Holiday at Home: Part 2

The Hotel


Recently Nick & I had a 3-day weekend and couldn't decide where to go. We have previously stayed in a luxurious 5-star hotel in Macau and wondered about doing that again. In the end we decided that Hong Kong had both sightseeing and luxury to offer, without the hassle of travel. 

The Gold Coast Hotel

We booked ourselves into the 5-star Gold Coast Hotel for two nights. The Gold Coast is situated beyond Kowloon in the area of Hong Kong which borders China. Despite Hong Kong being relatively small (426 sq miles or 1,104 km²) we calculated that by public transport it would take us about 90 minutes to get there. We therefore  treated ourselves to a taxi from Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station (for those of you living in HK it costs about HK$150 from TST) to cut down on the journey time a little. 

Inside fountain

To our surprise we were greeted by porters and doormen with white gloves on! The main lobby was vast with comfy seating, glass lifts, the main restaurant (where we had our delicious Jazz Buffet - check out Holiday at Home: Part 1 for more details) and beautiful golden fountains. We certainly feel that we've moved up in the world a little since our days of hostels in Germany! The room was fairly standard, but extremely comfortable with a mini bar that wasn't too extortionately expensive. Best of all it offered a view of the nearby beach, but more on that next week...

The beautiful gardens

This hotel is also used as a wedding venue and it doesn't take much calculation to work out why. Along with the decadence inside, there are beautiful gardens at the back of the hotel.  

 

Holiday at Home: Part 1

The Food!


Recently Nick & I had a 3-day weekend and couldn't decide where to go. We thought about getting on a plane to nearby Korea or Bali to go sightseeing in a new country. We pondered getting on a boat to Macau to stay in a luxurious 5-star hotel. In the end we decided that Hong Kong had both sightseeing and luxury to offer, without the hassle of travel. 

Chefs discussing what to bring out next

The hotel that we were staying in (more on the hotel in Part 2) offered an all-you-can-eat "Champagne Jazz Brunch". We decided to grab this rare opportunity of being available on a Sunday with both hands and arrived with empty stomachs. 

Pastries to go with a coffee or two!

Hong Kong has embraced the idea of buffet like nowhere else I've ever seen. There is food from all around the world. 

Cheese! 

I had greatly looked forward to the jazz band, but was very realistic about what to expect. The only time I've previously seen 'jazz' in Hong Kong was in my local shopping centre and I think 4 trees playing instruments would've had more rhythm. These guys were a great improvement rhythmically, although I would question the "Jazz" component of their billing - playing, as they were, tunes from jazz legends such as The Beautiful South, Lionel Richie and Lips Inc. 

Desserts...yum! 

The food was phenomenal and the atmosphere lovely! A thoroughly good start to the 3-day break.