Have some Hong Kong staycation fun playing Pac-Man in a retro games suite and learning how to make sushi or swim like a mermaid
- Walk with dinosaurs or fight zombies on a virtual-reality treadmill at The Langham, go farming at The Sheraton Tung Chung, pick from 180 activities at The Mira
- Hotels in Hong Kong are going the extra mile to woo residents with coronavirus consumption vouchers to spend (as long as you’re not paying by Octopus)
With the border having been closed for almost 18 months, Hong Kong’s hoteliers have had to come up with more inventive ways to tempt locals through their doors. And now they’re pulling out all the stops to encourage Hongkongers to blow their consumption vouchers on a staycation like no other.
Here, we’ve rounded up some of the cleverest, most creative deals in the city. All of the hotels featured accept payment via Alipay, Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK, but can’t take Octopus. All of the prices include tax and service charges.
W Hong Kong
Osaka, Taipei, Shanghai, Bangkok or Bali – pick your theme. The W Hong Kong has redesigned a fleet of mid-sized Fabulous rooms to mimic the styling at some of their most popular Asian hotels.
An Austin Powers perkiness pervades: the Osaka room channels the city’s gritty-glam spirit with a watery wall mural, while the Bali room is wrapped in photographic prints of mist-licked mountains and Hindu temples. Every room is piled with novelty cushions – sequinned boxing gloves in the Bangkok room, 101 towers if you’re visiting Taipei – and flicker with specially made neon lights. A tray of snacks from your chosen destination will be waiting for you.
Later, you can knock back two free themed cocktails at Woo Bar – we’re hoping the Bali butterfly made with Malibu, coconut rum and coconut milk stays on the menu. The deal also comes with that fantastic W breakfast buffet, HK$1,500 of dining credits (which can be used at any of the restaurants or for room service) and a HK$500 spa voucher.
The W Wanderlust deal starts from HK$3,080.
The Mira
While a number of hotels have upped the activities they offer, none have come close to The Mira, which has conjured up 180 different things to do as part of its Summer World Tour promotion.
The activities are split into three categories: Art, Adventure and Action, and include everything from sushi-making workshops and Israeli self-defence classes to Bollywood dancing and learning to swim like a mermaid, complete with shimmery tail. Some of the activities are free and some need paying for. Some are available every day and others on specific dates.
You can add your chosen Summer World Tour activity onto any room package and if you book one of four packages – M Square Staycation; Stay ’N’ Chill, Foodie Haven; Snooze, Spa and Repeat – using any of the consumption voucher e-payment platforms, you’ll also get an additional 10 per cent off.
Double room packages start from HK$1,100.
Sheraton Tung Chung
What could be a more fitting antidote to the crash, bang, wallop of the big city than a day out on a farm.
Facing the airport and backed by the majestic greenery of Lantau North Country Park, the Sheraton Tung Chung has launched a range of new summer activities that include a “Family Farmcation” package, which takes guests on a visit to Winnie the Farm, a pretty smallholding in Mui Wo.
Surrounded by forest, with the sound of birdsong in the air, the farm feels a world away from modern life. Pumpkins, bitter gourds, Osaka melons, Mexican marigolds and Sicilian lemons sprout from the soil, all sustainably grown using fertiliser made from food waste collected from local villages. Visitors can plant, prune, water and pick in-season fruit and vegetables before relaxing with a pot of purple butterfly pea flower tea.
The deal also includes breakfast and a low-carbon, five-course set menu dinner at Yue, which features pork loin with organic bell peppers and simmered organic vegetables in pumpkin soup.
The Sheraton’s Family Farmcation package starts from HK$2,090 (add HK$220 for an ocean view upgrade).
The Langham
The Langham might not immediately spring to mind as the place to try some of the best virtual-reality games of 2021, but this heritage hotel is where you’ll currently find some of the top tech in the city.
As part of its Game On! Staycation package, the hotel has converted four rooms into gaming zones: there’s a party room set up for four people with a 75-inch TV and 40 Nintendo games; a retro room with Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Galaxian consoles; and an esports room with two F1 simulators, which you can race alone or against a friend. But the star attraction is the VR experience suite, which is kitted out with Beat Sabre headsets and an Omni Arena, a rare and expensive VR machine that is attached to a kind of treadmill that allows you to stroll, jog and sprint through different worlds.
There are 24 games to choose from, from mild walks with dinosaurs to wild shoot ’em ups and fighting zombies. The package includes three 30-minute sessions in any of the rooms, as well as breakfast and a HK$200 dining credit.
The Game On! Staycation starts from HK$1,263.
The Peninsula
Hong Kong’s grande dame has bought a lot of goodwill over the last year with round after round of sensational staycation offers, giving many Hongkongers the chance to splash out on a stay that they might not have been able to afford, or justify, otherwise. The Pen’s recent Golden Staycation deal, aimed at senior citizens, proved so popular that the hotel had to discontinue the deal because of overwhelming demand.
Now it has introduced a new version of last year’s Journey the World Staycation, with new experiences, including a workshop with Louis Vuitton, a Vacheron Constantin watchmaking masterclass and wine and cheese tasting. The one-night package includes accommodation in a deluxe room, breakfast for two, a HK$500 dining credit (we suggest you use it in the new Peninsiula Boutique and Cafe) and your choice of two experiences.
Stay two nights and you’ll get five experiences; for three nights, transfers, harbour views and daily set meals at Gaddi’s, Spring Moon, Chesa, Imasa or Spices at The Repulse Bay are thrown in.
The Journey the World: New Encounters offer starts from HK$4,268 per room per night.
