Langham Place Mongkok Club Level, Hong Kong Hotel Review

This Langham Place Mongkok Hong Kong hotel review is part of a trip report including Cathay Pacific Business Class and First Class to Hong Kong and Bali, plus reviews of luxury hotels and food in Hong Kong and Bali. Prior posts include:

I picked the Langham Place Mongkok for our Hong Kong stopover from Bali back to New York for three reasons: price, location in Mongkok, and to personally stay and review a different hotel for TravelSort Hotel clients, since we'd already stayed at the Four Seasons Hong Kong and Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.

First things first: no matter what ratings or descriptions you may see on TripAdvisor, Flyertalk, or anywhere else, Langham Place Mongkok is not a 5-star hotel in the sense that both the Four Seasons Hong Kong or Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong are, and it's also about half the price, so it's unfair to compare it to the most luxurious Hong Kong properties.

Second, by virtue of its location in the heart of Mongkok and not Hong Kong Island, it's in a completely different setting that will appeal to some and not to others. It lacks the beautiful water views of the hotels that are right beside Victoria Harbour, but lends itself to exploration of a much more traditional neighborhood and shops that cater to residents, not tourists.

Ok, on with the review. There's just one daily flight from Bali Denpasar to Hong Kong, and we arrived around 8pm Hong Kong time. Given that it was already the munchkin's usual bedtime and Langham Place Mongkok isn't right by one of the Airport Express stops, we got a taxi. Since there are two Langham hotels in Hong Kong, we made sure our driver was clear that we were going to Langham Place Mongkok. A word of advice: our taxi drivers in Hong Kong were all very efficient and polite, but not all taxi drivers speak or read much English–it's wise to have the Chinese version of an address with you.

The taxi ride was fast, and there were bellhops waiting to help us, although we were fine managing our own luggage. The lobby is quite grand and spacious, which is a good thing, considering there are 665 rooms and suites at the hotel.

Since we were staying on the Club level, we went right up to the Club Lounge Reception to be checked in. The sleek signs and pithy slogans reminded me of Le Parker Meridien, New York:

The attendant was polite, but not especially friendly, and I learned that there would be a charge for an extra bed for the munchkin, something that both the Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental had provided at no charge. No matter, we needed it, and fortunately housekeeping was very efficient and got it set up minutes after we had arrived at our room. I was even amazed that they managed to fit this extra twin bed into the compact 310 square feet room.

There's a large flat screen TV next to a decent sized work desk:

The bathroom wasn't huge, but it did manage to have both a bathtub and a separate glass rain shower:

There were a variety of bath amenities in case you'd forgotten your comb, etc., and shampoo, conditioner and shower gel were by Chuan Spa, though I preferred using the L'Occitane amenities we'd gotten at the Ayana Resort.

Fortunately the beds were very comfortable, and we all slept really well. The next morning we were finally able to see the view out our window:

For breakfast, we had the option of buffet breakfast at The Place or breakfast in the Club Lounge, so we first went down to The Place where I knew there would be more options. We were asked for our room number, and the server confirmed it's included if you're staying on Club Level. There were the usual stations of fruit, juices, eggs, breakfast meats, pastries, etc.

There was also dim sum, although it was clearly the pre-made type and not especially tasty.

I did enjoy having an Indian dosa made to order, and tried that along with smoked salmon, the mediocre dim sum, and some fruit:

My husband and son tried pancakes from a pancake machine, but it was better for the novelty factor–they said it didn't actually taste that good:

There's also a corner to your left, as you enter, with doughnuts, marshmallows (!) and a chocolate fountain–talk about pleasing those with a sweet tooth!

I tried a doughnut dipped in chocolate sauce and requested a cappuccino (machine made), which while not gourmet made a nice pairing.

You certainly won't go hungry at the breakfast. It's nowhere near the quality of, say, the breakfast buffet at the Mandarin Oriental Singapore, but again keep in mind that Langham Place is closer to a very good 4-star hotel than to a 5-star hotel, and by that measure, it's a nice spread.

For comparison's sake, I also went up to the Club Lounge to see what the smaller breakfast buffet looks like there. The Club Lounge seating is nice, although I imagine at peak times it can get pretty crowded–it's not anywhere near as spacious as the Executive Lounge at the Four Seasons.

There's certainly some overlap in items–fruits, cereals, cheeses–but there's not the extensive hot selection you get downstairs at The Place. There are some items of better quality, however, namely the dim sum and the Swiss yogurt, which you don't get downstairs.

A nice aspect of Langham Place Mongkok is that they offer a complimentary local neighborhood walk, via the concierge. We took advantage of this and had an excellent guide, Helen, who showed us some of the traditional buildings and businesses in the area, including an apothecary with Chinese herbs, tailor where traditional Chinese wedding garments were being sewn, a wholesale produce market and restaurant equipment stores, Chinese Opera House, etc. It was quite hot and humid when we were there, so a complimentary herbal fruit drink from one of the vendors was refreshing and very welcome. It was a very good walking tour and introduction to the local neighborhood.

After we got back, we were ready for one of the best aspects of Langham Place Mongkok: the rooftop pool, which is very modern. There are cabanas you can rent, otherwise comfortable lounge chairs for sunbathing. There's also food and drink service. It's the perfect hip scene for young couples, who were the only other guests we saw while we were at the pool.

That said, the attendants were perfectly friendly when the munchkin and I showed up, and since only one other person was even in the pool, the munchkin was able to happily splash around without interfering with the vibe 🙂

Although we didn't use the fitness room, the views would make for an inspiring workout:

The Verdict: Langham Place Mongkok is one of the best deals among Hong Kong hotels that are centrally located. It's certainly not the Four Seasons or Mandarin Oriental, but at about half the price, it's great. It's close to an MTR station, although not an Airport Express station, right by Langham Place Mall, so easy to get around and convenient access to shopping and dining. This is not the place to spend time in your room, as at 310 square feet they're modestly sized (although decent by Hong Kong standards) but most people in Hong Kong won't be spending a ton of time in their room anyway. There are commanding views from high floors, the Club Lounge, fitness center and rooftop pool, although not as pretty as at hotels that are right by Victoria Harbour. Food quality is good, especially in the Club Lounge, but of course not at the culinary level of true 5-star hotels. For our purposes, since we were there just overnight and for the morning, it was a good balance of value for money.

Book Langham Place Mongkok with TravelSort for members-only preferred rates.

Related posts:

Best Luxury Hotels in Hong Kong

Four Seasons Hong Kong Review

Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong Review

Cathay Pacific Business Class Review 777-300ER: NYC to Hong Kong

Foodie's Guide to Hong Kong

Check out and apply for the Best Travel Credit Cards so you can fly first class on Cathay and other airlines.

If you enjoyed this, please follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.

Become a Member to find your perfect luxury or boutique hotel at up to 50% off: TravelSort Hotels

0 0 vote

Article Rating