Four Seasons Hong Kong – a city escape staycation

Travel reviews are supposed to be inspiring and evocative… as opposed to just plain smug! But I have to admit it’s proving difficult not to sound too smug writing this, sipping on a cappuccino at the end of a rather wonderful two-day City Escape staycation at the Four Seasons Hong Kong.

In my (perhaps biased) opinion, no other Hong Kong hotel rivals the Four Seasons for sheer luxury, utter perfection and attention to detail. A staycation here is the ultimate indulgence – be it for a celebration, a gift or simply just because – and I guarantee that you will leave your stay feeling transformed… and possibly even sniffing out just how expensive the rates are at the Four Seasons Residences.

Everything from the moment of check-in was effortless, with the staff charmingly pre-empting our every need. Our Harbour View Room on the 21^st floor boasted breathtaking vistas and faultless luxury all-round, including impossibly comfortable beds, deep baths, rain showers and engulfing dressing gowns.

After exploring the room, we quickly donned our swimwear and made a beeline for the swimming pool. Perched above IFC mall and flanked by skyscrapers on one side and the fragrant harbour itself on the other, it’s the perfect place to sit back and enjoy the wonderful cityscape and delicious light lunches at the alfresco restaurant. We reclined in the Jacuzzi pool watching the junks go by, sipping and munching our way through endless supplies of complimentary poolside refreshments.

Tempted as I was to hog the whole spa voucher from the City Escape package myself, I found it more conducive to marital harmony to allow the husband his share! We ventured our separate ways into the his and hers spa areas, where I reminded myself once again why the Four Seasons spa is by far my favourite of Hong Kong indulgences (check out my previous review here).

Soothed, pampered and with the onset of smugness well under way, I returned to our room for a late afternoon nap, after watching the sunset reflected in the ICC. After a last bit of a room lingering, we fully got into the swing of things with a pre-dinner cocktail at the Blue Bar. Being a Sunday night it was a little subdued, but Friday and Saturday’s live jazz sets would have really hit the spot.

A three-course set dinner for two at The Lounge is also included in the package (which alone would normally come to just under $1,000); the only shame is that you can’t use the credit towards dinner at one of the hotel’s more famed Michelin Star restaurants. That said, the service was once again astounding, the food delicious and the live piano music wonderfully mood enhancing; it’s more of a low-key evening than glitz and glamour but I reckon that makes the whole weekend feel more like a holiday and less of a dining marathon! Feeling perfectly relaxed, we headed up to the new Caprice Bar for a nightcap. A delightfully cosy cheese and wine bar with harbour views and a real fire, we snuggled up and watched the world go by.

Our final day passed by in a blur of blissful detachment from the real world. A fleeting gym visit, some more pool time and a final detox in the spa’s heat and water facilities brought me to the crux of smug – which is where I am now, sitting with my coffee, trying to delay check-out for as long as possible.

At $6,880, the Four Seasons City Escape package isn’t your cheapest option for a Hong Kong staycation but it’s unrivalled for the quality and decadence that it provides. That $6,880 includes a $2,500 spa voucher, a three-course set dinner for two including a glass of wine at The Lounge, late check-out time of 3pm and most importantly, access to the exclusive world of the privileged few as a Four Seasons hotel resident for a weekend!

As for me – well, I just don’t want to go home. I want the Four Seasons to be my home… forever! In reality, dinner needs buying and the real world awaits but I’m reassuring myself that this staycation package is on offer until the end of the year. In light of that, I’m happily willing to scrap stressful international vacations, skip a few junks and squeeze another City Escape at the Four Seasons into my diary before 2013 is out.

Check out that amazing view from Four Seasons Hong Kong in our cool time lapse video:

The Four Seasons City Escape package is available until 31 December 2013 (excluding certain blackout dates); book on their website here

Four Seasons Hong Kong, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong, 3196 8888, [email protected]

www.fourseasons.com/hongkong