“Hong Kong is like a sponge”

PENINSULA Hotels just spent $65 million to renovate The Peninsula Hong Kong, which recently celebrated its 85th birthday. All the rooms and suites were renovated with comprehensive in-room technology, which reaches out to guests in 11 different languages.

Regional vice-president, The Peninsula Hotels and general manager, The Peninsula Hong Kong, Rainy Chan, talks to TTN about Hong Kong’s iconic hotel property.

“We have upgraded the rooms not just from an interior design point of view, but also technology,” says Chan. “With this upgrade we now offer unlimited free long-distance calling service to our guests. We have 300 rooms and 80 shops within the complex, which means that you don’t really have to leave our property to shop!”

The Peninsula Hong Kong is also the only hotel in the city that has a helipad. “Our guests can take off from our hotel for a helicopter sight-seeing or they can fly to the island for a picnic.

“I was born and raised in Hong Kong,” the lady general manager says. “It is a very compact city, you can do a lot in two or three days. But what I love about Hong Kong is that it has this incredible energy, which makes you feel that there are no limitations.”

Hong Kong was in the news recently due to the riots in the last quarter of 2014. “October was a very tough month for everybody in Hong Kong. But I have to say that when November came things started to look better and now, we can say, that everything is back to normal.

“Hong Kong is like a sponge. It always bounces back.”

The city is also no stranger to extravagant parties and lavish celebrations, but only The Peninsula Hong Kong can call on more than 85 years of experience in hosting the true crème de la crème.

A new 40-minute documentary, entitled The Making of a Gala, focuses on one of the most memorable nights in the hotel’s illustrious history, the monumental 85th Anniversary Gala. Held on December 11 in 2013, 85 years to the day the hotel first opened its doors, this celebration was one of the biggest and most spectacular parties Hong Kong had seen for decades, welcoming 2,000 esteemed guests for a no-expense-spared evening of the finest gourmet delights.

Of all the documentary’s revelations, however, perhaps the most extraordinary of them all is the overwhelming sense of family that exists among the staff at The Peninsula, which forms the backbone of its service heritage. More than 50 per cent of its staff, has served the hotel for between five and 19 years while another 10 per cent has served from 19 to 56 years.

“The 85th Anniversary Gala was truly one of the greatest nights in the history of the hotel, and an event that gave us all the opportunity to test our abilities to the limit, as I think The Making of a Gala demonstrates,” reminisces Chan. “Planning, fine-tuning and executing perfect experiences such as this is what we at The Peninsula have dedicated our working lives to, and to witness this passion endure on film is perhaps the best reward possible.”

Link to the What's new in Hong Kong?

By Rashi Sen