Long ago, ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I took a group hiking tour to Japan. Two weeks spent hiking in the Kita Alps, sleeping in little family-owned Ryokans on futons, using the communal Public Baths, visiting an Onsen (Hot Spring), the Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, and staying in a beautiful Kyoto Monastery. An exhilarating total immersion into Japanese culture and wonderful experience.

We decided to celebrate our 10th anniversary by spending two days in Hong Kong after Japan. One of ex-Marine’s good friends said…”You have got to stay at the Regent Hotel. Pay whatever the price is but get a room overlooking Hong Kong Harbor on a high floor. The views are stupendous and worth every penny.” Understand that this friend was as cheap as cheap can be and if he paid the kind of money the Regent Hotel was asking, it had to be worth the expenditure espcially since we would be celebrating. (Ten years is an accomplishment in a first marriage. In a second marriage, 10 years is a humungous feat..with ex-mates…blended families, etc.)

FYI: The Hong Kong Regent is now part of the InterContinental chain.

InterContinental Hong Kong (formerly The Regent)
Picked up at the old Hong Kong Airport and transferred to the gorgeous Regent on the Kowloon side, the Manager greeted with us with bad news. So sorry, but the room we requested wasn’t available. However, he wanted to show us another room that he hoped would be suitable. This news created a hissy fit by me. “This reservation had been made ages ago…there was no excuse…etc., etc.” Profusely apologizing, the Manager escorted us to a room on the main level with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and a private patio level with the Hong Kong Harbor water line. I’m still sulking and not happy because I wanted a high floor room. The Manager keeps assuring us that THIS is a nicer room and we’ll be happy. With no other choice, took the room.

view from our room in Hong Kong
Minutes later, the doorbell rings. There are two bellboys standing there, each holding one duffel. ex-Marine hands out tips to both. A few minutes later, the doorbell rings. Someone is delivering tea and cookies. ex-Marine hands out a tip. The doorbell rings again. This time it is our own Private Butler who want to unpack the duffels for us. Unpack? We gave each other horrified looks. Those two duffels contained two-weeks of the dirtiest, smelliest conglomeration of athletic clothes in the world. I nicely explain to the Butler that it wouldn’t be necessary…we just came from hiking…yadda…yadda…and wouldn’t be needing them. He then offers to unpack, have everything LAUNDERED and neatly repack the duffels. Do you have any idea what that probably would have cost? A big N-O and we are praying that no one else rings our door…ex-Marine is running low on tip money…

old view of Hong Kong Island and Harbor
That evening on our private patio, the Hong Kong Island Skyline lit up across the Harbor, and Chinese junks, tug boats, ferries, tankers sailed right past our patio at our eye-level. A constant stream of traffic and one of the most fantastic spectacles we’ve ever seen. For the next two nights, we kept the drapes open and found it difficult to sleep because neither one of us wanted to miss the action going on right before our eyes. A visual sensory overload that was almost beyond description.

Chinese junk motoring past our hotel room in Hong Kong
Our friend was so right…worth every penny…and one of the most memorable travel experiences ever…. Pick a hotel with a Hong Kong Harbor view – I like looking from the Kowloon side to Hong Kong Island (a prettier skyline) – and prepare for an experience unlike anything you’ve ever seen.