Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong — Hotel in Hong Kong

We are usually big fans of the Centric brand and some of their properties (Melbourne Australia, Montevideo Uruguay and even Long Beach California come to mind) as they tend to have a cool and upbeat vibe that is meant to target a younger and/or trendy audience. We were therefore so excited to stay here in Hong Kong but unfortunately, this concept does not work at all in this specific property which left us rather disappointed.

First of all, this is clearly not a real Hyatt Centric and I believe it originally opened as a different brand. They’ve added ONE single centric branded onto the bed head mirror but other than that, the entire property could be a tired old Hyatt Regency or worse. Actually that’s an insult to most Regencies: There is no cool design whatsoever, only bland grey and beige carpets and hallways. I can’t even really describe how awful and boring the decor is- quite exactly the opposite of how the Centric brand sells itself. Faux marble and grey tones everywhere, not even a token attempt to add some proper arts or colour accents to it. The hotel also offers the tiniest of rooms and bathrooms that are even smaller so that it would be an insult at a Novotel. Add to this un-labeled and un-branded bathroom amenities (shampoo is seriously labeled “One”, conditioner “Two” and so on) and you feel truly like in penny-pinching family hotel.

Which leads me to what we found the worst part: As a result of this hotel being so bland and situated in one of the least desirable neighbourhoods of Hong Kong (far away from everything, only overfilled and old-fashioned public transportation available and truly horrific public amenities and crumbling infrastructure nearby), it simply gets frequented as “the cheap Hyatt”. So, the fancy hip lifestyle Centric advertisement video that’s running on endless loop in the lounge is out the window and in come the misbehaved boring families with their screeching kids and babies in tow- mind you, not a single family or screaming child in the entire video so this brand is obviously not made for them. But alas, at this property there is hardly anyone staying but families and hence, all the atmosphere/coolness/desirability that the Centric properties we love usually have, is nowhere to be seen here. The Hyatt branding advertises Centric as a “Gen Z” lifestyle brand but proper Gen Z could never afford it and “cool” (uncomfortable cough) Millennials like us should avoid it at all cost as it is the very opposite of cool (and if we think it’s uncool, then it’s REALLY uncool!).

The property is oddly spread over two towers with the slowest elevators ever but the worst example of being void of any type of coolness or at least atmosphere is the rooftop pool: It has waaaay too few lounge chairs available, there are screaming toddlers and badly behaved kids everywhere with entitled parents who of course could not be bothered to look after their offspring. Despite the pool rules, staff is too shy to enforce anything so you have messy jumps,sprinkling water and noise everywhere. If you can get a deck chair at all (and there are deck chair hawks on the hunt pretty much constantly), the chair mattress is most likely soaked with water.

We found the breakfast to be a similarly messy affair but at least there’s quite a bit of choice, the breakfast actually was the highlight of the property. Elsewhere across the hotel, the staff were rather blasse and as Globalists, we got the same tiny King room as everyone but at least we could see the river.

Finally, this Centric is the only one I know of with an Executive lounge which sounds good in theory but is a rather sad place in practice. The space is way too small and hence so overcrowded that the hotel needs to tell guests to queue in time to get a seat!

So- very disappointing through and through, bereft of any soul and really nothing positive to say about this so-called Hyatt “Centric” other than the variety at the breakfast buffet. It’s a Centric only in name and if anything, it is seriously damaging...

I checked in on 9/18 and planned to stay for 4 nights. At first, it was a very exciting experience as I only ever stayed at Hyatt Regency in Seattle as part of a convention. However, I learned quickly that there was nothing to be happy about here.

We got a free upgrade to a sea view room, but the service is something I will comment on later. The room was great. A bit small as many reviews have mentioned but still with great views of the harbor. It was great to get a room that was on a higher floor because I typically have trouble sleeping at night when it is loud. Too bad I didn't get to experience it, as that was about the only good thing I could comment on this hotel.

First of all, I think for a 5 star hotel, the biggest selling point should be the service. This particular aspect left a terrible impression on me that drew me to writing this review. I have been to hotels with bad and good service across all different luxury levels. None I have written a review for up until now. Rarely do I spend any time reviewing something, yet every single person that I encountered at the check-in desk made me question whether I was a guest at Hyatt or merely an inconvenience to the employees.

When I was informed that I received a free room upgrade, the news came along with a suggestion for a 5-star review for Pamela, the employee who helped us check in. Never have I encountered such behavior in any hotel that I have been to. It honestly felt like I was begging for a free upgrade and had to pay up in the form of a review.

Towards the end of the night, I realized that the hotel was far away from everything I wanted to do. I decided to move to a different hotel. Before I left, I wanted to ask about how my deposit was going to be handled. This was the most frustrating thing I have had to deal with ever. When I first informed Pamela, she let me know that the deposit will be returned after my checkout date, 9/22. She also told me to inform the front desk before I left to "make sure I actually left." Okay, great.

Booked another hotel, packed up my bags, and made my way back to the front desk. This time, someone else ended up helping me, and they told me that my deposit would NOT be returned on the 22nd. Rather, it is returned 14 days later. I tried to ask if that process would begin AFTER the 22nd, but all they did was repeat that it was 14 days after checkout. Does today count as my checkout? Or does the 22nd count as checkout? Alas, I did not continue pushing for answers because it was 10pm, and I was worn out and on the edge of breaking down.

One would think that I owed them money from the way they would speak to me with annoyance. At this point, I don't even expect good service because that is entirely subjective. All I ask is to be treated with some common courtesy and respect as I have towards them.

Perhaps the employees were tired. Perhaps I had an attitude when speaking to the front desk. Or, perhaps it was simply the wrong time and the wrong place. Either way, my first night in Hong Kong was ruined, and I sit here at 11pm, tired and angry, writing...

Whenever I visit Hong Kong as part of my family visit, I would try my best to choose Hyatt Centric Hotel. As it was opened around 2018, all the facilities are modern, new and clean, you can see that they put in alot of effort to make this place updated as possible.

One of main pros of this place would be dining area. I visited CRUISE and THE FARM HOUSE and you will see that the hotel put in a great emphasis on the theme of all the restaurants in this hotel.

Cruise was located 23rd floor of West tower (they have two towers) with great view of Victoria Harbour as it's a restaurant / bar with modern atmosphere. You would feel like your are in a humongous boat, with bar in the middle, like the deck and individual tables being the rooms in the ferry boat so called cruise. They mostly provide Asian Dishes which were savory and delicious without a doubt, one of the best cuisine I have had in few years. It was a reinterpreted and reinvented asian fusion dish, which I would love to come back for my special day. The seafood here was great to my taste especially the fish, oysters, sashimi and etc.

The Farm House Deli was another exceptional experience as it has concept of a farm house where they produce meals on the spot making it fresh and healthy , with division of hot area(that serves hot food) cold area made it an easy access to get the food I wanted. Salad, fruits were all fresh, yoghurts well chilled, hot foods were well heated nothing too cold. I would say I had an great pleasant experience at the dining area of this hotel.

Location I would say, its not the ideal place for around visit to other places as you need to get out of that area, whether going to TST or the Central. It is rather a local area just behind the premises, might want to try those local dishes if you are up for it. But you do need to go outside either by MTR or by Taxi or by Tram. Taxi drivers do get confused by hyatt centric so you may want to confirm before getting on whether they are going to North Point, not Wanchai area.

Room is not spacious but considering its in an urban area I would say its just decent. Ammeties were also well displayed as they try to put a theme into all the facilities, where I enjoyed appreciating. Views were nice wonderful as there is an waterfront but, nothing really special.

They provide slippers and ammeties for babies 👶...