Regent

Regent Hong Kong is the harbourfront hotel that got its name back. It opened in 1980, traded as InterContinental Hong Kong from 2001 to 2020, then closed for a roughly USD 100 million renovation and reopened under its original name on 8 November 2023 with 497 rooms by Chi Wing Lo.

"The restored 1980 landmark with the best harbour glass in the city and infinity spa pools cantilevered over the water, but no conventional spa."

Aggregate 9.5/10 on our editorial scale (Room & Design, Service, Location). Independently scored; see our methodology. This is our opinion, not an aggregate of user reviews.

Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission from bookings at no cost to you. We never accept payment for placement. Hotel status, room product and Michelin ratings were verified against official sources and the 2026 Michelin Guide in July 2026.

What makes Regent special?

The strongest reason to book is the Lobby Lounge and the harbour it frames. Its floor-to-ceiling glass wall onto Victoria Harbour was the most famous hotel view in Hong Kong for two decades, and its return is why locals treat this address as the emotional home of Hong Kong luxury. The lineage matters: the hotel opened in 1980 as The Regent, spent 2001 to 2020 as InterContinental Hong Kong, closed for an approximately three-year renovation costing roughly USD 100 million, and relaunched under the original name on 8 November 2023. Chi Wing Lo, the Hong Kong-born architect and designer, left the late-1970s exterior essentially as built and rebuilt everything inside, restoring artworks recovered from the original hotel. The second signature is physical: infinity spa pools cantilevered out over the water from the rooftop Pool Terrace, alongside a large outdoor pool ringed with daybeds. Dining carries real weight too, with Lai Ching Heen holding two Michelin stars in the 2026 guide. Note what the hotel does not hold: Regent Hong Kong has no Michelin Keys, and it has no conventional spa. It is operated by Regent Hotels and Resorts, part of IHG.

Which room should you book?

497 rooms and suites, all rebuilt inside the original 1980 shell. Chi Wing Lo's rooms are built around one idea: a daybed set into the window front, so the harbour becomes the thing you look at from bed rather than a detail over your shoulder. The interiors reuse artworks recovered from the original hotel and restored during the rebuild. Suite guests use the Regent Club. At the top sit three Signature Suites: the CEO Suite, the Terrace Suite and the Presidential Suite, running roughly 4,200 to 7,000 square feet, each with a private rooftop terrace and an outdoor whirlpool. The Presidential Suite adds its own private infinity pool, which is rare even in this city. The honest caveat is the same one that applies at every harbourfront hotel here: a room that does not face the water is the weakest version of this hotel, and the view supplement is large. If the harbour is the reason you are booking, book the harbour category, because the difference between the two experiences is the entire point of this address.

Where should you eat and drink?

Lai Ching Heen is the headline, holding two Michelin stars in the 2026 guide and serving Cantonese cooking in the room that carries the Regent-era name. Be clear about the history here, because it is widely misreported: Yan Toh Heen, the two-star Cantonese restaurant of the InterContinental years, did not return after the renovation. Lai Ching Heen is a different restaurant, and it is the hotel's only starred one. The rest of the line-up covers six venues in total. The Steak House pairs beef with a wine programme. Harbourside is the international buffet. Nobu Hong Kong brings the Japanese and Peruvian cooking the brand is known for, and it is not starred. Qura Bar deals in rare spirits. The Lobby Lounge is the one everybody comes for, a floor-to-ceiling glass room aimed straight at Victoria Harbour, and it is the single most in-demand seat in the building. Book Lai Ching Heen and the Lobby Lounge well before arrival; walk-in luck is poor at both.

What is the spa and pool like?

There is no conventional spa at Regent Hong Kong, and that is the most important thing to know before booking. The hotel's own wellness page lists two things: the rooftop Pool Terrace and a 24-hour fitness centre with Technogym equipment. What the Pool Terrace gives you instead of a spa is unusual. A large outdoor pool sits at its centre, ringed with daybeds, and beyond it infinity spa pools are cantilevered out over Victoria Harbour, so you soak with the water and the Hong Kong Island skyline directly in front of you. Hours are 7:00am to 7:30pm, with the main pool and the jacuzzis closing at sunset and food and drink service running to 7:00pm. If a treatment menu, thermal suite or hammam matters to your trip, plan on booking one off-property. At this price and this address, the gap is conspicuous.

Where is Regent, and how do you get there?

Regent Hong Kong sits directly on the Tsim Sha Tsui harbourfront at 18 Salisbury Road, which is the best-positioned plot in Kowloon for a view. The building faces Victoria Harbour head on, so the Hong Kong Island skyline reads as a wall of towers straight across the water rather than at an angle. East Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station is adjacent, roughly 3 to 5 minutes on foot. The Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier is about 5 minutes away along the Salisbury Road waterfront, and the Star Ferry crossing to Central remains the cheapest great view in the city. The Avenue of Stars promenade, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the Hong Kong Museum of Art are on the same stretch. Hong Kong International Airport is roughly 35 to 40 minutes by car in normal traffic; Airport Express passengers change at Kowloon Station rather than riding to the terminus. Tsim Sha Tsui's shopping and street food are a short walk inland.

What do guests consistently say?

Guests come for the harbour and say so. The recurring praise is for the Lobby Lounge glass wall, the in-room window daybed and the sense that the 2023 reopening restored something the city had lost, rather than replacing it with a generic international interior. The Pool Terrace and its cantilevered spa pools draw the other half of the enthusiasm. Set against that, three complaints repeat. Guests regularly report that the Lobby Lounge is so popular with non-residents that waits are long and the room rarely feels like a hotel space reserved for you. A recurring complaint is the absence of a spa, which surprises people who assume a hotel of this standing has one. And guests in rooms without a harbour outlook consistently say the stay does not justify itself, because the view is the product. Read those as directional themes from review aggregates rather than measured findings, and book accordingly: harbour-facing room, restaurant tables locked in early.

Honest cons: who should skip it?

Three things count against Regent Hong Kong. First, there is no conventional spa. The wellness offer is the rooftop Pool Terrace and a 24-hour Technogym gym, and nothing else, which is a genuine shortfall at this address when rivals a few minutes away run full spa floors. Second, the Lobby Lounge is a citywide destination rather than a guest amenity. It is frequently full of non-residents, waits are long, and the hotel's most famous room is often the one you cannot get into. Third, the view economics are unforgiving. A hotel whose entire identity is Victoria Harbour makes rooms without the water feel like poor value, and the supplement to move up is large. Add two smaller points: the Pool Terrace closes at sunset, so there is no night swimming above the harbour, and the hotel holds no Michelin Keys, so do not read Keys claims into its two restaurant stars. None of this is fatal. All of it is worth pricing in.