The Park Lane Hong Kong, managed under the Pullman brand, is part of the Accor hotel group. Despite not being in the centre of Hong Kong, the hotel is very well connected via public transport. The Park Lane Suite is the only suite room in the hotel. The service is what you will find in a typical 5-star hotel. However, some staff members made our stay memorable.
Location
The Park Lane Hong Kong – a Pullman Hotel is situated at Causeway Bay, in the northern part of Hong Kong Island. The hotel sits at the edge of the Causeway Bay shopping district, which can get very busy on weekends. The Park Lane Hong Kong faces Victoria Park and part of Victoria Harbour, making it one of the few hotels in Hong Kong that look out into the open. I particularly like the hotel’s location, as the shopping area is right in the hotel’s backyard. There are several 24-hour convenience stores and a 24-hour supermarket near the hotel. The Park Lane Hong Kong is also very well connected by public transportation, with the nearest MTR station, Causeway Bay Station, being a 2-minute walk away. Numerous bus services and the iconic “ding ding” tram stop by the stop, which is a 3-minute walk from the hotel. There is even an airport shuttle service about 1 block from the hotel.
Park Lane Suite
The Park Lane Hong Kong offers several room types. However, the Park Lane Suite is the hotel’s only suite room. The spacious 66m2 Park Lane Suite offered us tons of space and has a separate living room, bedroom, and bathroom.
Entryway
The Park Lane Suite’s entryway sets the entire suite’s design language. The wooden feature wall emits a comfortable and cosy feel. I thought it was smart of the hotel not to clutter the entryway with furniture that would otherwise make this small area look small. I like the ledge fitted on the feature wall, which allowed us to place smaller items, such as the keycard.
Powder Room
We found the powder room behind a translucent sliding door in the entryway area next to the entrance to the Park Lane Suite. The powder room is rather spacious and has one toilet and a sink. The powder room had a sizeable sink and a large countertop, making this area look less empty with its sparse furnishings. The powder room not only provides us with an alternate toilet but also allows our guests to use the toilet without barging into the bedroom to use the toilet in the bathroom.
Living Room
The living room occupies a good amount of space in the Park Lane Suite. The contemporary living room is spacious, with the right amount of furniture. All the furnishings in the living room serve a function rather than for ornamental purposes. A brown leather three-seater couch sits by another feature wall in the living room, identical to that in the entryway. The brown leather couch emits a sense of luxury and sophistication. The thick cushioning on this couch makes it comfortable. On both sides of the couch are two stone-top tables, which are placed in a spot that does not obstruct the usable space in the living room. They also provide us with an alternate avenue to place our items. Another single-seat 360° swivel beige colour armchair rests at the side of the couch near the entryway of the suite. Sitting in the centre of the couch and the armchair is a two-tiered glass-top coffee table thoughtfully stocked with snacks and welcome amenities. The use of glass as the surface of the coffee table not only enforces the luxurious vibe in the living room of the Park Lane Suite but also makes the suite look less cluttered.
A 40″ flat-screen TV is mounted onto another wooden feature wall, identical to those in the entryway. The TV provided numerous entertainment options while we were resting in the suite. Despite various local and international channels on TV, I find more local channels than international ones. The Park Lane Hong Kong furnished a large TV console underneath the TV. I find the TV console practical as it gives us additional space to dump our shopping without messing up the suite’s living room. We also found minibar snacks (chargeable) and an electric kettle nicely tucked in the two cabinets in this console. A two-tiered glass-top work desk sits in the area furthest away from the entryway, right by the window. The sizeable work desktop has a swivel design, providing sufficient space for guests to work on their laptops. However, I wouldn’t say I liked the placement of the power outlet, which is located on the floor next to the stem of the work desk. The Park Lane Hong Kong furnished a very comfortable work chair, with its body wrapping design giving guests excellent back support. Perhaps in an attempt to free up as much space on the work desk as possible, instead of fitting a reading light at the work desk, The Park Lane Hong Kong had the reading light fitted onto the ceiling, which I found did not sufficiently illuminate the work desk.
The mini bar is found in a standalone cabinet by the wall of the powder room. A Nespresso Machine and a filtered water machine, alongside some cups and glasses, occupy the top shelf of the mini bar cabinet. I found myself knocking on the wine glasses fitted on the ceiling of the shelf several times when I tried to access the water tank of the Nespresso machine due to the clutter. Also, I was not too fond of the filtered water machine as we often had to top up the small-capacity water tank. A sizeable drawer-styled in-room safe is fitted at the centre level of the cabinet, and the mini fridge was found on the lowest level of the mini bar cabinet. The mini fridge was fully stocked with beers and soft drinks. However, these beverages are chargeable. Right next to the mini bar cabinet is another wardrobe, which I thought the placement was a tad weird. Placing a wardrobe in the suite’s living room was inconvenient for guests to access their clothing. Perhaps the hotel intends this wardrobe to be a space for guests to hang their jackets.
Bedroom
A solid wooden sliding door separates The bedroom from the living room. The decor in the large bedroom exudes an elegant and comfortable feel, where the colour palette used here is lighter, contrasting the darker tone in the living room. The first thing that caught my eye in the bedroom was the large tree painting handing over the headboard of the king bed. The colour used in this painting is pleasing to the eye and exudes a sense of calmness. The bedroom’s centrepiece is the king bed resting flush to the bedroom wall. The king bed is a great size, and the firm mattress gave us great sleep quality. However, I find the pillows a tad too soft for my liking. The hotel has a limited pillow menu, but the options did not include any pillows firm enough to my liking. The two sizeable bedside tables on either side of the king bed, with their large drawers, afforded us lots of space to place and charge our lifestyle devices with the power outlets strategically fitted at these tables.
There was another single-seater armchair that came with an ottoman placed between the bed and the window. The placement of this chair gave us another space to chill and look out into Victoria Park from the bedroom of the Park Lane Suite. However, we mainly use this chair to stow our backpacks. The bedroom in the Park Lane Suite also has a 40″ flat-screen TV mounted to a feature wall with the same design as those in the living room. We could obtain the same entertainment options as the TV in the living room. The oversized light brown TV console placed below the TV gave us additional options to stow our items. I thought the wardrobe in the Park Lane Suite, which can be accessed from both the bedroom and the bathroom, was a tad small. It only gave sufficient space for one of us to hang our four days’ worth of clothing, which meant that one of us had to use the wardrobe in the living room. It does not help that The Park Lane Hong Kong placed a yoga mat in the already limited wardrobe space. We found a two-tiered drawer in the wardrobe, giving us space to put away smaller clothing items.
Bathroom
Access to the spacious and well-designed bathroom is only possible via the suite’s bedroom, which employs the same wooden theme. The bathroom is functional and aesthetically pleasing, with a distinct wet and dry area. The dry area is fitted with dual sinks on a long countertop that spreads across the entire bathroom depth, giving us tons of space to place our facial products. The hair dryer is tucked in the only drawer along the countertop, where we found the only power outlet for shavers on the hairdryer holder. The Park Lane Hong Kong seem to sacrifice functionality over form in the design of the power outlet. The drawer is not deep enough to accommodate the size of the charger, and it did not work! Another flaw in the bathroom is the lack of hooks for us to hang our clothes. It seems the hotel mitigated the lack of hooks by designing a small wardrobe accessible from the bathroom.
The wet area is separated by glass panels with a sliding glass door to increase the sense of spaciousness in the bathroom. The wet area houses both the walk-in shower and a large bathtub, which I thought was a very good design. This design ensured the dry area stayed dry as we did not have to walk through the bathroom with our wet feet after soaking in the tub. It also gave us the convenience of showering right after soaking in the tub. The bathtub in the suite was of a great size, with running LED lighting; soaking in this tub was relaxing. The hotel fitted the wet area with a rain shower and a regular shower head with excellent water pressure. Despite looking refined with the wooden panelled flooring in the wet area, I found this design impractical as the floor would stay damp overnight. The toilet cubicle is tucked in the corner furthest away from the entrance to the bathroom, next to the wet area of the bathroom. The area allocated to the toilet cubicle was relatively large, and Park Lane Hong Kong fitted a Japanese-style bidet with seat-warming functions, complete with a ledge for us to place our mobile phones in the toilet.
Service
The service at The Park Lane Hong Kong is generally good, with every staff member striving to make their guests feel welcome. Some left a deep impression with their hospitable personality. Kitty was our first point of contact with the hotel. I emailed the hotel in advance to arrange a birthday cake for my friend, whose birthday fell during our stay at the hotel. Kitty responded promptly to my email and helped me arrange a birthday surprise. My friend was pleasantly surprised with the birthday amenities and the decor the hotel placed in the suite. It is a shame that we did not meet Kitty during our stay at the hotel. I would like to convey my thanks personally for her efforts.
June, whom we met at the Executive Lounge, left us with the deepest impression. She would always welcome us with the warmest greeting every time we saw her in the lounge. She would ask how our day was and was generous in recommending places or restaurants where we could visit. June’s excellent local knowledge allowed her to immediately recommend where we could get the food we sought and how to maximise our time in Hong Kong.
We met Jonathan during check-in, who warmly welcomed us to the hotel. Jonathan was expeditious in processing our check-in and was very detailed in briefing us where to get breakfast, the timing for breakfast, and the Executive Lounge’s operating hours. Jonathan even volunteered to help us with our luggage to our rooms after he processed our check-in.
Even the housekeeping staff made us feel welcome. We made small talk with one of the staff members as we checked into our rooms. Despite being busy and having a tight schedule, the cheerful housekeeping staff welcomed us to the hotel. These unsung heroes will always warmly greet us whenever we bump into them along the corridor. These housekeeping staff would always ensure that we returned to a clean and comfortable room after a day of exploring the city of Hong Kong.
Hotel Facilities
Executive Lounge
The Park Lane Hong Kong has a beautiful lounge perched high on Level 26 of the hotel. The Executive lounge is open to guests with lounge access from 6.30 am to 10 pm daily. The contemporary decor of the lounge comes with tons of seating space, from the more open main dining area to a secluded area where we found ourselves somewhat isolated from the rest of the lounge. Besides small bites and drinks, we like the lounge for its views. We were treated to the beautiful skyline of the harbour side of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Other than breakfast, The Park Lane Hong Kong treats its lounge guests with afternoon tea from 3 pm to 5 pm and evening cocktails from 5 pm to 7 pm. Outside these “meal times”, we also visited the lounge for snacks and drinks.
Breakfast
As guests of the Park Lane Suite, we were offered the option of having breakfast at the restaurant Playt located at Level 1 or the Executive Lounge. Playt is your traditional breakfast restaurant, which offers us a wide variety of choices for breakfast in buffet style. There is a good mix of local and international choices for breakfast, from counters serving Hong Kong-style breakfast such as dim sum and congee to one dedicated to Western choices like bacon and hashbrowns and a good selection of bread and eggs. Playt also has an extensive choice at the salad bar. I particularly find the soy milk the restaurant served during breakfast tasty and not too sweet.
Breakfast at the Executive Lounge offers a different breakfast experience compared to Playt. The Executive Lounge at The Park Lane Hong Kong has a small selection of Hong Kong cuisine at the hot counter and cold cuts, salads and bread at the cold counter during breakfast. The lounge also offered an ala carte buffet menu where food was prepared ala minute. Despite the limited selection, we preferred having breakfast at the lounge as not only were we treated to a great view of the Hong Kong skyline, but the crowd was thinner at the lounge.
Gym
The gym is the only fitness facility that The Park Lane Hong Kong has, and it is located on level 5. The gym was well-equipped with fitness equipment and machines for various workouts, from cardio to strength building. The gym equipment is top-notch and identical to that of paid-member gyms. For strength training alone, there are machines that work out every muscle in the body. There are several choices for cardio workouts, such as stationary bikes and treadmills. There is even a space dedicated to gym guests wanting to practice yoga. We also found a small sauna room in the gym’s changing room.
Overall
The Park Lane Hong Kong is very well located. The hotel is close to the shopping strip at Causeway Bay and is very connected via public transportation. There are several 24-hour shops near the hotel. Dining options are plentiful within a stone’s throw from the hotel. The contemporary Park Lane Suite was very comfortable and spacious. The Park Lane suite is one of the few hotel rooms in Hong Kong that gave us a breathtaking view of Hong Kong and Victoria Park. The service at the hotel was great, and every staff member we met was welcoming. I would return to The Park Lane Hong Kong the next time I visit Hong Kong.