“Hong Kong is so back,” a friend declared to me—rather tipsily—at the grand launch of Kimpton Tsim Sha Tsui. Surrounded by thumping music, canapés ferried on traditional pushcarts, and a twirling performer dispensing champagne directly from her dress, I found myself grudgingly, delightedly, agreeing.
The city’s newest luxury lifestyle property—the largest Kimpton in the world, no less, occupying a commanding 50 floors in the heart of TST—made its formal debut this March with a “Global Flagship, Local Soul” celebration that was, in the best possible way, completely unhinged. The kind of party where you turn a corner and find a traditional Hong Kong bird fortuneteller drawing longer queues than the open bar. The kind of party that reminds you why this city, at its best, is utterly unlike anywhere else.
Thai celebrities Davika Hoorne, radiant fresh from her recent engagement and impeccably turned out in Gucci, and Mew Suppasit, immaculate in a grey suit, provided the requisite glamour on the red carpet. Up-and-coming stars Janistar Phomphadungcheep and Punpun Sutatta rounded out an APAC contingent that signalled the hotel’s clear ambitions as a crosscultural hub for the region’s fashion and creative communities.
The property was activated across multiple floors, each offering a different lens on the Kimpton experience. On the 12th floor, Hillside’s self-described “third-culture kitchen” provided canapés that drew on Hong Kong’s magnificent culinary melting pot, supplemented by bites from Little Bao and legendary Sham Shui Po institution Tung Po, who served ice-cold beer in their signature battle bowls—a masterstroke of local soul within a luxury setting. A rotating cast of DJs moved from Cantopop to Afrohouse to techno with impressive fluency.
Drinks, naturally, were excellent. A guest shift by Los Angeles cocktail bar Thunderbolt—one of North America’s 50 Best Bars—was the evening’s standout, pouring concoctions inspired by the city’s kinetic energy. The hotel’s own Birdsong held its own admirably throughout.
Higher up, the hotel’s rooms had been transformed into a series of experiential pop-ups: spontaneous tattoos by artist Euni, haircuts at Sauce Barbershop, tooth gems from The Sparkle, and colour consultations by Hourglass Cosmetics. At the very pinnacle, the 50th-floor Swim Club—with its sweeping 270-degree panorama of Victoria Harbour—was converted into an IYKYK sanctuary, its hidden eight-seat speakeasy High Dive discreetly doling out caviar bumps and Don Julio 1942. The outdoor pool area was whipped into a frenzy by DJs Taro and Koco, aided considerably by the gale-force winds.
The morning after revealed a hotel that more than holds up in the cold light of day. The 495 rooms—including 25 suites and 39 with marble-framed plunge baths set directly against the harbour-facing windows—are studies in warm, considered luxury. Japanese Lemnos clocks, Tivoli Bluetooth speakers, Loveramics porcelain, and—my personal favourite—bath amenities from cult South Korean brand Nonfiction (the hotel is its exclusive hospitality partner in Hong Kong) speak to a curation that goes well beyond the perfunctory. The design is grounded, tactile, and genuinely inviting—rattan details throughout nod to authentic Hong Kong without veering into pastiche.
Among the five dining concepts, Jija by two-Michelin-starred chef Vicky Lau was the revelation. Her take on Southwestern Chinese cuisine—Yunnan and Guizhou flavours refracted through classical technique—produced some of the most memorable plates I’ve had in recent memory: rushan cheese spring rolls of addictive moreishness; Yunnan-style fried rice electrified with wok hei, salty ham and earthy ganba mushroom; and a delightful Yunnan Paris-Brest, its choux yielding to Seven Colour peanuts. It is precisely the kind of restaurant that justifies a trip to Hong Kong in itself.
Kimpton Tsim Sha Tsui does not arrive tentatively. It arrives like a party that knows exactly what it is: global in ambition, local in soul, and thoroughly, irresistibly alive. My friend, it turns out, was right.
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