HOSPITALITY
a true icon
Owned by Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hotel ICON employs hospitality students alongside professionals, who test cutting-edge concepts in prototype rooms designed by Terence Conran. General manager and adjunct associate professor Richard Hatter tells Jen Harbottle how the hotel is setting trends
E
ither Richard Hatter is a good storyteller or he has one of the best jobs in the hotel industry. Imagine James Bond visiting Q at gadget central as he pre-
pares to take on the world: This is the picture Hatter conjures up as he describes the cutting edge technology and futuristic nature of operations at Hong Kong’s Hotel ICON, of which he is the general manager. Granted, Hatter doesn’t pretend to be invincible, nor do his hotel’s beds fl y up against the wall at the fl ick of his gold watch, but he still makes the property sound like the prototype for the world’s most forward-thinking hotel. And in some ways, it is. The hotel contains three 'prototype' rooms, where advanced design, technology and lifestyle concepts are tested, to deter- mine what guests do and don’t want from their hotel experience. Currently, one of the rooms is set up with a Zeppelin Air iPod dock, Brinno dig- ital peephole, Biozone airpurifi er and a Cybertecture mirror – an interactive, intelligent mirror connected to the inter- net, which displays news and weather. On the drawing board for future testing are hypoallergenic furnishings, which means the hotel’s carpet and curtains will clean themselves. So far, so good. Despite only opening in April 2011, Hotel ICON has already received accolades for its design, serv-
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Leisure facilities include a health club, the Angsana Spa and the outdoor heated rooftop pool with views of the harbour (this picture)
ice and facilities, including the Condé Nast UK ‘Hot List 2012’. It’s made it onto the 2011 DestinAsian Luxe List for Asia-Pacifi c Top Hotels, its Above & Beyond Chinese Restaurant has been granted three 'fork-and-spoons' from the Michelin Guide Hong Kong Macau 2012, and it’s one of Hong Kong's top fi ve best ranked hotels on Trip Advisor. So, what makes it so good? “Our guests just love our service,” Hatter explains. “Our staff manage to get the right balance between being helpful and not overdoing it.”
Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital
But what makes Hotel ICON even
more inspiring is the fact this cutting edge hotel is not bank-rolled by a large hotel chain. For Hotel ICON is owned by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and has been set up prima- rily as a teaching and research hotel for the university’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM). In keeping with its James Bond-esque mystique, the hotel is housed in the same building as the laboratories and classrooms of SHTM and its primary function is to act as a test bed for its
ISSUE 3 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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