The Langham

Now, The Langham is a great hotel. Full of tradition, and somewhere I wouldn't otherwise could afford to stay in. This was where I was put up in Hong Kong and also where the conference was held. And it was snack in the middle of the posh shopping district. A mall sat quite literally next door. If only Ringgit was strong ...

The hotel had pedigree. A sign of the colonial past, which reminded me of E&O in Penang. I was told that the Peninsular in town was even more a pedigree, but I don't think that this hotel was that far off.

The famous lobby

The lobby was small and the pool sat right on the top floor - unfortunately I didn't even have the time to have a peek at the pool. It was supposed to be grand. What the lobby lacked in size was more than made up by its sheer elegance. There was a cafe by the reception with the main eatery where breakfast and lunch were served sat on the other end. The lobby cafe was famous for its English afternoon tea - served on a specially designed Wedgewood.

There was also a two Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant on the first floor plus another two more American-themed joint located in the basement. The reception dinner was held at the Bostonian - where I had Halal ribs - and right next door to that was an American cafe called Main Street. Wished I had time to have a look at that.

For breakfast ...My room was a standard one on the seventh floor. Nothing much in terms of view from my window but the room was spacious and cosy, great amenities and the in-room dining - I had some salad on the night I arrived - was superb. They had a full movie and sports - alas no football - channels as well as pay-to-view and the internet was free. I had the 30Mb speed courtesy of the conference.

Breakfast was a mixture of continental and Eastern food. They knew how to make a decent omelet there, and I have Halal meals especially prepared for me for lunch.

The service was top notch. The staffs spoke perfect English and knew how to make the visitors welcomed. Transfers to and from airport took around 30 minutes. There was a metro station right next door.

Don't think I could ever afford to stay here again, and the place was certainly up there when it came to opulence.

More write-up on the trip here.