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Top 10: the best Hong Kong hotels with pools

If you want to feast – in every sense – on the iconic view of Hong Kong, the InterContinental Hong Kong is the place to do it.
If you want to feast – in every sense – on the iconic view of Hong Kong, the InterContinental Hong Kong is the place to do it.

An insider's guide to the top hotels in Hong Kong with a pool, including the best for harbour vistas, spacious spas, rooftop pools, Michelin-starred restaurants, romantic bars and outdoor whirlpool tubs, with views overlooking Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, The Peak and Hong Kong Harbour.

InterContinental Hong Kong, Hong Kong
InterContinental Hong Kong, Hong Kong

InterContinental Hong Kong

Hong Kong

9Telegraph expert rating

If you want to feast – in every sense – on the iconic view of Hong Kong island’s spectacular skyline from Kowloon-side, this is the place to do it. Once inside, the pervasive sense of water and light gives it the feel of a luxurious liner berthed in one of the world’s greatest ports (and, in the infinity spa pools, you can start to think you’re actually in the harbour). The windows in the lobby are three storeys high: on clear evenings when the city’s Symphony of Lights laser show begins at 8pm, it’s like a private performance. The hotel’s layout has been specifically designed on fung shui principles. Of course it helps to have a harbour-view room in which you can lie mesmerised, with your curtains open; but those rooms that don’t overlook the pool instead. Read expert review From £189per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best hotels in Hong Kong

The Peninsula Hong Kong

Hong Kong

9Telegraph expert rating

The Pen, established in 1928, is the Grand Old Lady of Hong Kong hotels. The contrast between the chaotic streets behind the Pen and its carefully-nurtured, old-world interior – complete with musicians soothing afternoon-tea drinkers in the lobby – could hardly be greater. This being Hong Kong not Downton Abbey, however, there’s also a lively air of metropolitan glamour plus a giant stone-carved Fu Dog keeping a protective eye on the lobby. All 165 rooms in the original building and 135 rooms in The Tower have been customised with state-of-the art touchscreen tablets and feel uncluttered and bright. There’s an indoor pool (with stunning views towards Hong Kong island), a spacious spa (ditto) and a fitness centre with an open-air terrace (ditto). Read expert review From £480per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best five-star hotels in Hong Kong

Four Seasons Hong Kong hotel, Hong Kong
Four Seasons Hong Kong hotel, Hong Kong

Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

Hong Kong

9Telegraph expert rating

When this hotel opened, a feng shui fountain was placed outside to keep the money flowing in. It’s obviously working because this award-winning hotel has had no problems attracting visitors with enough cash to enjoy its Michelin-starred restaurants, spectacular views and general aura of monied exclusivity. The hotel manages the feat of being right in the heart of the city but slightly removed from its chaos. Interiors are dazzling – quite literally. The huge glass lobby is the antithesis of the more hushed, dark-wooded luxury hotels in, say, Europe. Light from the harbour’s reflection is a feature in all the restaurants. There’s a constant sense of water, and not just from the fountain – the hotel has a superb infinity pool with underwater music, and a great spa. Read expert review From £430per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best hotels in Kowloon, Hong Kong

Grand Hyatt Hotel, Hong Kong, China
Grand Hyatt Hotel, Hong Kong, China

Grand Hyatt Hong Kong

Hong Kong

9Telegraph expert rating

The Grand Hyatt is where you can pretend you’re not in Hong Kong whilst sleeping next door to the city’s Convention and Exhibition Centre. Expect lots of marble. And gold. And massive floral decorations. This, one can safely say, is the antithesis of a boutique hotel. As was once said about generally adapting to Hong Kong: at first, you think the Grand Hyatt is the most over-the-top place you’ve ever seen in your life. And within a few weeks, it feels like home. The hotel is grandly spacious, with enough room to have a large, heated swimming-pool, jogging-track, children’s play area, garden and separate spa area. If you feel in need of extra attention, get access to the Grand Club Lounge on the 30th floor or book one of the highly-rated spa treatments. Read expert review From £222per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best Hong Kong hotel bars with views

W Hotel, Hong Kong
W Hotel, Hong Kong

W Hong Kong

Hong Kong

8Telegraph expert rating

Situated next to the 108-storey International Commerce Centre, W Hong Kong certainly fulfills its mission to create a World of WOW! There are 393 rooms and even the standard ones are decent-sized with good bathrooms. Try and go for a harbour view; the aspect isn’t the classic one of Hong Kong island but (as befits the W theme) faces west and, on higher floors, you get an emphatic sense of sea and sky. The gym, Bliss spa and pool are all located at the top of the hotel. The 76th-floor pool, the highest outdoor pool in Hong Kong, isn’t huge but is certainly spectacularly-sited. For a truly memorable drink, head to the neighbouring Wet Deck. The ICC looms another 32 floors above you; the city’s neon forest gleams below. Read expert review From £231per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

Where to stay in Hong Kong: hotels by district

Hotel ICON Hong Kong, China
Hotel ICON Hong Kong, China

Hotel ICON

Hong Kong

8Telegraph expert rating

The Hotel ICON is what Hong Kong needs more of — a well-designed, well-run, well-located hotel at a decent price. It’s owned by Hong Kong Polytechnic University; and benefits the local hotel industry by providing training for a school of hotel and tourism management. Hong Kong art is everywhere and there’s an excellent selection of carefully chosen Hong Kong-related books in the 28/F Club lounge, which was designed by Conran & Partners in London – who also did The Market restaurant, on the second floor, in the style of a Wanchai market. A French botanist, Patrick Blanc, created the amazing vertical garden of 8,500 plants on the wall of the lobby. The hotel has a heated pool on the roof and there’s also a 24-hour gym and a small spa (run by Banyan Tree). Read expert review From £161per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best London hotels with a pool

Island Shangri-La hotel, Hong Kong
Island Shangri-La hotel, Hong Kong

Island Shangri-La Hong Kong

Hong Kong

8Telegraph expert rating

When the Island Shangri-La opened in 1991, with 531 rooms and 34 suites, it was one of the most cutting-edge hotels in town. Hong Kong’s moved on but the hotel still offers high-end reliability. You won’t find a lot of new-fangled gizmos here but that’s a relief to guests who like that it remains both glitzy and cosy. This is the sort of hotel in which the French restaurant provides a stool for your handbag; it’s about old-school luxe. The hotel prides itself on a certain graciousness and that’s reflected in the staff who can frequently be seen offering unprompted assistance. There’s an outdoor pool and whirlpool tub, an indoor whirlpool tub, sauna and steam rooms, complimentary yoga sessions and a 24-hour gym. Read expert review From £267per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

Britain's best hotels with outdoor pools

Cordis, Hong Kong at Langham Place
Cordis, Hong Kong at Langham Place

Cordis, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

7Telegraph expert rating

Cordis, formerly the Langham Place hotel, is the first of a new ‘upscale’ division of the Langham hospitality group. The corridors feel noticeably wide after the jostling streets below, and the higher rooms are very airy; the whole idea, as staff members will tell you, is to create a relaxed retreat from “the madness of Mongkok”. The 668 rooms are divided into 16 types, depending on size, floor-level and view, all in soothing tones of grey, blue and vanilla. The lowest ones begin on the 11th floor but the high rooms are upscale in every sense – on a clear day, the views are wonderful. There’s a decent-sized rooftop swimming-pool and small spa, both of which have great views. Read expert review From £136per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best hotels in Hong Kong

the Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, China
the Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, China

The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

8Telegraph expert rating

The Ritz-Carlton once held the title of the highest hotel in the world. It offers a stupendous panorama of Hong Kong island, Kowloon and the loop of the harbour that separates the two. You won’t see as astonishing a vista as this anywhere else in Hong Kong. This is probably one of the few hotels in the world where you walk over to your window, then take a stunned step back. The corridors, scented with a bespoke fragrance called Black Orchid, feel quietly plush; all the crystal and glittering opulence are on display in the public areas. The hotel’s height means all its facilities are mind-boggling: there’s an indoor infinity pool and an outdoor whirlpool on the 118th floor. The spa, on the same level, styles itself as a cocoon in the clouds. During spring fogs, you’ll feel cut off from the universe. Read expert review From £339per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best five-star hotels in Hong Kong

The Landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel, Hong Kong
The Landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel, Hong Kong

The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

9Telegraph expert rating

An 'urban sanctuary' is how this supremely metropolitan hotel likes to describe itself. Unlike its nearby big sister – the Mandarin Oriental – the Landmark is boutique-sized, with just 113 guestrooms, but it packs a major punch in both style and food. The sleek entrance to the hotel, all polished wood and curves, is supposed to resemble a yacht. You ascend a short flight of stairs – or a lift for disabled guests – into the lobby leaving behind the surging wave of humanity on Hong Kong’s streets. There’s an 18-metre heated indoor swimming pool, a decent-sized gym and a weekly schedule of yoga and Pilates classes. Best of all, it also has an excellent, and enormous, spa on two floors. Read expert review From £514per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com Register Log in commenting policy