The Wandering Salesman

Wow!

Simply amazing. I’ve stayed in my fair share of hotels over the years and as someone who spends 60+ nights a year in them, I think I have become fairly blase about the quality and service you receive. For the most part, staying in a hotel is so monotonous.

Same check-in experience. Same ride up the elevator. Same damn issue with the key not working in the door. Same drab room decor. Same food. Same robotic service. Same. Same. Same.

So for a hotel to “break” that heavily entrenched view, in my mind, it would have to be remarkable.

And the W Hong Kong is just that. I was travelling with a client and he said on check-out, “that’s easily the best hotel experience I have ever had”.

This from a man, who has the patience of a 2-year old who has just inhaled a red bull and eaten a entire block of chocolate.

Or something like that…

Amazing attention to detail immediately comes to mind.

For a start, when you open the door to your room, you are instantly impressed. They door key is simply held up to the door lock and voila, open sesame. None of this swearing in the hallway, and then saying “shit, I’m going to have to cart all my crap back down to the lobby and get a new one”. Why can’t all hotels have this same technology. I mean, how hard can it possibly be?

The rooms have every conceivable amenity. iPod dock, electrical adapter, power outlets in abundance, a full set of toiletries already laid out, free bottles of water, a great sound system and flat-screen TV, a great office chair which you can comfortably work at for hours (one of my biggest gripes with hotels), bedside lighting and mood switches that make sense, a wonderful open plan and feel to them. And in my case, I had a great view of Hong Kong harbour (see top of post)

You can’t help thinking that the people who actually designed the W’s hotel rooms were actually people who had stayed in hotels before.

Even the lift lobby on each floor is different. Has a terrific homely feel.

When the W brand was first launched, I thought, wow, this is brave. It was all a bit trendy for me (maybe I was simply too old and boring). I stayed at the W in San Francisco before and it seemed to try too hard. But the W team in Hong Kong have simply nailed the customer experience. Not too over the top. But laser focused.

And the environment is first class.

It’s very unassuming. You actually walk into a very nonedescript lobby as the W is located in a high rise office complex. A W team member confidently approaches you and offers assistance. You ride an elevator to the 6th floor to check in at reception. Again, very unassuming and low-key. There’s a bar at the end and a lounge to one side. Reception is sort of tucked to one side. And at the back of that is “the kitchen”.

What a great place. And a great atmosphere. Obviously, it’s one of the main dining locations. We had breakfast there the following morning.

The gym, pool and spa are located on the rooftop. Pool has a stunning view. And the gym has all the gear. They even have Apple iPod earphones in little bags for you to use. Nice touch.

I’m a cynic when it comes to that catch-cry that hotels use on their phones or on the little placards in the room which say something like “Just pick up the phone and we’ll take care of your every whim”. It’s a service which I have rarely used, and on the odd occasion where I have asked for something slightly out of the ordinary, the staff have simply thought it “too hard”.

I couldn’t help think though that the “Anytime, Anywhere, Anything” motto of the W Hong Kong actually meant what it said. I reckon if I had have asked for the bizzare, the staff would have simply said “no problem”.

The W go out of their way to make the whole “stay” or experience a memorable one. Your room key envelope even has a statement on it which says “we’re going to do our best to remember the things you personally like and use that information when you next stay with us”.

Staying at the W Hong Kong this trip made me glad that I ditched by HHonors Diamond status. I’m looking forward to “coming home” to Starwood.

It’s clearly the hotel group of choice. And the W Hong Kong is outstanding.

This might sound silly, but the fact that the staff don’t dress formally, (ie not a tie to be seen) means that there is an air of “slick and professional” but not stuffy and pretentious. It works. For me anyway.

Next time you head to Hong Kong, give it a try…you won’t be sorry.

(I’m typing quietly, as I’m typing this post from my room at The Peninsula in Manila!). I don’t want to offend them…but this seems old fashioned compared to my experience 24-hours prior.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at 5:04 pm and is filed under Cities, Hong Kong, Hotels, SPG. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.