Page 16 - Sphere No.26 (Mar 2010)

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now opening at warp speed. The past few years have seen Hong Kong – a city that already has more than
its fair share of world-beating hotels – open a whole slew of individualistic properties geared towards the
more discerning traveller. Among them is the new Hutchison Whampoa Limited hotel, Harbour Plaza 8
Degrees, located closed to the old Kai Tak airport.
“I think a boutique hotel is all about personality,” said General Manager Christina Cheng. “I like to
stay in smaller hotels when I travel; you see the same staff the next morning and they begin to know
you. I like that feeling and I want to encourage that in this hotel – an intimate environment. For me a
boutique hotel is where you come in to be recognised and that people will recognise you. Warm and
competent staff are important.”
A funky design twist also helps. In the case of the Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees people entering the lobby
get a feeling of being slightly off kilter, eight degrees in fact, thanks to a clever optical illusion created by de-
signer Patrick Leung, an effect that has been likened to looking at the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.
Tampering with the traditional lobby design was one of the key tenets of designer American Ian
Schrager, generally regarded as the creator of the modern-day boutique hotel. Mr Schrager, who was
involved in the wild and wacky Studio 54 New York nightclub, whose patrons included Andy Warhol,
Sphere
A funky design twist also helps. In the case of the
Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees people entering the lobby get
a feeling of being slightly off kilter, eight degrees in fact