Hotel review: East Hong Kong

From its spectacular vistas to its sizzling seafood, this is what it's like to stay at East Hong Kong.

A 10m-long cantilevered reception desk is your first stop on entering East Hong Kong where effortlessly cheerful staff swiftly usher you through the paperless check-in.

It seems to signal much about the East ethos. Sleek design, urbane personality, eco-friendly approach – it’s a promising welcome.

Opened in 2010 in Hong Kong Island’s Quarry Bay and refreshed in 2020, East is set in a shiny, subtly curvilinear high-rise that conforms with the sweep of King’s Road. The equally sweeping double-height lobby, all blonde wood and pale marble, segues from lounge seating opposite reception to co-working tables and street-facing counters equipped with charging points, as much a draw for digital nomad guests as locals. They can scan a code for free wi-fi and to order coffee and pastries to fuel their beavering. 

From digital nomads to locals, everyone adores East's coffee and pastries

Like an art installation, a glass staircase emerges from a Pick Up Sticks-like arrangement of stainless steel and bamboo – soft and hard, yin and yang, I’m told – leading to the first floor where much of the food magic happens.

The neighbourhood

As the name suggests, the hotel is in the eastern part of the island, a district that’s both a commercial and residential hub. The Tai Koo MTR station is right next door from where you’re whisked to the more hectic Central in 10-15 minutes. Above the station is the glitzy City Plaza mall where you can find everything from Marks & Spencer to West Villa Restaurant where the tables are filled at lunchtime by locals ordering large from the yum cha trolleys. Eat streets weave between the skyscrapers – the East concierges will direct you to the favourites.

The picturesque Quarry Bay Promenade flanking the harbour is within walking distance, as is the Mount Parker hiking trail for the more energetic types prepared to work for their views. 

The area is a mix of commercial and residential

The rooms

Lifts, however, were invented to elevate the more sluggish among us to rooms with vast windows framing astounding vistas of Victoria Harbour where the Star Ferry scurries between the island and Kowloon, most dramatically seen lit-up at night. 

Of the 331 rooms, including six suites, many have harbour views. A free-standing vanity at the back of the room has a charcoal-hued translucent Perspex surround so you can survey the view while brushing your teeth. It also has a tap for filtered water purified on site. The toilet and rain shower, where the Appelles amenities come in large refillable pump bottles, are modestly tucked behind closed doors. The quietly spoken palette of the furnishings is punctuated with pops of colour in cushions and large, swirling abstract artworks above the beds.

The views will leave you giddy

Food and drinks

Run, don’t walk – or at least make for the lift – to the 32nd floor for the Sugar rooftop bar, named for the site’s former life as the Taikoo Sugar Refinery, where the cocktails on the Golden Age menu are inspired by smash-hit Hong Kong films. It’s got to be a Fist of Fury, made with black sesame vodka, Fernet-Branca, Campari, ginger honey and peanut butter foam. A knockout to match the killer view of twinkling Kowloon. Then kung fu your way through the food menu for the Japanese-accented likes of seafood tempura and pork katsu sando.

At all-day diner Feast (Food by East) breakfast sees the expected international offerings alongside local winners like dim sum, barbecue pork buns and congee. Accessorise your fried eggs from the egg station with fried noodles as demonstrated by one local guest I spied on. If you’re after barista coffee, Allpress is served at neighbouring Domain café where bakers can be seen turning out the pastries enjoyed by diners at the surrounding booths and those tapping at their laptops downstairs.

Later, Feast offers a buffet of cold dishes and a menu of mains such as steak, tiger prawns and hand-dived scallops.

Dining at Feast is a classy affair

Sustainability

East partners with local brewery Lovecraft to produce the Bao Beer poured at Sugar, made with surplus bread from Domain. The lifts are brightened with technicolour artworks by German artist and Hong Kong resident Liina Klauss crafted with flip-flops collected on Hong Kong beaches. The room keys are wooden and coathangers are mysteriously made from coffee grounds.

East partners with a local brewery to bring you beer at Sugar

Recreation and wellness

The gym, Beast (Body by East), is open 24 hours and equipped with whatever insomniac fitness fiends need, while the outdoor pool on the fourth-floor sun deck has more broad appeal. The complimentary mountain bikes, meanwhile, combine both exercise and fun. 

There's plenty of ways of keeping active at East

What’s hot

The co-working spaces and local collabs anchor the hotel firmly in the community, something that’s also rewarding for guests.

The co-working space is a great little hub

What’s not

When an unseasonal typhoon hits, shutting down the pool and public transport temporarily.

The only downside to my trip was a brief typhoon

Verdict

9/10

Joyfully embracing local colour in a stylish yet unaffected setting makes this a no-brainer for any visitor to Hong Kong.

The writer was a guest of East Hong Kong. Rooms start at $HK1400 (around $270) plus taxes. easthotels.com

Originally published as Hotel review: East Hong Kong