We got to the hotel lobby and it looked exactly like it did in the photos on their website. It looked and smelt clean. I am almost certain they have piped in ‘odorizers’ because the hotel had a distinct fragrance, which you can smell even as you approach the hotel. Check-in was smooth and they even upgraded our room from a Grand Deluxe Room to a Premier Room. This meant having an even bigger room, a shower AND a jet bath, and we were in a higher floor, which also meant better view from our room.
We were really happy with the room we got. It was clean and smelt great, just like it’s surrounding areas in the hotel. Wi-Fi was great and worked everywhere within the hotel (even in the lifts!). The rooms have JBL iPod docking speakers, which we never really got to use. Amenities in the bathroom were Crabtree and Evelyn, which was replenished everyday. I know hotels are supposed to do so, but a lot of hotels don’t. The hotel has a free one-off mini bar offer in which you can take anything from the mini bar during your stay, and you are only charged for it once they’ve replenished it and you’ve consumed any of the items. The only issue we had with our room, and hotel for that matter, was that the division between the room and bathroom were made of frosted glass. I am not a fan of this at all! But it is looking like the norm in most modern hotels, especially in Hong Kong.
Upon check-in we were given breakfast coupons for which we could use at the hotel’s lovely café on the 3rd floor. The coupon entitles you to any pastry of your choice (croissant, scones, pie or pancakes), a bottle of their own really fresh and delicious orange juice, and a choice of your coffee made by their in-house barista. For some people, they might find that they’d need a more substantial breakfast, but for us this was perfect. Every morning we enjoyed our croissant, juice and macchiato (which was more like a cappuccino). Coffee in this hotel was really good—and I do like a properly made cup of coffee.
On the same floor the hotel has a gym and game room, which hotel guests can use. We didn’t really get the chance to use those facilities, but we did have a peek and found the gym to be really nicely decorated and well equipped.
The hotel has a rooftop bar on the 29th floor with a spectacular view of Hong Kong and it’s bright lights. Okay, it might not be as fantastic as the view from the Four Seasons or the Ritz Carlton, but we weren’t paying those prices either. We had a drink one evening at the rooftop bar to watch the Symphony of Lights, which I think was much better to do that trekking back to Tsim Sha Tsui to watch it.
On the same floor as the hotel lobby, there is a small gallery that holds an assortment of things vintage and modern in Hong Kong. It is such a lovely touch to the hotel, especially when you don’t necessarily have enough time to visit one of the museums.
They even had a real working post box in the gallery where in-house guests could use to post letters or postcards.
The location of this hotel was perfect, it’s a 3 minute walk to Jordan MTR, and another few minutes walk to Temple Street Market, which is great in the late evenings.
What I particularly liked about this hotel was that we were paying say 3 star hotel prices (or at least it felt that way because of booking.com), but we were getting 5 star service. The staff in the Madera was always approachable and friendly. They’d always be willing to answer questions or even to just have a chat about the city. It was nice to erase from past experiences and the stereotype that people in Hong Kong are rude. On our last day at the hotel, we had checked-out early so we could wander around the city and shop a bit more, without having to rush back to the hotel and worry about checking out. They were extremely accommodating and told us they could store our luggage for us until we got back, and if we had any additional shopping to do, they would let us use a space to repack our luggage. I came back that afternoon with a new luggage as the one I had arrived with was literally collapsing in its seams! When we got back to the hotel, one of the staff asked us if we would like to use the facilities (bathrooms) on the third floor or even a complimentary drink at the café, before repacking our suitcases. They were making it incredibly difficult not only to leave Hong Kong, but also to leave this lovely hotel!! I think the reason why this hotel exceeded our expectations was because, it wasn’t a branded or chain hotel, nor was it extortionately expensive or big, but we were treated as if we were staying in the Shangri-La.
At the end of each day, we couldn’t wait to go back to our hotel room and just enjoy the place. It really is the little things that make a holiday great and memorable, and it’s nice to see that this hotel takes that seriously.
