The Hari Hong Kong

Rooms and decor

Picture a slim, 30-storey design tower standing in the middle of Lockhart Road, the busiest bar street in Wan Chai — that's the first bit of charm at The Hari Hong Kong, a design hotel from London's Hari group that opened in 2020 and quickly became a talking point among design lovers. Step into the lobby and you feel right away how seriously they take it: warm, dark tones combine velvet, brass and marble with real taste, a modern-boutique look that doesn't need to shout. The roughly 210 rooms and suites are built to feel easy on the eye and easy to use, with soft beds, expensive-looking materials and carefully chosen woodwork and fabrics. Many rooms have big windows that pull in light and look out over the restless Wan Chai skyline. A lot of reviews agree the rooms photograph well and feel more special than the usual chain at this price.

Food and amenities

If this hotel has a heart, it's the food, because two restaurants here are talked about enough that outside guests drop in. Start downstairs with Lucciola, a warm, stylish Italian spot praised for its decor, fresh pasta and drinks bar — good for a romantic dinner or a long glass of wine. Up at the top of the building is Zoku, a Japanese-style yakitori bar on the rooftop serving hot skewers off the grill alongside sake and highballs, with the Wan Chai skyline glittering after dark — a relaxed early-evening corner that adds a lot to a stay. On other facilities, this is a compact design hotel, so it leans on polish and atmosphere over square footage. There's a fitness centre, and several reviewers describe the staff as warm, easy-going and detail-minded, more like a boutique that looks after you closely. There's no pool or full spa like the big flagships, but what you get instead is character that's hard to find.

Location and getting there

Location is another strong card here. The hotel sits in the middle of Lockhart Road, one of the most alive bar-and-restaurant stretches on Hong Kong Island; open the door and you're among shops, cafes and bars you can wander all night. MTR Wan Chai on the Island Line is about a 5-minute walk away, so you can jump on the metro to Central, Causeway Bay or anywhere else in the city without a taxi. Exhibition Centre station on the East Rail Line, which tunnels across to Kowloon, is a little further on. It's also a short walk to the HKCEC convention centre — handy if you're here for a conference but want a stylish room for less than the waterfront hotels — and close to the Wan Chai-side Star Ferry pier, where the crossing to Tsim Sha Tsui buys you a harbour view for next to nothing. In short, if you want to be in the thick of Wan Chai with bars, restaurants and the metro all a few minutes' walk away, this spot delivers.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. First, most rooms here don't get a Victoria Harbour view — they mainly look out over the Wan Chai cityscape. Anyone dreaming of waking up to the harbour and the Kowloon skyline filling the window, the way the waterfront hotels deliver, should reset expectations. Second, the location cuts both ways, because it's in the heart of the Lockhart Road bar district, busy and lively at night, so some sound from the bars and street slips into certain rooms, especially on lower floors and the side facing the main road. If you sleep lightly or want real quiet, ask for a high floor — it's quieter and the city views are wider too. Last, this is a compact boutique design hotel, so the public spaces and facilities aren't on the scale of a big chain flagship, and importantly there's no swimming pool — only a fitness centre. If your trip involves a pool or a full spa, you may feel it's missing. Weigh whether the design, food and central location are worth trading the harbour view and pool for your stay.

Our take

After reading through hundreds of real reviews, The Hari Hong Kong is a hotel that sells sharp, tasteful interior design, talked-about restaurants in Lucciola and rooftop Zoku, a spot in the busiest part of the Wan Chai bar district, and warm, easy-going service — all for less than the 5-star hotels on the harbour, and with real character. If your trip looks like a good-looking, photogenic room, bars and restaurants the moment you step outside, dinner at Lucciola and a nightcap of yakitori and sake on the Zoku rooftop, this is a tidy, great-value choice. But if the heart of your trip is waking up to a full Victoria Harbour view, soaking in a pool, or quiet away from the nightlife, the location and style here may not fit. Overall we give it 8.8/10, best for couples, design fans and working travelers after a stylish room in the middle of the Wan Chai buzz without paying harbour-front prices.