Me, Jamie | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 48 years living in Hong Kong - I know the culture
… and yes, I am a proud Yorkshireman
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
Intercontinental Hotel Hong Kong to close late April 2020
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
April 4th 2020 | The Intercontinental Hotel in Hong Kong to close in April 2020 and re-open as the Regent Hotel in 2022
Hong Kong Hotels - The Intercontinental Hotel, TST, Kowloon, Hong Kong
There are quite a few people in the industry who are reacting with more than a little surprise at this news, I cannot understand why as the closure has been on the cards for a few years and has been widely reported in the newspapers and trade press.
Certain rumours are suggesting that it is closing because of the coronavirus | covid - 19 situation, it is not other than the fact that with occupancy rates around 20% and no end in sight to the current crisis, now is the perfect time to close the Hotel for renovations.
What was never really clear was how long the renovations would take, now we know, 2 years, actually this seems an awfully long time but I guess the Hotel is rather large! naturally 500+ people are going to lose their jobs and there is a bit of a ho-hah over that but it is unrealistic to expect the Hotel to pay staff on full pay for 2 years when they are not actually working!
When the Hotel originally opened it was called the Regent Hotel before becoming the Intercontinental and when it re-opens it will be re-branded the Regent Hotel but still under the Intercontinental Corporate Structure and Management.
Over the past few years the Hotel has gone to the dogs a little, in my line of work I am always at the Hotel and although they did a major renovation of the lobby a few years ago, they neglected the rooms, the game changer was the 2019 opening of the utterly fabulous Rosewood Hotel, literally next door and it towers over the Hotel ( in the image you can see it behind the Intercontinental).
It is really rather odd, the Rosewood lobby is stunning with amazing bathrooms but the Intercontinental lobby with those huge floor to ceiling windows is simply breathtaking particularly at night time, I have always thought that the Hotel had the best views in the world, but shabby rooms let it down and for 5 years it had to deal with half the guests watching the Victoria Dockside complex being built behind the hotel!
Trust me, the rooms in the Rosewood Hotel are magnificent but then again it is 1 year old and not 40 years old, after the renovations the re-branded Regent Hotel will be able to hold it’s own against the Rosewood.
There was another piece in the SCMP about the so called legendary Concierge Louis Baleros who is also leaving the Intercontinental, I have a lot to thank the so called “King of Concierges” for, exactly 10 years ago I approached him to offer my services as a Private Tour Guide (there was only a couple of us then), I spoke to him for less than than a minute, he was quite rude, dismissive and condescending and he could not see any value for him or the Hotel in having a Private Tour Guide on call for their discerning guests and to this day we hardly have any contact with Hotel Concierges in Hong Kong as they still have the same attitude!! I had exactly the same problem with the “King of Concierges at the time” the famous Italian Head Concierge at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the business district, he had exactly the same attitude and being Italian he waved his hands a lot.
I find it incredible that Hotel Concierges who pride themselves on having great contacts see no value in having a list of Private Tour Guides on hand because guests do ask the question, I will always remember Mr. Baleros and his smarmy smile because it is a smile he reserves for hotel guests only.
I have had my revenge so to speak over the years as I would and still always meet my guests right in front of the Concierges desk, just to make a small statement.
Their rudeness made me try that much harder, so thank you to all Hotel Concierges at 4 and 5 star Hotels in Hong Kong.
I think that just about covers it and hopefully in 2 years time the Regent Hotel will re-open with the basement restaurant under the lobby intact, this has always been one of my favourite places to eat in Hong Kong.
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
The curse of being Diabetic
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
April 4th 2020 | Hong Kong Medical Stuff - Insulin vials
Jamie | Maximum Dosage, 2 injections daily of Insulin, this is about 5 years worth of empty vials + I also inject another Diabetes drug daily and pop a bunch of Diabetes pills daily, it is a drag.
The good news… it is free under the Hong Kong Government Healthcare System.
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
Magical, mystical Koi
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
April 4th 2020 | Koi
Koi and Goldfish have a history in Chinese Culture going back thousands of years and they symbolise wealth and happiness and the ancient myth of Koi leaping up a waterfall and turning into heavenly dragons helps as well! Koi and Goldfish are very popular in Hong Kong and a visit to the Goldfish Market in Mong Kok, Kowloon is well worth the effort.
For some additional and magnificent collections of Koi then you need to pay a visit to :-
The Po Lin Monastery at the Big Buddha on Lantau Island, they have 2 great Koi ponds, one of them obvious and one hard to find
The Nan Lian Garden in Diamond Hill, Kowloon
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
The Streets of Mong Kok
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
April 4th 2020 | Mong Kok District, Kowloon
This is how I describe Mong Kok on my Flickr Site
Nathan Road is the major road, Mong Kok is home to many markets including Fa Yuen Local Street Market, Canton Road Wet Market + Street Market, The Flower Market, Yuen Po Bird Market, The Goldfish Market and the huge, iconic Ladies Market. Hundred’s of restaurants for a great local dining experience and many large shopping malls and such. Old style local streets + buildings from the 1960's.
I love going to Mong Kok, character up the ying yang and if you are a photographer then it is just awesome and this one of my favourite streets, a great wet market (and dry market) old walk ups, old toothless crones selling dodgy vegetables and a cacophony of noise with hundreds of vendors trying to flog their wares.. brilliant.
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
Tarts and Chicken Feet
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
April 4th 2020 | Chicken Feet vs Egg Tart, snack wars in Hong Kong
First of all let me blunt, I have tried chicken feet and hated them, it will not happen again and I simply cannot understand why people rave over them.. but remember food is very subjective and that is my subjective opinion.
If you are in Mong Kok, (image above) there are lots of dodgy restaurants offering chicken feet in a lunch box so can nibble them on a bus ( and that mental image makes me want to barf) but food culture is food culture, Chinese people probably have the same feeling about liquorice as I do about chicken feet!
So, I am going to pit my local snack, the egg tart against a lunchbox full of chicken feet.
No contest of course………….
Rather than going into long winded personal opinions (!) read the articles below.
Chicken feet is a staple of Dim Sum and is prepared better than that in a lunch box so it is probably best to try them as part of your Dim Sum lunch.
Egg tarts - The Tai Cheong Bakery, their offering simply cannot be beat and they were made very famous by Lord Chris Patten the last British Governor of Hong Kong adding 4 inches to his girth because of his passion for tarts! Read the article, I have tried most of those bakeries and the comments are spot on., oh… and I am not fussy, I love either the English style egg tart or the Portuguese style egg tart!! I have been known to pork out on them every now and then when my resolve weakens.
The Ultimate Hong Kong Tour Blog
The Cars of Hong Kong
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Maserati - 15 PTS
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
McLaren - MR 118
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Aston Martin - PT 5
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Ferrari - MAMAMIA 2
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | 2011 - 2020. All rights reserved. Click on the image to enlarge to full screen
Bentley - GODDESS
This is NOT how I do tours! There are NO flags, whistles, stickers or large groups!
Tags
J3 Private Tours Hong Kong, J3 Tours Hong Kong,Hong Kong Tour, Hong Kong Tours, Hong Kong Private Tour, Hong Kong Private Tours, Hong Kong Walking Tour, Hong Kong Walking Tours, Hong Kong Private Walking Tour, Hong Kong Private Walking Tours, Private Tour of Hong Kong, Private Tour Hong Kong, Private Tours Hong Kong, This is my Hong Kong, Hong Kong Hidden Gems, Best Tour Companies in Hong Kong, Discover Hong Kong, Popular Tours in Hong Kong, Luxury Travel and Tours
Kid Friendly Tour Hong Kong, Lantau Island Tour Hong Kong, Solo Traveller Tour Hong Kong, Business Persons Tour Hong Kong, Cruise Ship Shore Excursion Hong Kong, Airport Layover Transit Tour Hong Kong, Jewish Cultural Heritage Tour Hong Kong, Cheung Chau Island Tour Hong Kong, Photography Tour Hong Kong, Orientation Tour of Hong Kong, Car Tours of Hong Kong, Night Tour of Hong Kong, Multi Day Tours of Hong Kong, Senior Tours Hong Kong
Zolima Citymag, The HK Hub, Timeout Hong Kong, Sassy Hong Kong, Coconuts Hong Kong, Expat Living Hong Kong, Hong Kong Tatler, The Loop Hong Kong, Cruise Critic, The Robb Report,
Hotels.com , The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Hong Kong, The Rosewood Hotel Hong Kong,, The Ritz Carlton Hotel Hong Kong, The Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong, The Upper House Hotel Hong Kong, The J W Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, The W Hotel Hong Kong, The Intercontinental Hotel Hong Kong, Hotel Icon Hong Kong, The Island Shangri La Hotel Hong Kong, The Kowloon Shangri La Hotel Hong Kong, The St. Regis Hotel Hong Kong, The Grand Hyatt Hotel Hong Kong, The Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
Hong Kong Greeters, Hello Hong Kong Tours, Hong Kong Free Tours, Tours by Locals, Tours by Locals Hong Kong, Wanderlust Walks Hong Kong, Streets of Hong Kong Premium Private Tours, This is Asia Tours Hong Kong, With Locals Hong Kong, Big Foot Tours Hong Kong, Stephen Private Tours Hong Kong, Easy Private Tours, Hong Kong Foodie Tasting Tours, Hong Kong Foodie Tours, Little Adventures in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Food Crawlers, Running Panda Hong Kong, Humid with a Chance of Fishballs Hong Kong, Hong Kong Getaway Private Tours, Vive Hong Kong, Walk In Hong Kong, Hong Kong Free Walks, Walk Hong Kong, Splendid Tours Hong Kong, Gray Line Tours Hong Kong, Next Stop Hong Kong, MJ Tours Hong Kong, Hong Kong A La Carte, Context Hong Kong Tours, Das Ist Hong Kong, Wild Hong Kong, Viator Hong Kong, Klook Hong Kong, Ho Ho Go Hong Kong, Urban Adventures Hong Kong, Talks & Walks Hong Kong, Tripadvisor Experiences, Tripadvisor Hong Kong Things To Do, Tripadvisor Tours in Hong Kong, Tripadvisor Things to do in Hong Kong, Expedia Hong Kong, Airbnb Experiences Hong Kong, Get Your Guide Hong Kong, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Abercrombie and Kent Hong Kong, Frommers Tours Hong Kong, Lonely Planet Tours Hong Kong, Partnernet Hong Kong, Fodors Hong Kong, Forbes Travel Guide, Ngong Ping 360, NP360,
