Hong Kong, 1 November 2012 – Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong will be celebrating “50 Fantastic Years” throughout 2013 with a host of special promotions to honour this milestone achievement. The year-long offerings will commemorate the iconic hotel’s past 50 years as well as its next 50 years, here in the heart and hearts of Hong Kong and its people.
The celebrations will start over the Chinese New Year and will take place throughout 2013 with a series of special promotions, including:
Golden Celebration Stay package, where guests staying between 1 February and 31 December 2013 can enjoy luxurious accommodation, a bottle of champagne, USD50 spa credit, a special 50th anniversary gift and daily breakfast. Rates start from HKD4,399 per night, plus a 10% service fee, for a minimum of two nights (subject to availability).
Home to 10 individually unique restaurants and bars of which two boast Michelin stars, Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong will offer guests and visitors a wide range of must-try promotions within each of its outlets. These include:
Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong Executive Chef Uwe Opocensky’s adaptation of 1960s dishes with a 21st century twist at the exclusive Krug Room. Guests can expect the unexpected with amazing and sense-stimulating creations such as “Fruit Loops 2013,” Julia Childs-inspired “Beef Bourguignon”, “Baked Alaska” and “Ich bin ein Berliner”. Legendary Chef Pierre Gagnaire will also be adding his artistic twist to a series of 1963 dishes during one of his three visits to the Michelin-starred Pierre restaurant.
In March, the hotel will welcome the first of their celebrity guest chefs to the Michelin-starred Mandarin Grill + Bar. Chef Daniel Humm, one of America's most talked about and acclaimed chefs from the three-Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York, will be cooking his award-winning dishes from 13-17 March. During this rare visit, Chef Humm will bring with him a team of five, including Co-owner and Manager Will Guidare, to re-create some of his famous signature dishes for lunch and dinner.
The Clipper Lounge will become home to an exhibition of classic photographs of the hotel, which will allow guests to look back and recall it as it was in the 1960s and 70s. And our creative pastry team will even incorporate these photographs into their afternoon tea cakes.
The Chinnery, tucked away on the first floor of the hotel, originally opened as a private gentlemen’s club in 1963, and did not allow women to enter until the 1990s. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, The Chinnery will be offering guests a special port flight throughout March and as part of the promotion an exclusive port dinner will be arranged where outstanding British dishes will be paired with the finest ports, including one from 1963.
The Mandarin Cake Shop’s Executive Pastry Chef Yves Matthey will create an amazing array of Golden Easter treats that will undoubtedly make sweet-lovers take a second look at the glittering delights before discovering that they are actually edible cakes.
Other events in store at the hotel throughout 2013 include appearances by two additional celebrity chefs, the unveiling of a series of 50 new embossed silver tankards and martini glasses and even a Fantastic 50 accommodation package in which guests will be collected from the airport in a 1963 Rolls Royce.
Renowned for providing a truly holistic approach to wellness, The Mandarin Spa will welcome spiritual teacher and world-renowned astrologer Gahl Sasson from 25 February to 4 March 2013, during which he will be available to give predictions for the year ahead. The Mandarin Spa will also launch a new and exclusive anti-ageing “Golden Utopia Facial” which will focus on the rejuvenation of the face, eyes and neck areas, using state-of-the-art Gaylia Kristensen products and a brilliant new 24 Carat gold natural collagen infusion mask.
Background
In 1958, The Honourable Hugh Barton, Chairman of the Hong Kong Land Company, had a dream that Hong Kong’s Central district needed a world-class hotel. His dream became a reality on 1 September 1963, when the iconic Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong (formerly The Mandarin) was launched with a soft opening. When the hotel was officially opened on 25 October 1963, the 650-room, 27-storey hotel was the tallest building on Hong Kong Island and instantly became a historic landmark - a status it still holds today.
Upon its opening, the South China Morning Post went mad over the space-age elevators that seemingly catapulted guests to the top floor in just 21 seconds. Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong was the first hotel to have direct-dial phones and was also the first in Asia to have a bathtub in every room – leading the architect of the hotel to ask, “Are the guests amphibious?”
Following a USD150 million renovation in 2006 (more than double what was spent on building and furnishing the original hotel), this landmark hotel was completely transformed to be able to offer guests 21st century oriental luxury and modern technology, whilst retaining its much-loved character and soul. This new 501-room hotel was the first to have Technology Butlers available 24-hours a day and the first in Hong Kong to employ someone to oversee social media. The hotel has enjoyed continued success throughout the last 50 years and since 1963 has repeatedly been voted the world’s best hotel. Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong is also home to two Michelin-starred restaurants.
One of the things the hotel is most famed and loved for is its staff. A staggering 15 members of the current staff have been at the hotel for over 30 years and an additional 368 have worked at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong for over five years. Each of these colleagues works closely with the new, younger members of the team, to ensure that they learn from the past experiences of the senior staff, whilst continuing to embrace the future.
This special hotel, which is the flagship of the Group, is situated in the heart of Hong Kong and holds a special place in the hearts of the local community. It is home to a legendary staff, 10 outstanding restaurants and bars, award-winning spa, barber, salon, 13 meeting rooms and a 24-hour business centre and fitness centre. With round-the-clock services, the hotel has a pulse at all times and functions smoothly like a Swiss watch, which is a bit coincidental, as General Manager Jonas Schuermann of Switzerland is at the forefront of the operation.