Hysan Place mall opens in Causeway Bay

Does Hong Kong really need another mall?! Of course it does!

Hysan Place, 17 floors of prime retail therapy, has just opened in Causeway Bay and already looks like being a great addition to the shopping scene. It’s less designer-heavy than the likes of CWB’s Times Square and Lee Gardens (its owner), is a far nicer shopping environment than the ever-crazy SOGO and includes tonnes of great new affordable restaurants and dining options – so I’m already a fan!

Hysan Place reminds me most of The One, the new-ish mall in Tsim Sha Tsui – tall rather than wide. International fashion brands available here include Hollister, Gap, American Vintage, HK’s first Nanette Lepore, fun underwear label 6ixty 8ight and yet another branch of Sassy fave Accessorize. There’s a whole batch of Korean and Japanese labels hitting HK for the first time conveniently clustered together on the 4^th floor, like Deicy, DOUBLE STANDARD CLOTHING, Language, NINE and SHEL’TTER. From my sneak peek, fans of chic cute street style will love these shops – if you’re lucky enough to fit into Korean sizing, of course! There’s also a floor dedicated solely to shoe stores (7/F) so Maura will be happy!

I also really liked the look of their 6^th floor Garden Of Eden – targeted solely at ladies, it includes lots of lingerie, a mind-boggling array of Korean cosmetics from Holika Holika (again, new to HK) and lots of other girlie knick-knacks. I could probably spend a day on this level alone! Beauty fans (like me!) will also be happy to see the first DFS Galleria (now called T Galleria) on HK Island selling over 50 premium cosmetics brands, a spacious Joyce Beauty and the arrival of renowned British organic Neal’s Yard skincare at 10/10 Hope.

It’s not all fashion though. Apparently, there will be an Apple Store opening there in October, plus there has been a lot of buzz about famous Taiwanese bookstore eslite opening its first HK branch. Taking up a whopping three floors, this should definitely provide Page One with a little competition!

Foodies will also be all set with a fab food court, Kitchen11. This looked a lot nicer and spacious than many of the typically heaving food courts here, so would be a good place to grab speedy lunches. There are also loads of new restaurants for us to work our way through, so look out for plenty of reviews over the coming months – Mist Ramen’s latest project rasupermen, the relocated Shiro, a Spanish restaurant from Dining Concepts, a Sichuan restaurant Red Almond, group dining favourite Amaroni’s second branch, French restaurant Le Salon, Wired Café from Japan, Smile froyo, Holly Brown… and way too many more to mention! Even better, they have introduced a cool system where you can book your table at any Hysan Place restaurant from a centralised concierge on the 2/F.

Meanwhile, you could try and skip the crowds at city!super and SOGO’s insane food basement by heading to the gigantic Jason’s Living supermarket, which has all the groceries you could ever need… and more… with a scrummy fresh bakery (we feasted off the smell alone), fantastic deli for cold meats and lots of interesting overseas imports (Fauchon macarons heading your way soon!).

Plus if you need an escape from all the shopping, head to the Sky Garden on the 4/F. A little haven of open space with calming waterfalls, this would be a lovely place to chill out in the cooler months. Patches of (nice!) open space in Causeway Bay are hard to find, so it’s much appreciated!

So there you have it, the inside scoop on Hysan Place. Shopping spree soon, girls?!

Summer Night Out at Hysan Place: To celebrate the opening, you can even shop until midnight until August 25, 2012!

Hysan Place 500 Hennessy Rd, Causeway Bay
2886 7222 hp.leegardens.com.hk

(entrances opposite SOGO, Forever 21 and directly from the MTR)