Could East be Hong Kong's best business hotel?

The newly-opened East is a beautiful oddity. The elegant glass and beige-tone building is incongruent with the rest of Taikoo Shing's drab grey residential highrises.

But East's location in a business and residential area that lacks a truly premium hotel is the first thing that sets it apart as a leader of the pack.

The hotel caters to business people visiting the offices in and around Taikoo Place, but feels like luxury long-stay accomodation.

Consistent with Swire's other hotels, The Opposite House and The Upper House, statement-making art pieces dominate East. An intricate sculpture staircase reminiscent of Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium grounds one corner of the lobby, while an installation of butterflies soaring up three-storeys draws attention in another.

Paper-free check-in and room service are taken for granted here. Rooms are made spacious by the open-plan layout and on the upper floors there are unobstructed panoramas of Hong Kong's famed harboview.

But it's hard to forget the residential neighborhood that closes in on East. Rooms located below the 18th floor are treated to an "urban view." Translation: views of other people's living rooms.

Although the tinted glass on East's windows prevent others from looking in, guests who are looking out get a very realistic impression of what it is like to live in cramped Hong Kong.

All-day restaurant Feast and harborview rooftop bar Sugar are open for business. East rooms are available at an opening nightly rate of HK$988.

getting there

EAST
29 Taikoo Shing Road
Island East, Hong Kong
tel +852 3968 3968
www.east-hongkong.com