My wife and I have been to Hong Kong more times than we can count. We love Asia’s World City and know it fairly well. Hong Kong is home to our favorite restaurant, it’s one of our favorite places to spend time, our favorite hotels, and we love connecting through Hong Kong International for its amazing service. However, part of loving this ever-changing city is switching up our hotel choices from time to time. Usually we stay at the Hyatt Regency Sha Tin but for this stay, I decided to try the Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui.
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Location
The hotel is located in Kowloon in the Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district, not far from Victoria Harbour. For a business person in the city for meetings, they may find the Grand Hyatt across the harbor more convenient with its location in Central. All the same, if you are in town for sightseeing, business, or likely a mixture of the two this location would beat Sha Tin hands down. You are in the heart of everything with excellent transportation links to wherever you would want to go, see or do.
https://goo.gl/maps/YxDXLrJaqtB2
K11, 18 Hanoi Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
+852 2311 1234
Room
Walking in the door (touchless key pad lock) the bathroom is to the immediate right. While it is fitted to a high standard with marble floors and high-end finishes, it’s basic when compared with what you would find at either the Grand Hyatt or the much less expensive Sha Tin.
Specifically, the bathroom is smaller, does not feature a tub, and lacks a charm of the other two Hyatt options in HK. While it seems like a small thing, Sha Tin bathrooms have a huge window over the tub that allows you to enjoy the view if you (or your significant other) are taking a leisurely soak. The toilet does not feature a separate door, which might be the first time I have seen that at a five-star property in Asia. In case you were wondering, the toilet is not Japanese (built-in functions like bidet, heated seat, … bum dryer) – I know that I am getting overly specific and nit-picky here, however, I will explain shortly.
Just after the bathroom the short hall continues into the studio bedroom. There is an open luggage rack conveniently next to the dresser and television. Opposite is the bed (I had a king) which left little room for anything else. There was a small walkway next to the closest side of the bed, on the opposite side there was enough room to place a small sitting chair and ottoman opposite a completely serviceable desk.
The view was gross and I’m not going to include an image of other buildings to demonstrate such. I have stayed here before, the view was the same on the other side of the building as well. In a city of beautiful harbors, mountains, tropical landscapes, and skyscrapers, the window faces a couple of very dated and very gray hotels or apartments. I understand Hong Kong is a concrete jungle but the other two Hyatts have significantly better offerings. The Grand is slightly more expensive but faces one of the most impressive harbors in the world. Sha Tin is far less expensive and has fantastic views on either side of the building (mountain side of the New Territories or a harbor, though not Victoria Harbour).
Lounge
The view up here is much better. The lounge is located on the 23rd floor. It consists of three rooms, the first being an ante room with seating, newspapers and a computer for easy boarding pass printing. The following room has large, two-story windows facing Victoria Harbour which has a fairly clear view despite the buildings in between the property and the waterfront. There are tables next to the window for two or four person parties, and a long elevated communal table which I found convenient.
While I was not able to join the evening cocktail hour, I did make breakfast on both stays. On this occasion I did not have time to order eggs from the menu but did help myself to cereal and a Chinese breakfast buffet item I have never seen or tried before (rolled egg noodles, pan-fried). The hot buffet items consisted of just congee, the aforementioned noodle dish, baked beans, and sausage (presumably to accompany the made-to-order eggs).
That was it.
In the fridge they offered the Hyatt standard smoked salmon, I did not see a fruit option, but I was in a rush and would have been surprised if they did not offer one at all. There were some cold drink options, though limited. There was also a small salad bar, breads and imported cheeses.
That might seem like a lot if you are used to the Dubuque Holiday Inn Express, but for an international Hyatt, that is a pretty limited offering. By comparison, the Grand Hyatt is lauded for their breakfast buffet both in the lounge and their very popular restaurant downstairs. Service in the lounge was friendly though nothing that exceeded expectations for a hotel of this price point.
Attitude
At checkin I was processed by a very polite and amenable agent, though there was no one downstairs to greet me and tell me where to go, however there were some boxes that appeared to be awaiting pickup by a delivery service. I could have helped myself if I would have liked, and that worried me. If I was there for business and needed to send something out, perhaps critical documents or to send something home, would my things be left outside unattended for any drifter to pickup and take with them?
I called down to ask about trouble with the internet, was given a very rote response and the call was terminated. In the morning I called ahead to arrange a taxi to be ready for my trip to the airport in about 10-15 minutes. This is pretty standard, and I was told I could get one on the basement floor. I asked if they could call one in advance for me to ensure I would not be late to the airport, I was placed on hold, then told that one had been called for me and would be ready when I got downstairs. When I assembled my things and went downstairs no such cab was waiting, and further, the desk (now staffed) had not received the call. I am not a detective but I would suspect that she put me on hold, never called, and then came back to tell me that it was done to get me off the phone. It’s not like I am going to come back upstairs to complain to her right?
Another case of a bad attitude at this property was the approach to breakfast in the lounge. The minimalist approach could be due to lack of space, that’s fair enough, but making more items available on a menu and made-to-order basis would be a simple solution. And it’s not as though they didn’t have the option, the restaurant on the main floor was huge, featured an open kitchen and was rather impressive. It appeared the issue in the lounge was a matter of gumption. While all the lounge employees were pleasant and helpful, the attitude of the management putting forth such a half-assed effort in the lounge is a slap in the face to Hyatt loyalists like myself who pay a premium to stay at their properties and had much better options even at other Hyatt hotels in the city.
Value
While the price varies based on season and property availability it’s fairly consistently priced at about $180 USD per night. The Grand Hyatt across the Harbour, the flagship for the brand in Hong Kong is between $220-280/night. The Hyatt Regency Sha Tin prices between $110-130/night typically.
While perhaps not exactly double the size of the Hyatt Regency TST room, the Sha Tin room is pretty close to twice the room, features the tub, panoramic views that you actually want to look at, a better lounge, and a staff that is genuinely happy to serve. The Grand also offers fantastic views, a better bathroom, arguably a better location (especially for business people) and an extraordinary lounge and breakfast option in the restaurant.
I am a big value guy. I am not cheap, but I always want a good value for my money. I use a Rimowa suitcase because the quality is impeccable, their warranty is excellent, they will service a broken case at your hotel just about anywhere in the world, and they look gorgeous. That being said, even the least expensive models are hundreds of dollars per piece. It’s not that I hate spending money, I just want to get a good value for what I spend.
When I think about Hyatt hotels in Hong Kong, the Hyatt Regency Sha Tin and the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong are both great values (depending on how expensive the Grand gets and how much time you have). I feel like the value of Sha Tin is better for me because the cost is so affordable and the service is on par with the Grand, it’s the location that suffers (though it has advantages too). The value of the Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui is low. The location is of benefit but the room is the size of a matchbox and because I have stayed in other properties in the city, I know that it’s not just a “Hong Kong” thing – it’s a Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui thing. However, it’s not like the hotel can make the rooms larger without an overly expensive and unnecessary renovation. Where they could have brought up the value is staff training and a greater effort on the soft product like the lounge offerings.
For me, it just reinforces that the best deal in Hong Kong might be the Sha Tin, and I headed back there just two days after checking out from TST, never to return.
Have you stayed at the Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui? Do you have a favorite hotel in Hong Kong?
How can a person get to the Sha Tin property using the MTR Aiport Express? Is there a free shuttle similar to that which is used to access the Hyatt Regency TST?
You have to change trains once in the city (I can’t remember which station but the MTR stop 100 meters from Hyatt Regency Sha Tin is University stop.
There actually is a shuttle that goes to the Hyatt Regency Sha Tin from the Hyatt TST. It doesn’t run very often and you’ll probably want to double check how often it runs
That’s right, I forgot about that. Thanks for mentioning it Edmond.
We stayed there last year for 7 nights. I had a suite upgrade and had an amazing room with a great view. Service was great. We even used the happy hour as dinner a few nights. Here is our review: http://skypaktravel.com/2016/11/hotel-hyatt-regency-hong-kong-tsim-tsa-tsui/
Nice Rimowa bag!
Thank you kindly.
The Hyatt Regency TST is passable as a luxury property, but it’s main attraction is the location. Tsim Sha Tsui is one of the most interesting areas to explore in all of Hong Kong, and it’s a pretty short walk to the Star Ferry Terminal, or MTR where almost anything of interest is a less than a 15 minute train ride away.
The Grand Hyatt location is also decent (and I’ll admit that it is a much nicer hotel), but we found the area in the immediate vicinity of the hotel to be sterile and boring. I haven’t stayed in the HR Sha Tin, but the 45 minute train ride+walk to anything interesting makes it a lot harder to justify for me.
It’s not usually a full 45 minutes but if you are there for a holiday instead of business, the serene surroundings, huge rooms, and unbelievable views are well worth the train out.
May 2016 stay. Zilch Platinum recognition. View was of apartment buildings – nothing great.
Breakfast buffet in the restaurant was above average. That lounge breakfast sounds like a joke.
Next time I’m in TST I will be at the Hotel ICON.
See you there Grant.
This is not a five star property. It is a mid-tier business hotel.
You’re way off on the GH HKG rates. They are typically much higher than you quote. Relatively unusual to see that property under $3000 HKD (approx $400 US). Often 2x the price of HR TST.
I can’t screenshot in the comments, but I just searched random dates January 11-14th 2018 for Hong Kong on Hyatt.com and the Grand Hyatt was $2,120HKD ($273USD) per night. My next set of random dates were February 18-20th 2018 and the Grand went up slightly ($2,240HKD or $289USD) which shockingly was less expensive than TST at $368USD per night. I ran a third search, March 13-16 and found $2700HKD or $348. It could be a case that I am coming across searches by happenstance that are cheaper, I don’t have time to cherry-pick results but given that I searched three different months and three different sets of days of the week (some weekday only, some Saturday departures and some pure weekend stays). So I don’t think that I am “way off” on the rates. Perhaps the rest of the year what you have said is true or perhaps it is just highly variable, but regardless my experience has always been right around the rates I mentioned.
@Kyle Harmon – Bingo! The location of the HR TST is absolutely fantastic, connected to a K11 Mall and several entrances to the TST/E MTR stations. While the view of the holiday inn golden mile roof isn’t that great, the location of this place and the cash&points price certainly makes up for that.
As for the GH, It’s nice, but typically closer to $400 a night than $280 – and the location just isn’t great for wondering around.
There seems to be a lot of consensus from commenters that prices are closer to $400/nt than $280. Perhaps there has been a change but I routinely shop the market for 1-5 night stays about a half a dozen times every year and have only seen it crest $400USD once with the exception of a sold out hotel in which prices are $500+ (but offering rooms to Globalists anyway because of status).
Stayed for a couple of nights this year largely because of the location and loved it; service was really good. I also had a nice view of the harbor. They have a nice open area (on floor 9 I think) that is worth a stroll, especially if you want a cooling breeze.
Each stay is unique – I am glad to hear your experience was better than mine.