First Look at Regent Hong Kong’s Chi Wing Lo Redesign

IHG Hotels & Resorts released the first images of the reimagined Regent Hong Kong on 23 February 2023, confirming that the harbourfront hotel in Kowloon would reopen its rooms in June after a full transformation led by Hong Kong-born, Milan-based architect and designer Chi Wing Lo.

The property opened as The Regent in 1980 and became one of the defining hotels of Hong Kong before trading as InterContinental Hong Kong from 2001. It closed in 2020 for the works that return it to the Regent name, a brand IHG acquired in 2018. Three of its restaurants reopened at the end of 2022.

Lo’s scheme rests on what the release calls a “Beauty of Contrasts”: the full sweep of Victoria Harbour set against quiet, textured interiors. Walls are kept to a minimum to open up the rooms, mirrored sliding doors carry the water deeper into the space, and custom curved soaking tubs are turned towards the view.

The palette is deliberately restrained, with natural oak, split-cut granite and honed marble, and moon-gate entrances cut in granite. For Lo, the harbour is something to be framed rather than simply shown: “A beautiful view without a special vantage is merely a postcard anyone can buy.”

Dining keeps familiar names. Lai Ching Heen, the hotel’s two-Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant, returns alongside The Steak House, the Harbourside buffet restaurant and the Lobby Lounge, which serves afternoon tea facing the harbour.

Hong Kong is the brand’s historic flagship. In Asia, IHG already operates Regent Shanghai, Regent Chongqing and Regent Phu Quoc, which opened in Vietnam in 2022. Further Regent hotels are planned in Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Kyoto and Sanya. Details are on the Regent Hong Kong website.