English As a Second Nation: City Hotels

24 September 2010

City Hotels - Tokyo & Hong Kong

Our room in Tokyo at Sakura Ryokan.

I have been writing furiously (on academic subjects) for the past couple of weeks so I have not had a chance to post here for awhile. I owe pictures from Japan, but the Passengers just spent a fabulous weekend in Hong Kong, and I am still jazzed about that. Allow me to somehow combine the two.

Above is a picture of room in Tokyo at the Sakura ryokan. We had a lovely stay in this traditional Japanese B&B. The futons are pretty good for sleeping and we stayed in the old-style Asakusa neighborhood. Our room did not have an en-suite bathroom and breakfasts were served downstairs at communal tables. It definitely took me back to days of student hostels, but in a good way.

Our bedroom at JIA in Hong Kong.

Last weekend the Passengers decided to go to Hong Kong in celebration of wedding anniversary number two. Since it was a commemorative event we decided to splurge for a couple of nights at JIA (sound alert). It's a boutique affair, opened by a Singaporean I think, designed by the ever chic Philippe Starck. There is, of course, lots of white-on-white decor, and the only untinted mirror stands above the bathroom sink. But one doesn't spend a weekend in a design hotel in Hong Kong for practical living. Quite the opposite, really.

Main room of our suite at JIA.

The staff were very kind to upgrade us to a suite so we had plenty of space to spread ourselves. I didn't include pictures of the kitchen or bathroom, but all the facilities are excellent. The hotel even gave us a discount card to use at some of the shops near the hotel in the Causeway Bay neighborhood. They also booked us into one of Hong Kong's private members clubs Halo on Friday night. We were exceptionally well treated. I have heard of people being placed at JIA for a number of weeks while working on business assignments. Can someone get me one of those deals?