Eks, not deranged at all, I consider a pool important if I'm staying more than a nite or two. But I can't STAND indoor pools. They remind me of the public plunges from my childhood, smelling of chlorine and urine from kids peeing in the pool.
And next time I plan to stay in Central. But for a first visit the Langham locale was just fine.

<b>Ekscrunchy</b>, I responded to your dining post, but to my horror in reading this post, now realize that you are planning a trip in March!! Can you possibly change it to another month? March is my least favourite month here, it’s the month I try to leave and go to climes where you have a chance of seeing the sun during the month. You will certainly need an indoor pool in March, if for nothing else than to be able to see while swimming. March tends to be foggy. And cool. And damp. You take a shower in the morning, and the steam does not dry off your mirror all day. Mold grows on your shoes. Yuck.

Hyperbole aside, I would suggest February or April if you have to make the trip in the spring months. Feb is Lunar New Year (Feb 13-16 this year, early Feb in 2011) which can be an interesting time to be here (although some of the restaurants you are interested in may be closed, hard to say). The weather is marginally better in Feb than it is in March (it’s less damp and less foggy). April is at least hot so you can use an outdoor pool, which will give you many more hotel choices.

With regard to the Four Seasons, I don’t have the name of an individual reservations agent at the hotel, but if you don’t have it already, the e-mail of the Reservations Department is [email protected]. IMO the Four Seasons has an excellent location, esp if you want to be able to walk to good restaurants, as the Soho area is reachable via the escalator which is steps from the hotel, and you can also take the tram or a short taxi ride to Wan Chai or Shueng Wan (you could even walk as it is flat, and if you like walking and depending on where you are going. You can also take the subway but may end up walking more than is attractive to and from the stations, a taxi would be faster and tram more scenic). There are several good Chinese restaurants in the IFC mall attached to the Four Seasons (like Chrystal Jade, Lei Gardens and Cuisine Cuisine – the latter is also in the Michelin book which I think you have been working with, and is one of my personal favourites), all of which serve dim sum, but others in the area as well. I would not pay the Four Seasons prices for breakfast in any event, as the mall has bakeries and at least two Starbucks (and also our local equivalents like Pacific Coffee Company), and you can also walk to other places (like the Flying Pan in the Soho area) for an old fashioned full American breakfast if you want one. Or go up to the Peak for a morning view and a cuppa at the Pacific Coffee Company there, with the most fabulous view of any coffee joint in the world (but possibly not in March).

I honestly don’t see the point of staying at the Penn and paying a still fairly steep price for a room which is not a harbour view. You could get a harbour view <i>suite</i> at the Salisbury next door (with its large indoor pool) for about half the price I would think. Granted the Penn is more luxe, but if you are going to stay on the Kowloon side, IMO, there is no point in doing so unless you have a view. If you want a luxury hotel which does not have a view but does have an indoor pool, the go with the Landmark Mandarin in a superb location in Central.

Cicerone: I am so glad that you saw this thread and that you took the time to respond! Unfortunately our dates are set; we are visiting Hong Kong at the end of a 5 week trip centered around a river cruise in Burma. I was able to get FF tickets returning from HK. However, our dates are at the end of the month (23rd to 28th) so perhaps we will get lucky with the weather! If not, I will just have to return someday soon!

I should mention that we are planning to take the train to HK from Shanghai IF my hotel in Shanghai comes through with the promised tickets for the luxury soft sleeper.

I did find a travel agent who is a Preferred Partner with Four Seasons and who can get us a room with upgrade if available, plus breakfast, plus a $100 resort credit, for the same price as the room alone on the website. So even though breakfast is not so important due to the proximity of the IFC mall, I am leaning toward asking her to book. At those prices,I will take the least expensive room. I already know that there is no view but I am ok with that.

Do you see any reason why I should NOT book with the TA? (I will pay the hotel directly)??

As you can imagine, I have reams of questions regarding eating and shopping and I see you have kindly responded already to my first eating queries....

Many thanks! I look forward to further "discussions" about your city!!

Questions do not come in reams. They are generally accumulated in piles.

I will forge ahead, ignoring the previous poster:

For those who have stayed at the Four Seasons in Hong Kong:

There is a 65$ difference between the peak-view rooms and harbor-view rooms on the lower floors (floors 9 to 32)

Do you think the harbor view would be worth the extra $$$??? (I am asking this for my friends; I will be taking the peak-view room)

I actually think that the Peak view rooms at the Four Seasons offer some very interesting views, esp. if you are on the higher floors. (I have not stayed there, but have seen the various rooms and used the spa, pool and health club on many occasions so am pretty familiar with the views.) They are kind of dramatic and offer the view of the city skyscrapers against the outline of the mountains behind them. It’s also pretty as sunset as the mountains are outlined against the sun setting behind them. At night, you will have an interesting view of city lights and also of the Peak tram building, and can see tourists’ flashbulbs popping from various points on the Peak.

The harbour view rooms are, technically speaking, of the “wrong” side of the harbour; that is, you are looking toward Kowloon. They are not as dramatic as the views of Hong Kong Island which you get from the Kowloon side because you don’t have the skyscrapers compacted in a tight space against the mountains of Hong Kong Island. Instead, you have the city view of Kowloon with hills in the far distance (air pollution and fog permitting). However, if you get a crystal clear day, the views from this side would be quite lovely as you could see all the nine hills of Kowloon and the hills beyond which form the backdrop of the New Territories; I must caution you that this happens maybe 10 days a year and it would be rare to happen in March. (Having just been on the hotel’s website, I can see that they took photos on one of those rare days.) Even on a polluted day, it is busy and interesting, but it is not the picture-postcard view that you see in the travel magazines. The night views would probably be interesting regardless, as the lights can cut through fog and smog. Whether it is worth another US$65 a night or not is hard to say. The other risk is of a low floor. Really, something like the 10th floor versus something like the 32nd would make a big difference IMO. From the 10th, they may not get to appreciate much beyond the ferry piers in front of the hotel and the container port across the harbour (which may be more glaring at night perhaps; the harbour view from the hotel’s lobby is entirely unprepossessing, esp at night, IMO, and that is about the 4th floor of the building). So if they couldn’t be guaranteed a high floor they may not appreciate the harbour view so much. But this hotel really is not about the view. It is about the location, large rooms and service.