Inside Hong Kong’s most iconic hotel

It takes me a while to figure out how to work the automatic curtain buttons. Jet lag, in my defence, isn’t known for boosting the intellect. On the 17th floor of The Peninsula hotel, the drapes part with a soft whirr to reveal Hong Kong’s best view. At 3am, Victoria Harbour is still dazzling, framed by the lights of dozens of tightly packed skyscrapers, but it’s quiet and still, like a cat sleeping with half-closed eyes. By sunrise, fog smudges the outline of Victoria Peak, a halo of green above the city. The city stirs and stretches. A hypnotic ballet of ships and ferries cuts delicate lace patterns across the jade waters.

This was the view I took in every day, in the 1990s, on my way to school. Back then, the tip of Kowloon’s peninsula – the part of the Hong Kong territories attached to the mainland – hadn’t yet swelled and swallowed up large chunks of the harbour – land reclamation paving the way for swanky malls, bustling MTR stations and cutting-edge cultural institutions. Stepping aboard the creaky, time-worn deck of the Star Ferry – the green-and-white ships carrying commuters to Hong Kong island since 1888 – was to cross into another world. The harbour traced an invisible but tangible boundary, separating the island’s wealthy, glitzy centre from Kowloon’s working-class roots.

This is where the Kadoorie family boldly chose to lay The Peninsula’s elegant, Italianate foundations, mere steps from the ocean liner and Trans-Siberian terminals that defined the most glamorous era in global travel. Opened in 1928, the hotel was thoroughly modern – a natural-born disruptor set to shake up the hospitality industry. Then, as now, pages in immaculate uniforms, complete with gloves and jaunty pillbox hats, ushered guests past two Chinese lion statues fiercely guarding the premises. Walking through the carefully preserved, flamboyantly gilded Edwardian lobby still feels like stepping into a film set. Afternoon tea is served here every day and somewhere, above the rarefied din of silver spoons on fine porcelain, a string quartet gives pop hits the classical treatment. Upstairs, Charlie Chaplin and Clark Gable got up to no good, no doubt, in the wood-panelled bar. Outside, a fleet of 14 Brewster green Rolls-Royce Phantoms is on call for airport pick-ups and other shenanigans. It’s colonial cosplay – and a huge part of the charm that’s been drawing visitors in for the best part of 100 years.

Does the ‘Pen’, as it’s nicknamed, stand up to its younger, more chiselled five-star competition? Its cosseting cream tones, mahogany furnishings and generously mirrored marble bathrooms are undeniably luxe – an aesthetic replicated, from Bangkok to Istanbul, by each new iteration of the Peninsula brand – but my 17th-floor room has acquired a certain old-school patina since the last refurbishment in 2012. It’s more Tatler than Vogue, more Chanel than Ganni. In fact, an orderly queue often forms outside the fashion house’s flagship boutique on the ground floor, and oversized decorations in Mademoiselle Coco’s signature pearls and tweeds light up the façade every Christmas. This high-society glamour extends to Gaddi’s, a Michelin-starred restaurant complete with heaving bread baskets, starched linen and live jazz where Anne-Sophie Nicolas – the first female chef at the restaurant’s helm in 70 years – riffs on French terroir and tradition in classic tasting menus.

Not that these old-world trappings aren’t appealing. After a couple of nights, I quickly become addicted to the in-room spa switch that dims the lights and pipes soul-soothing music straight into the depths of my bathtub. There are promising signs, too, that the Pen is leaning into the trend for travel experiences firmly rooted in a sense of place and culture. It’s perfectly poised for exploring Kowloon’s under-the-radar delights, from street food stalls to vintage shops and Mong Kok’s quaint bird market, and just a quick ride from Western Kowloon’s engrossing cultural district. Designed by local parfumière Angel Cheung, toiletries are scented with local agarwood and jasmine and so indulgent they’re worth squirrelling away in your suitcase.

Festivals and special events mark the seasons – an excuse for Hong Kong’s who’s who to mingle with highflyers and sample the Peninsula’s legendary buffets. It’s on one such evening that banqueting chef Terence Chiu walks me through Spring Moon’s Michelin-starred Cantonese display with gluttonous enthusiasm, point out dumplings steamed to order, salty-sweet pomelo peel and chicken wings stuffed with bird’s nest and fried to an amber crisp. And then there’s the restorative spa, where ancient Han therapy gets the qi flowing, and a programme of art installations by local artists commissioned, this year, in partnership with the V&A.

The ‘Grande Dame of the Far East’ may be approaching its centenary, but checking in for a few days proves, if needed, that there’s life in the old girl yet. Rumour has it that a new generation of the Kadoorie family is preparing to take the reins and usher this charming, soulful, beloved icon into a new era. Let’s hope they tread carefully.

Take off to Hong Kong

Three more memorable Asian hotels 

Raffles Hotel

Where? Singapore
If colonial chic floats your boat, this is the grand-daddy that started the trend. The former beach house opened in 1887 with just ten rooms. Several extensions, one famous cocktail and a tiger shot in the billiards room later, Raffles has lost none of its original swagger. The suites are serene and the spa divine, but the bars where Rudyard Kipling and Joseph Conrad once quenched their tropical thirsts are worth the trip alone.

Take off to Singapore

Park Hyatt Hotel

Where? Tokyo
You’ll have to wait until autumn 2025 for a post-renovation peek inside this Shinjuku stalwart, made famous by its star turn (and a certain pair of pink knickers) in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. Designed by Japanese starchitect Kenzō Tange, the hotel commands pulse-racing views over the city from its skyscraper perch. Fans of the original design can rest easy: Paris-based Studio Jouin Manku, in charge of the spruce-up, has promised to stay true to its spirit.

Take off to Tokyo

The Siam

Where? Bangkok
As befits a country that prides itself on its hospitality, there’s no shortage of exquisite stays in the Thai capital. In the heart of the historic Dusit district, this Art Deco beauty was given a new lease of life in hotel whizz kid Bill Bensley’s inimitable style. Most eye-catching is the sleek monochrome infinity pool stretching alongside the Chao Phraya river, but the aptly named Opium Spa, Muay Thai training programmes and in-house tattoo artist will leave a lasting impression, too.

Take off to Bangkok