Review: the AKI Hong Kong hotel (Accor MGallery) using my ALL PLUS Voyageur card

This is our review of the AKI Hotel in Hong Kong.

On the prowl for somewhere different for my recent stay in Hong Kong (my review of Cathay Pacific business class is here) I came across the AKI Hotel. This relatively discreet boutique hotel is part of Accor’s MGallery collection brand and features 20 Japanese-style tatami rooms.

Tatami rooms are a difficult concept to explain quickly, so I recommend you take a look at this website article which explains what to expect. ‘Tatami’ is the name of the thick, woven straw mats that were typically found in such rooms.

Having never stayed in one I thought “why not?”. It also gave me the opportunity to experience Accor’s new ALL PLUS Voyageur subscription programme, of which we were offered a trial.

The hotel website is here.

Our article from yesterday on how the ALL PLUS Voyageur subscription card works is here.

The hotel provided one night for free for review purposes. We paid for an additional two nights at the discounted rate for ALL PLUS Voyageur subscription cardholders.

Where is the AKI Hong Kong hotel?

The AKI’s location is excellent. Situated in the Wan Chai district on Hong Kong island, you are a tram-ride away from the buzzing dining and night-life hotspots around Soho. There are also plenty of trendy restaurants in Wan Chai itself as well as Lockhart Road Cooked Food Market, should you want something more local.

The Wan Chai MTR (metro) station is about five minutes away and will whisk you around the island on the Island Line. You can make easy interchanges to many of the other lines at Admiralty or Central just a couple of stop away.

The Exhibition Centre is a walk away whilst Central, a hub for banks, is also very close. It’s a 40 minute taxi to the airport, or you can take the Airport Express train to Central and change there.

The only downside from being on Hong Kong Island, in my opinion, is that you cannot see the famous skyline itself because you are in it. If that is a must-have for you then you will want to stay along the water in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) where you can find a Rosewood and the new Regent (ex InterContinental) hotels.

Inside the AKI Hong Kong hotel

The AKI Hong Kong is a modern building with 25 floors. It is relatively discreet at ground level, with a small car port and a mini lobby with lifts that whisk you up to the main lobby on the third floor.

Check-in is on the third floor reception, where you’ll also find a lobby lounge and co-working space:

and

Reception was always well staffed – at one point I saw five people, which I think was overkill. I was checked in immediately and offered a token for my free welcome drink thanks to my ALL Silver status, one of the benefits of the ALL PLUS Voyageur subscription card.

As you can see, the Japanese influence extends to the whole hotel, and not just the tatami rooms, with light wood walls and clean lines.

Tatami rooms at the AKI Hong Kong hotel

20 of the 173 guest rooms in the hotel are Japanese tatami rooms and occupy corner units on (I assume) most of the floors.

I was given one on the 19th floor. Very conveniently, your keycard automatically knows which floor to go to so you don’t even have to press anything in the lifts.

Rooms feature the same light-wood finish you find throughout the hotel. None of the rooms are particularly big, with entry-level rooms starting at a compact 16sqm and graduating to the 26sqm studio. The tatami rooms fall somewhere in the middle at 20sqm.

On first entry you are greeted by a small corridor with luggage rack and wardrobe on the left:

The room then opens out, with 270-degree views across the city thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows.

In the centre of the room is the bathroom, with a central island featuring two wash basins and mirrors hanging from the ceiling:

It’s a semi-open plan design with sliding doors on both sides that can turn it into its own little room, although it’ll never be completely shut off with a fourth wall effectively missing.

The shower and toilet are in separate frosted glass cubicles. The toilet is a classic Japanese TOTO toilet:

Toiletries are by Malin+Goetz in big pump bottles.

You’ll also find the mini bar here in a recess opposite the island, with Nespresso coffee machine and a kettle in the drawers below:

Half the room is raised up on padded tatami flooring. This creates a walkway around the back of the bathroom mirrors to the bed. As is traditional, this sits directly on the tatami floor:

You have room controls on both sides of the bed, including for the electric blinds (there are two options – blackout and privacy). There is also a tablet, which replicates some of the functions and also acts as a phone should you need to contact reception or housekeeping. To be perfectly honest, the light controls could have been a bit more intuitive.

Opposite the bed is the TV and a sort of side-table come desk thing:

And that, fundamentally, is it. Clearly, the tatami concept isn’t going to appeal to everyone, although I enjoyed trying something new. I did ask myself whether the layout was the best use of space, as I struggled to put my suitcase anywhere. There is also no real desk, although there is a good co-working space on the third floor.

I came to the conclusion that the tatami walkway along the window behind the bathroom is a waste of space: most of the time, I had both sliding doors fully open and therefore used the bathroom to get to and from my bed. I would have moved the island to the window and opened up the centre of the room and perhaps added a larger built-in luggage rack to boot.

Don’t expect too much when it comes to other amenities at the hotel, although there is a small gym on the 25th floor:

Restaurants and bars at AKI Hong Kong

Dining and drinking options are fairly limited in the hotel, with the TANGRAM restaurant on the second floor and Uncle Ming’s whisky bar on the 25th floor. That makes sense – there are plenty of restaurants and bars in the local area and there is no need to try and compete with them.

Breakfast is served in TANGRAM. There is a small buffet which is complemented by an a la carte menu. The buffet features the basics, including a selection of pastries, breads and other baked goods:

There are a handful of cereals, yoghurts, fruit, smoked salmon and cold cuts:

Hot options are fairly limited, given the a la carte menu, but include boiled eggs, baked beans, potatoes and tomatoes:

Meanwhile, the a la carte menu features items such as eggs benedict, breakfast salad, a healthy yoghurt bowl, signature cold noodles, pancakes, full English breakfast and roasted glazed chicken breast.

I tried the eggs benedict and cold noodles, both of which were delicious:

In the evening I also popped up to Uncle Ming’s, the hotel’s whisky bar on the top floor. There are, apparently, over 80 whiskies on offer and I enjoyed a delicious whisky cocktail. It is a lovely cosy bar with views across Wan Chai.

Conclusion

AKI Hong Kong is a serene hotel in the middle of Wan Chai. The tatami rooms and Japanese design of the public areas are a lovely place to come back to after a busy day exploring Hong Kong’s busy streets, and offer an interesting alternative to your standard hotel room.

Room rates generally start at around £200 per night. You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

You can see the savings I got by holding an ALL PLUS Voyageur card in our article here.

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