Page 19 - Sphere No.14 (Jul 2005)

Harbour Plaza Hotels & Resorts
celebrates ten years of distinctive service
By Mark Caldwell
the true meaning of
WHILE THE HARBOUR PLAZA Hong Kong
hotel was being built, an exquisite marble stair-
case that had previously graced the Hong Kong
Hilton Hotel, was transplanted, slab-by-slab,
into the new hotel. When the doors opened on
22 July 1995, the staircase was the centrepiece of
its spacious, sunny lobby.
It is this kind of attention to detail that makes
the Harbour Plaza Hong Kong a truly special
haven of hospitality.
In the past 10 years, a who’s who of statesmen
and superstars have passed through its doors and
climbed the grand staircase.
Today, Harbour Plaza Hong Kong is the flagship
property owned and managed by Harbour Plaza
Hotels & Resorts group (HPHR) – a joint operation
of Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL)’s property
arm and Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited. “Before
1994 we didn’t have hotels under our own manage-
ment,” recalls Raymond Chow, managing director
of Hutchison Whampoa Properties Ltd (HWPL).
“Initially we had hotel investments such as the
Hilton and the Sheraton. Then we estab-
lished the flagship hotel, and created a hotel
management company to take care of it.”
The Harbour Plaza Hong Kong was part of
The Harbourfront, an upmarket office and hotel
complex on reclaimed land in Whampoa Garden,
Hunghom. It was an integral part of HWL’s ini-
tiative to transform the district from a run-down
dockside into the premier residential, commer-
cial and retail location that it is today.
Starting from scratch, the developers designed
a luxurious, modern hotel equipped to the high-
est standards. To ensure that it was also operated
to the highest standards, the Group decided to go
it alone instead of looking for an operator to
manage the new hotel. Thus the Harbour Plaza
hotel brand was born. It was an audacious strate-
ILLUSTRATIONS: BERNARD CHAU SPHERE 17 Hospitality