What does a hotel do all day? Check in, check out, rinse and repeat – perhaps you’ve heard it all before? But the best hospitality brands are islands of perfection where the professionalism of the staff allows guests to forget their cares. The Rosewood is one such enclave of excellence. Occupying 43 floors of Kowloon’s 65-storey Rosewood Tower, the property is almost an autonomous, luxurious city-state in itself. But it’s best used as the starting point of an adventure in the real city outside. From breakfast and lunch to cocktails and jazz, via a celebration of the backstage business that ensures such outward-facing smooth sailing, here’s a day in the life of the Rosewood Hong Kong.
08.00: Breakfast
Good morning. Now, ask yourself: is there such a thing as an average day? While you’re mulling that over, on an “average” day, the Rosewood’s early-rising cooks will prepare some 380 breakfasts, from a full English to an American waffle fest (there’s a lean, clean “wellness” menu too, featuring the horror that is an egg-white omelette). The best and most popular – go on, make like a local – is the Hong Kong breakfast of congee, siu mai steamed dumplings, some teeth-squeakingly refreshing radishes and Hong Kong-style milk tea.
09.00: Concierge
Concierges are a hotel’s brains trust. They will certainly net you some local knowledge and might help you out of a sticky situation too. Micky Siu is the head concierge here and he swears by “special service, going the extra mile”. His pastoral care extends to whipping together a full itinerary for a guest wishing to explore the city and making the necessary arrangements for a big shot who has forgotten that he needs a helicopter to Macao in 15 minutes. “We sometimes have to run to Hermès and buy a bag as a gift,” says Micky, “but it has to look as though it was chosen by the guest, of course.” Micky’s outreach also extends to oiling the wheels of a galaxy of contacts. The maîtres d’ of Hong Kong’s most in-demand restaurants are kept sweet with an annual dinner, maybe two, just to be safe. “There might be a four-month waiting list for some places,” says Micky, “but we can get you in.”
10.00: A city tour
Lotus Leung is the Rosewood’s cultural ambassador and guide to, well, almost whatever you wish. “Lotus,” I say, “I’d like to capture the diversity of Hong Kong in phenomenal photographs!” And off we go in a plush Toyota Alphard. It’s a sunny spring day, warm enough to encourage the blooms and blossoms at the Mong Kok flower market to open and smile. We see squat kumquat trees, lilies, peonies, amaryllis, delicate orchids, shy bonsai, anthurium, gardenias and wild roses tamed for terraces. The Ming Heung Tea Company isn’t far away. It’s old school and the tea is transported in actual crates. The leaves are weighed, bagged, wrapped and dispatched with a smile. In the poetically named Kowloon City Municipal Services Building sits an unsung hero of all-day dining. The Lok Yuen Coffee Stall is a classic cha chaan teng and it’s all beef noodles, egg-drop soups, milk tea and strip lighting. Lotus says that she wouldn’t normally entertain guests at a simple place like this but miss it at your peril: it’s a rare example of a specific kind of cheap-and-cheerful Hong Kong perfection.
12.00: The driveway
Elegant Roman stones pave the way from street level to the Rosewood’s entrance. There’s something of a southern European sound to the satisfying rumble of wheels on cobbles as new guests arrive and those departing are wished farewell.
12.15: Check-in
New guests will find no pulling and pushing of door handles at the Rosewood, thank you very much. Instead, you have a stylish arm outstretched, a smile, a nod that’s a close cousin to a bow and a “Good afternoon”. First impressions? So important.
13.00: Lunch
While you’re enjoying your barbecue pork rice, crispy bean-curd rolls, Hainanese chicken rice or yeung chow fried rice at the Canto-Western wonder that is Holt’s Café, the Rosewood’s staff are lunching backstage in shifts. The 978 “associates” will form an orderly queue, take a tray and enjoy Alfie’s chops, chilli, chow mein, hot-and-sour soup, sandwiches and stir fries. Alfie is a Rosewood legend – a status bolstered by his exceptional charm and the fact that he commutes to work on a Harley-Davidson.
15.00: Your quarters
Swoon at your room, which is likely gorgeous. Of 413 keys, 91 are suites. Dressing rooms open into walk-through bathrooms; sofas and armchairs are scattered with wild abandon in some of the largest rooms in the city. You might get lost on the way from your bed to the wardrobe. In many rooms, big windows frame a bigger view of the bustling ferries and junks of Kowloon puttering across the bay and the green hills and hazy towers of Hong Kong Island. The best booking in the Rosewood? That’ll be the Harbour House, which consists of five bedrooms, a private pool, a gym and a terrace. A huge space at 931 sq m, it occupies the entirety of the 57th floor of the Rosewood Tower. Just a thought for your next weekend break.
16.30: Landings and lifts
As a material, rosewood is dark, durable and can be polished to a high sheen. Those characteristics are drawn out by the low light, soft carpet and cosy landings of many of the guest floors. Shelves and consoles are stocked with books on art and music, next to ceramics, paperweights and objets d’art. The 38 guest lifts will noiselessly deliver you to your heart’s desire. The Asaya spa? A restaurant for a bite? Gym, yoga, some shopping at the Beauregards store? Sure. Or stroll through these stunning spaces and I-spy all of the artworks, from Damien Hirst’s butterflies to Wang Keping’s curious birds.
17.00: Laundry and outfitting
Wendy is the boss of the Rosewood’s Double Happiness Laundry. She is the below-stairs doyenne of keeping guests and staff looking clean, tidy, sharp and crease-free. Many staff garments are cleaned daily and a nimble-fingered alterations service ensures that every uniform is adjusted to fit. The proof is in the martial smartness of the staff. The hotel makes use of more than 100 different uniforms – an array that encompasses butlers to personal trainers, barmen to chauffeurs. At the Rosewood, the cut of a waistcoat can denote rank as plainly as the stripes on the cuff of an admiral.
19.00: Staff meeting
The calm intent of a pre-service pow-wow at Chaat, the Rosewood’s Michelin-starred Indian restaurant, is a sight to behold. There are almost 500 staff working in the hotel’s F&B operations and meetings such as these are the emollient in that well-oiled machine.
20.00: Room-service elevator
The Rosewood’s room-service menu is 40 pages long, a mouthwatering novella. About 100 meals are sent to rooms each day; the 12 service lifts are almost always busy delivering sweet-and-sour pork, jasmine rice and bottles of Tsingtao beer.
23.00: Jazz club
Though weekday last orders don’t exactly align with the dirty stop-out’s charter – at a mere 23.45 – the vibe at the Rosewood’s DarkSide bar is all speakeasy: a loungey atmosphere with the sort of low lighting that makes every glance alluring. Live jazz offers supper-club ambience and the cocktails keep coming. The martini is an icy shard of clean steel; the Rob Roy all smooth power but jaunty with its drunken cherry; the old fashioned a robust answer to last orders. The DarkSide really sings.
