asia

Hong Kong Intercontinental, Exterior night

This morning we once again enjoyed breakfast in the Executive club and then met our driver for the trip out to the airport.  On arrival, we had experienced gridlocked traffic in central Bangkok, however the drive out of the city was relatively calm, and we arrived at the airport in a short 20 or 30 minutes.

Our 3 hour flight to Hong Kong was uneventful, except for our "welcoming reception"  While still waiting next to our seats, we notice a flight attendant in conversation with a Cathay Pacific representative.  She spots us and holds up a sign with our names on it.  Little did we know that our contact we met while in Singapore had arranged a VIP transfer for us in Hong Kong.  After deplaning, she explained that she was here to escort us through customs, baggage claim an to the Airport Express train service. 

Escort us she did - at immigration we skirted the very, very long line, our passports handled privately in the immigration office and we walked through a closed gate.  After baggage claim we followed as she waved at a customs official as we passed with none of the regular questions and no mention of luggage searching.  At the train platform, she bid us goodbye and assured us we would have executive club access on our departure from Hong Kong in 3 days time.  We look forward to that!

We took the train to Kowloon station and found the free shuttle bus desk.  They informed us that they didn't stop at the Intercontinental so we opted for 2 cabs instead.  As it turns out, the shuttle bus DOES stop at the Renaissance, which is just around the corner from the Intercontinental via a covered walkway in New World Center. 

The Intercontinental has without a doubt, the best location in Kowloon.  From the massive glass walled lobby, the boat and ship traffic on Hong Kong harbour looks as if it's close enough to touch.  This is an excellent place to watch the nightly lights of Hong Kong while enjoying a snack or a cocktail.  Our rooms also had impressive views, and were fairly standard business hotel rooms.  Great bed, huge flat panel TV, a desk with high speed (wired) internet access, a bit too little closet space, and a huge bathroom with a separate tub and shower.