Hong Kong & Phuket

November 2019

Following the success of our trip to Singapore and Bali the year before, we made the decision that we needed to explore the far east a little further. Rather randomly, we decided on Hong Kong, long before we went with Phuket. Ian was particularly keen to visit Hong Kong and we found a great deal through expedia- using the flight and ‘hotel for part of the trip’ feature. When it comes to hotel research we would recommend the telegraph (telegraph.co.uk/travel/hotels) we find it very informative when it comes to ‘higher-end’ hotels and, most fortunately, is accessible without the need to register/pay. Natalie did her extensive research and decided on the Langham Hotel (langhamhotels.com/en/the-langham/hong-kong) and the Cordis (cordishotels.com/en/hong-kong) as the two hotels. As part of the expedia deal we chose to include the Langham in the deal and book the Cordis directly.

In hindsight, we were a tad naïve in booking Hong Kong first, unlike Singapore it does not have as many direct flight connection options. As we were visiting in November, we also had to take into consideration the raining season and how it impacted the various holiday locations. Phu Quoc in Vietnam was a potential alternative, but we ended up selecting Phuket as there was more variety in hotels. Again, we used expedia and booked a return trip to Phuket from Hong Kong with an Air Asia flight and staying at the Pavilions (pavilionshotels.com/Phuket).

We flew from Heathrow, Terminal 3 and had a very pleasant flight with Cathay Pacific. As long-haul economy flights go, they are very good with a great entertainment selection, good food and comfortable seats. When we travelled to Singapore we went with British Airways and were not particularly impressed given the same criteria.

Hong Kong airport was very efficient, we breezed through immigration and our bags were very quick coming through. Fortunately, we still have the ‘grab’ app (uber-like taxi service) from last year’s trip to Singapore, so we booked a ride to our hotel and walked to the nearby pick up point. The airport is on one of the further islands to the East of the city but there is a good motorway network, so it took around 30 minutes to reach our hotel which was in the Tsim Sha Tsui area.

The Langham Hotel building is very impressive, it is surrounded by high end shops and the reception area is luxurious. Check in was smooth, the receptionist took her time to welcome us to the city as well as asking what we would like to do before recommending various activities to us. A porter took us to our room and showed us around the features. The room, unfortunately, was a tad disappointing, it was quite dated and in need of modernising. The bed was comfortable but as it was a basic room there was no view but did have a separate bath and shower.

On our first night, we took the opportunity to walk around the nearby attractions. We found an observation point near the ferry terminal, which had a great view of Hong Kong Island and we took a few memorable photos-one of which remains as our laptop wallpaper. When it came to food, we decided on a burger and headed for BLT (diningconcepts.com/restaurants/BLT-Burger-TST) a nearby burger restaurant located in a shopping centre. A good menu including sides; buffalo wings were particularly nice, but the medium rare burger patty made it very memorable, the bill came in around £60. Ian had a thirst and researched a local craft beer bar called Kowloon Taproom (Ashley Road, Tsim Sha Tsui). A couple of pints were ordered, which were around £6 each but were thoroughly enjoyed prior to the five-minute walk back to the hotel.

We hadn’t booked a breakfast plan, so the following day we had heard of a restaurant on Hong Kong Island called Mr Wolf (mrwolf.hk) and thought we would try it. This choice also meant we had the chance to catch the famous Star Ferry over to the island, which is a must when in Hong Kong. We then proceeded on a very long walk to the restaurant, which although wasn’t necessarily planned- allowed us to explore the city. This included the elevated walkway, which seems to go on for miles. We nearly missed Mr Wolf as it is located in a business building and must be accessed by a lift. It wasn’t particularly busy, but it was a very good cooked breakfast which we both really enjoyed. The cost was, again, approximately £60, which is high but please consider that Hong Kong is expensive when it comes to food, no different to Singapore, Dubai or even London in our experience.

Before heading back, we walked to the nearby old Police Married Quarters which has been converted into design and craft shops which was a nice place to spend twenty minutes. Rather than take the ferry, we chose to take the metro back to the hotel. This was really simple to use and very cheap, we were back in the hotel within ten minutes. Now we should make it clear, there were protests going on in the city when we were there, we personally did not witness anything directly but as you walked you could see signs of vandalism, specifically block paving which had been removed from the pavements and thrown into the road.

As we were flying to Phuket the next day, we decided to eat at the burger restaurant at our hotel, called the Main Street Deli (langhamhotels.com/en/the-langham/hong-kong/dining/main-st-deli). This was again a very good burger but with a much more extensive craft beer list than experienced at BLT the day before. We had a good time; the place had a good ambience and the service was very good. We settled up and returned to Kowloon Taproom for a couple more drinks before retiring for the evening.

The next day we got ready and packed our bags. We booked a grab for the airport and were met in the reception area of the hotel. Our trip to Phuket was with Air Asia, there was a slight delay entering the airport at Hong Kong due to additional security, but the terminal was good was lots of options for food and drink. The flight was pleasant, taking four hours before we arrived in Phuket at around midnight. We passed through passport control and customs relatively swiftly and were met by the pre-arranged hotel shuttle. It took approximately 30 minutes to get to our hotel, the Pavilions (pavilionshotels.com/Phuket). Although very late, upon arrival, we were met by reception and welcomed to the resort. We had booked a basic room/suite but with a garden, we were taken to this via golf cart. The hotel is quite hilly, and carts are needed to move around, especially if returning to the reception. We were shown around our suite and were stunned by the size, it was huge! You have a large lounge with a dining area and food preparation area. The bedroom is equally big with a lovely shower and bathroom. There is also an additional bathroom with another shower adjacent to the food preparation area.

After a good night’s sleep, we walked to firefly, the restaurant where breakfast is served. We were shown to a table but were slightly confused as to the setup. Eventually the waitress came over and we did enquire as to how breakfast service worked. We received both coffee and tea and discovered that you could select from the menu with a buffet service offered for local cuisine. I would say that the breakfast was very good, and we tried most of the offerings on the menu across our entire stay which accommodated savoury and sweet options as well as British/French/German options.

The pool is also located at Firefly and we were fortunate with the weather, spending most mornings and a big chunk of the afternoon here over the first few days. In the evenings we split our time between staying on the resort and heading to the nearby town, Choeng Thale, a ten-minute taxi from the hotel.

The Hotel has a very nice cocktail bar based at the top of the hill called 360°, perfect for watching the sunset and sipping a drink. They offer a Tapas menu, but we didn’t actually eat here and only attended twice prior to heading off for a meal somewhere else. The hotel also has a fine dining Thai Restaurant called ‘Plantation Club’. When we visited the restaurant it was very quiet with only one other couple in the dining area and within thirty minutes, we were the only ones left. Normally this would set off some alarm bells, but we were reassured once the starters arrived which were very tasty- especially the BBQ pork jowl dish. The mains were equally delicious again, with the pork dish being the star. There were some good red wines by the glass, but they were a little too cold, but the staff were advised and the remainder arrived at much improved temperature. The major disappointment were the deserts though, we were informed they were of a traditional standard but not sweet enough for us. The bill came in just over £100 for the meal which included three courses, one beer and a few glasses of red wine.

The first venue in Choeng Thale we visited was Bampot (m.facebook.com/Bampot.co). This was a lovely restaurant with a great menu with some good craft beer options. It was quite a small restaurant with open kitchen which means you get to see all that is happening. The most memorable course was the pear tarte tatin which we shared. The meal came to around £100 which included two beers, two wines, two starters, two mains and the dessert.

DeDos (dedos-restaurant.com) was another restaurant in Choeng Thale, around 200 yards from Bampot. This was quite a large restaurant with a very extensive menu which was contained on an iPad. The food was pleasant but not remarkable, given the wide menu I think it is safe to say that the place lacks an identity. The cost was also approximately £100 but with only one starter and one dessert, the rest being the same as Bampot.

Siam Supper Club (siamsupperclub.com) is literally a few doors down from DeDos. This is a very tastefully decorated restaurant with a beautiful bar and comfortable table and chairs. We enjoyed this venue and visited twice. The food was a predominate western menu but with a few local options available too. The desserts were fantastic- the cheesecake and apple crumble were both delicious and we had to re-order exactly the same on our return trip. Other notable dishes included a fillet steak, goat cheese starter and a local curry dish. Naturally the steak dish meant that bill was slightly over £100 on the first visit but the second time we visited it was comfortably under that.

Little Paris (littleparisphuket.com) was in the same area of Choeng Thale. This was a really busy restaurant where the very enthusiastic French owner (we assume) greets all the guests and takes you to your table. It was a warm evening and we chose to sit outside rather than inside and were presented with another iPad with the menu. Much like DeDos the menu is huge with influences from France, Italy as well as local options. For starter foie gras was picked with a green curry and carbonara the mains. The starter was good, but the green curry was a bit bland and carbonara pleasant but not memorable. Considering how busy the venue was, we were a little bit disappointed.

Near the end of the trip, we were quite conscious that we hadn’t experienced any traditional Thai fare and given the theme of most restaurants was western food, the limited ‘local’ dishes were not dissimilar to what we had sampled at home in British Thai restaurants. As a result, we did some research and found some favourable reviews of Ruen Thai (dusit.com/dusitthani/lagunaphuket/dining/ruen-thai) a restaurant at the nearby Dusit Thani hotel. The night we booked coincided with ‘Loi Krathong’ festival, when we arrived at the hotel, we walked the short distance to the restaurant. We were sat outside and watched the end to the hotel festivities, which included gifts in decorative baskets which were then floated on the water. The food itself was very tasty and by far the best of the ‘local’ cuisine that we experienced in Phuket. The bill was approximately £100, similar to what we had paid previously.

The best part of our Phuket trip, which was completely unexpected, occurred halfway through our stay. Following a trip to reception, to book a taxi- one of the senior staff pulled us aside and asked if we would like to experience one of the suites. We accepted, whilst suspicious as to whether there was some form of catch. We were then shown around one of the suites and were absolutely blown away with how impressive it was. The room itself was not much different inside with a large living room, bedroom and bathroom. The significant change was the outdoor area which included a large pool with day bed and a couple of loungers. Instead of getting breakfast and heading to the main pool, our daily programme changed to breakfast and then spending all day by the pool in grounds of our room. It was fantastic that the hotel did this and we were extremely appreciative- it was essentially like having our own villa yet still being within the hotel complex. It did mean we made more use of room service but when it came to settle the bill at the end, it was very reasonable- considering we had lunch with drinks each day.

When the trip came to the end, we were sad to be leaving the stunning room in the beautiful hotel that we had now grown accustomed to but were a bit bored by the food offerings on the island. We headed to the airport and waited for our flight back to Hong Kong. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, we were now aware of where we needed to get the Grab taxi and quickly booked and headed to our last hotel, the Cordis (cordishotels.com/en/hong-kong). Immediately in the taxi, the ongoing political troubles could not be ignored- as our driver advised us that he could not go the most direct route due to road closures. The hotel is across many floors with the ground floor literally just for drop off or pick up with the reception area being one floor up. As we were travelling in the lift, an English visitor updated us on the current protests and how close it was to the hotel. This left us quite concerned and showed a considerable escalation from our last visit 9 days before. When we checked in, the hotel advised us that we should stay within the complex for our own safety.

We had booked a ‘club’ suite at the Cordis, as it was going to be our last couple of nights, we paid the extra. This gave us access to a club room, which was an ideal place just to grab a drink or sit and relax whilst taking in the incredible view, 34 floors up. It also served afternoon tea and canapes most days, which although not something we regularly partake in was quite handy food fillers between meals and cut down on lunches. The first night, we just ate in the main bar and retired to our room, where we sat fascinated by the riots going on underneath. We were so high up that the protesters looked the size of ants and it was amazing to watch the police and fire services react to all of the trouble.

Although the hotel advised to stay in, the troubles are pretty much isolated to the evenings and so we headed out to have a walk around during the day. The streets were again full of bricks, pulled up from the pavement and we saw a burnt-out car, it was incredible to see, and we couldn’t help but get a few shots of what happened. In the evening we had planned to eat at a restaurant on Hong Kong Island but heeded to the hotel advice and chose to eat at the Michelin starred restaurant associated with the hotel Ming Court (cordishotels.com/en/hong-kong/restaurants-and-bars/ming-court).

Now, we have to admit, we are not the biggest fans of Chinese cuisine normally, but we simply had to try a higher end experience (when in Rome and all that!). The restaurant is above the bar which we had eaten in the day before. The hotel was offering a 20% discount on residents purchases due to the evening lockdown. The restaurant is huge but as it wasn’t entirely full, residents were just kept in one area. We had a shared starter consisting of various grilled meats, it was very nice, and this was followed by main courses, the standout dish being the beef with garlic sauce and a rice dish. There was not a dessert menu as such with the Maître D bringing over a visually stunning dish including dry ice, albeit looking better than it tasted but still pleasant, nonetheless. It was the best Chinese food that we have eaten- the meal came to around £120 including the discount which for a Michelin dinner was very reasonable. Special thanks goes to the service, we made it clear that we were not sure on what to have and the two individuals that saw to us were extremely helpful with one giving us a crash course on chop sticks usage, although we did still have to ask for some cutlery.

We finished the evening, watching the troubles below for a second consecutive night and then got up the following morning, had a short walk around before checking out and heading to the airport (via grab). We had a comfortable flight back again with an impressive entertainment system with a short sleep before arriving at Heathrow.

Overall, we had a very nice time- despite the troubles in Hong Kong, it still left a very good impression on us both, one which we would like to return to. The biggest challenge we were going to have, was comparisons with the food from the Bali trip the year before. When it came to value for money and quality of food, you cannot beat Bali. Whilst Phuket was lovely, the cuisine didn’t match up although the hotel was lovely. Hong Kong and Singapore are on a par for us, Ian probably preferred Hong Kong with Natalie favouring Singapore ever so slightly. They are very different places with Hong Kong the busier of the two but Singapore fascinatingly clean, both are very affluent and dent the wallet considerably. The flights and accommodation came in at £3000 which was quite similar to Singapore/Bali trip the year before. So far we have found it cheaper flying east but the flight is considerably longer.