Harbour Grand Kowloon — Hotel in Hong Kong

I arranged a reservation at The Harbour Grand Kowloon for my parents, spanning over two weeks. This hotel truly embodies its "Grand" title, evident from the moment we stepped into the luxurious reception hall. Situated on the picturesque Whampoa waterfront, the hotel offers breathtaking, unspoiled views of Victoria Harbour. My parent's room was spacious and boasted a partial view of the waterfront. We took pleasure in relaxing by the window, savouring a glass of wine while watching the constant parade of boats sail by. Additionally, the patio bar facing the harbour provided a serene haven to unwind and enjoy a well-deserved drink after a long day of sightseeing.

The highlight of our stay was undoubtedly the fantastic pool. Perched high above, it afforded a 360-degree panorama of Victoria Harbour. On one occasion, I was able to join my parents for a swim without any issue. However, a different pool receptionist created a fuss on our second visit, claiming that the room did not accommodate an additional guest. While I understand their policy, it was perplexing as it hadn't been an issue previously. Considering the substantial amount I paid for the hotel over two weeks, I believe they could have shown greater flexibility, rather than strictly adhering to a rule that seemed trivial. Nonetheless, I was still permitted access to the pool area, although the chilly spring evening dissuaded me from swimming. Adjacent to the pool, a spacious deck with ample chairs and tables largely remained unoccupied, presumably reserved for weddings and other events. I couldn't help but feel that the hotel could make better use of this area by incorporating a bar or enhancing its ambiance. Transforming it into a rooftop bar would be a splendid addition, as it currently appears underutilised and wasted.

During the check-in process, an unusual incident occurred, possibly due to a translation issue. The receptionist attempted to charge me an additional 3000HKD as a "service charge," insisting it was mandatory. To refute this claim, I presented my booking confirmation, which clearly stated the amount indicated on the invoice as the only valid payment. I argued that the receptionist's 3000HKD charge was baseless. In response, he provided me with a breakdown of the supposed service charges on a piece of paper. Bafflingly, it included fees for long-distance phone calls, laundry services, and the option to dine at the hotel's restaurants and settle the bill during checkout. These charges were ludicrous, as we neither requested nor required any of these services. Eventually, the receptionist relented and waived the additional charge. It seemed nonsensical to expect guests to make long-distance calls in this day and age. Moreover, I reside in Hong Kong, making it convenient for my parents to handle their laundry at my place.

Overall, the staff at The Harbour Grand Kowloon were generally friendly, and the hotel itself was delightful. However, it could benefit from a more meticulous approach to detail and has the potential to exceed its current offerings. Nevertheless, my parent's stay was very satisfactory, and I'm confident that my parents thoroughly enjoyed...

I went here for New Year’s 2024, and I’m grateful that I had the chance to experience this hotel.

To start off, the physical location of the building is extremely convenient. There are multiple coffee shops nearby. The building stands beside multiple walkable areas, including the popular promenade area that lines around the harbour, and gives sight to the water and the buildings beyond it. The hotel gives a great view of the outside beauty of Hong Kong- I could sit there looking from the hotel room from hours. I’d very highly recommend to watch the sunrise from the harbour-facing rooms.

The room I stayed at was very welcoming and open. There was a beautiful view of the water (I highly recommend getting this view). The room was cleaned frequently and in a timely manner.

The service here was great. Every hotel worker I interacted with was knowledgeable and helpful. There was one who couldn’t understand my language, but she tried to help out as much as she could, and managed to be of aid at the end. There was one worker here in particular, named Andy, who was extremely helpful and very friendly with me and my family. He answered all our questions about the hotel, the area around the hotel, and the New Year firework show. He showed great hospitality, and made our visit a lot more worthwhile (thanks Andy!).

The breakfast here was amazing as well, however I may have low expectations for the breakfast buffets in Asia as I’m North American. Still, everything was fresh and replaced quickly. The dining area was open and bright. When the blinds were rolled up, we could see the harbour, as well as boats passing by.

The gym was fairly large and had a great view to the water. The pool is on the same floor as the gym. Unfortunately, the pool was closed at the time of my visit (I’d recommend that you check that the pool is open at the time of your visit, as I’m unsure of the reason[s] for it being closed), but the pool area was still accessible, and was probably my favourite part of the hotel. The view from up there is breathtaking, especially during darker hours where you can see the city light up, and the air there is perfect. I would consider that area a good place to lounge for a little while, as there are seats there so that you can sit with others and look at the view.

Overall, I was very happy with Harbour Grand. If I were to visit HK again, I would have no thoughts against staying here again!

Thank you to the Harbour Grand Kowloon staff. You made this visit very easy and enjoyable for me and my family. :)

*Note: if you worry about the safety of Hong Kong, from a North American perspective, don’t worry! Hong Kong is generally very safe. Personally, I felt really comfortable with walking outside alone, which is something I don’t do very often in areas I’m not...

This is my first time to give 1 star review and its unfortunately for the hotel I’ve always loved to stay in Hong Kong.

We booked this hotel for a family trip after lifting the 3 year Covid restrictions, celebrated mother’s day as well as renewing our ID cards. However, we were not aware that the hotel’s official site hasn’t confirm our booking under the circumstances that the bank has sent us notification that the payment for the booking has been reserved after filling up all the credit card details and successfully completed the online reservation process. No email was sent from the hotel. The hotel reservation was also removed my mom’s membership account without informing us the booking was not successfully made. We showed the front desk the record of the SMS from the bank issued on the date we booked the room and ask whether they could locate the record because we couldn’t find the hotel reservation record in the hotel member’s account. The front desk said they couldn’t find and if we want to stay in this hotel, we have to pay 3000 HKD more due to the higher rate in the weekend. I chose to stay because I prefer not moving to somewhere else since my mom is over 70 years old. It’s a hassle to find another hotel with similar quality in the very last minute.

After paying extra, I’m surprised that we got a room filled with the smell of cigarette on the non-smoking floor. I requested to change the room. I would expect an upgrade or something complimentary from the hotel because the staff know that it would be a long stay for this booking (8 nights). We did ask whether there’s an upgrade provided by the hotel to compensate this awful experience. The staff said the type of the room has a sofa which is slightly nicer than the room we are able to book on site.

The result was we got the same room one floor up with less cigarette smell and its front door which is a bit oversized always scratches the floor when opening it.

This time, I chose not to complain to the staff at the front desk because I felt the staff don’t care about the feeling of their returning customers (I showed the previous reservation successfully made on a 3rd party travel booking site in 2020). To be honest, I felt that it was a waste of our time on this and brought more disappointment to ourselves. My mom and I were both exhausted and puzzled by what happened to us. I choose to leaving my feedback here so that others can avoid having an awkward situation like this.

Tbh, I regret I made the decision to insist staying in this hotel this time and I won’t stay in this...