Whats it like to stay at the Regal Airport Hotel in Hong Kong? I think this can best be described by the following, if you stay here for free because a budget airlines has put you up then it feels like a steal, but if you pay to stay here then it feels like you have been robbed.
I was to find out this out when I ended up here for almost 3 nights when Batik Malaysia Airlines canceled my flight and I quite literally ended up here for almost 4 days.
What the Regal Airport Hotel?
The Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong is about as convenient as it gets—directly connected to Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) via a short walk from Terminal 1. That’s why airlines often dump stranded passengers here when flights get canceled. It’s not exactly a budget stay, with rooms typically starting at HKD 1,200–1,800 ($150–$230) per night, but if you’re stuck overnight, it beats sleeping in the terminal.
The hotel has over 1,100 rooms, all soundproofed (which is useful given its location), plus a few restaurants, a bar, and an outdoor pool that few short-stay guests will ever get to use. The 24-hour room service is handy for late arrivals, and there’s a free shuttle to Tung Chung for those wanting a quick escape.
It’s a functional, no-nonsense stopover hotel—great if you need it, forgettable if you don’t. But if your airline is paying, you might as well enjoy it.
Eating at the Regal Airport Hotel
A free buffet? I hate the term free buffet, because somewhere along the line someone is paying for it. At the Regal Airport Hotel you get vouches for all 3 meals of the day, which are buffet. Breakfast is OK, lunch is decent and dinner probably the best of the lot.
They have a solid bar, vegetarian options, sushi and sashimi, halal and a roast section with beef and sausages, as well as obviously a decent selection of deserts. Drinks are a bot spartan and I did not see anyone drinking liquor, although I am sure you could order and pay if you wished.
So, is the food at Regal Airport hotel any good? Well as “free” food goes, it is decent and they sure make it look 5 star, but were I paying the rack rates for this then I would be extremely disappointed.
Facilities at the Regal Airport Hotel
Officially it says that there are six restaurants here, but in reality there is the buffet where you get all of your meals and there is the China View Pub. Said pub is very Hong Kong and the kind of place that while looking like a “pub” lacks any soul and is heavily overpriced.
On the third floor there was officially a pool and a spa, but the pool was closed and I mean who actually goes to a spa in this day and age?
There is though a regular once an hour shuttle to Tung Chung where your choices are to either join the hordes of Chinese in the massive malls there, or take the MTR somewhere else, anywhere else.Sadly though the air port is pretty much slap bang in the middle of nowhere, so not exactly close to hanging in Lamma, or better still a good old fashioned Wan Chai Sunday.
It was at Tung Cheng that I looked up at the huge tower blocks to realize how much like Pyongyang the skyline appeared when the sun was down. Maybe Hong Kong has changed, or maybe I have changed, perhaps it is both, but this concrete jungle can really get you down when you stay here too long.
The only other convenience was that as the Regal Hotel was quite literally connected to Hong Kong International Airport one could take a walk here of a nighttime to use the 7-11, which still holds up to the scrutiny.
Getting out of the of the Regal Batik Hotel
I was supposed to check out of the Regal Airport Hotel at 9pm, only to be told that I had been extended to 9pm the next day and my flight moved. I accepted my fate and duly went to breakfast the next day.
With my Wi-Fi no longer working I went to reception to find that actually my flight had left at 4 am and the staff had made a mistake. Long story short 2 hours of begging and I got to just make the 3.10 Batik flight to KL. It would though be fair to say that neither Batik, nor the Regal Airport Hotel had come out of this with much valor. To sum up, the Regal Airport is pleasant for a free night, hard at 2 nights and will send you suicidal if you pay out for it.