For those of you following along on Instagram, you know I went back to Hong Kong for another quick mileage run (it’s requalification season, what can I say?) a few weeks ago.  Yes, only a couple of weeks after my trip to Hong Kong where I took this picture and stayed at the JW Marriott.

This trip was a really quick turn, only 17 hours on the ground.  If that sounds absolutely insane to you, then you my friend are exactly right, it was pretty aggressive.  I knew I needed to get a good night’s sleep while also getting you all some good pictures of another hotel, so I decided to stay at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.  My buddy Michael told me the views were unbeatable and my other buddy Mark told me the lounge was supposed to be great.  Great views + great lounge = done.

Since my trip was so close to my previous stay at the JW I thought it’d be a good comparison to that property as well.

Room

Upon check-in I was informed they had upgraded me to a Harbour View room and I should hurry so I can watch the Symphony of Lights show.  When they said Harbour View, they were right.

Harbour View King Room

I sat back with a couple of bottles or water and took in the great light show, which was a little different to experience from the Hong Kong side (versus the Kowloon side a few weeks before).  Still, the room was amazing.  There are few hotel rooms that could compare, really.  The JW had nice huge windows, but the views (at least on the side we were on) faced only other buildings.  The Grand Hyatt sits pretty much on the shore so there are no other skyscrapers between you and Hong Kong’s iconic skyline.  Amenities were nice and on par with other Grand Hyatts (in other words it didn’t have that rich, perfume-y smell of the Park Hyatts).

The bathroom was very nice in that the shower  had a rainshowerthing head as well as the handheld one that, no matter how you position it, always seems to smack you in the face with freezing cold water whenever you turn it on.  What I loved was the bathtub, it was exposed to the room and the view so you could enjoy the goings on of the skyline while enjoying a soak.

Bathroom

So how did the room compare to the JW?  Taking away the view, the rooms were fairly equal.  The bathroom at the Grand Hyatt gives the room a slight nod over the JW.  One thing that bugged me about the JW is all of the power outlets were fairly well hidden and inconvenient, where at the Grand Hyatt you seemingly had a power outlet everywhere you looked.

Room winner: Grand Hyatt

Location

The Grand Hyatt is right on the shore of Victoria Harbour (yes I spell it Britishly).  The JW is tucked back in the city a bit, away from the shore.  This is where it gets a bit subjective.  I imagine many people staying at the Grand Hyatt will take taxis to and from it, which makes things a bit different.  I love Hong Kong taxis, they’re very fairly priced and there always seems to be a few available.  I, however, typically use the MTR to traipse around the city.  The JW is pretty much attached to an MTR station while the Grand Hyatt is a 5-8 minute walk from one.  It’s a covered walk, but still.  That said, the Grand Hyatt feels almost like the Park Hyatt in Dubai, a respite from the rest of the craziness and hubbub of the big city.  Plus there’s that view.

Location winner: it’s a tie, it really is

Property

The Grand Hyatt, as expected, was absolutely gorgeous.

Lobby flower and fountain

Both properties were expertly and carefully manicured.  They were both warm and inviting while still being architecturally interesting.  Both had oversized entry halls which gave you a pretty big sense of grandeur as you entered.  It was really hard to pick a winner here (specifically because I didn’t have a ton of pictures of the general property of the Grand Hyatt like I did for the JW).

Property winner: Grand Hyatt, by a smidge.  Both were great, but GH was a bit better.

Lounge

This one won’t count towards the final rankings for me.  Why?  I didn’t have access to the JW Marriott lounge.  What I should’ve done, in retrospect, was contact the general manager to see if I could take a tour since I’m “media” but then six of you would’ve been like NO THEN IT’S NOT IMPARTIAL AND YOU WOULD’VE BEEN SHOWERED IN GOLD AND FAVORS SO YOU’D WRITE A GOOD REVIEW, drastically overestimating the frequency and scope of what is ever offered to humble little bloggers like me 🙂

I did have access to the Grand Club Lounge at the Grand Hyatt, and wow!

Grand Club centerpiece

I dislike taking pictures of people enjoying lounges, so I went up fairly late at night when it was just the lovely (and really cute) lounge attendant, who encouraged me to take all the pictures I wanted.  This meant I could take time and set up my tripod to get some really clean shots.

Centerpiece

Champagne area

Sitting area

The views were great but the reflections were a little crazy.  The Club Lounge was on the same side of the hotel as my room, so the view was fairly similar.

The next morning I experienced breakfast in the lounge, which had a lovely spread.

Carbs

Then there was that view!

From my table at breakfast

Like I said, I didn’t get to go to the JW Marriott’s lounge, but I’m extremely confident the Grand Hyatt would’ve still been the winner, so I’m going to call it as such.

Winner: Grand Hyatt

Final Results

I have to go with the Grand Hyatt.  I liked the location of the JW Marriott a bit better, but the Grand Hyatt was superb all around.  Incrementally better than the JW for sure, but still better.  The hotels are similarly priced, so it may come down to whose program you’re loyal to.  I don’t generally value Marriott points as worth too much, while I’m a big Hyatt enthusiast, so staying at the Grand Hyatt in the future makes more sense for me because it helps me earn points for more stays at other Hyatts!

So, there you have it, the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.  I think I need to plan another trip so I can try out the Conrad Hong Kong.  You know, for the comparison.