel credit at the same rate, the upgrade is often confirmed when you book instead of at the desk, and the hotel regularly runs a third-night-free offer.

Who it suits

Best for first-time visitors who want the postcard view, couples celebrating something, and anyone who loves design, a great gym and spa, and a club lounge worth staying in for. Book a club room or a suite if you can. If you want a small, quiet hotel where nobody is taking photos in the lobby, I'd book The Upper House. If you want old-world Hong Kong, with the Rolls-Royces at the door and afternoon tea in the lobby, it's The Peninsula. And if you need to be on the Island for work, or you want the most polished service in town, I'd look at the Four Seasons.