Harbour Plaza Metropolis offers unique rooms designed by 10 celebrity pop singers to make guests feel at home. Fan Feifei reports.

I had never imagined staying in a hotel room designed by famous Hong Kong pop singer, Kelly Chen. I sit on the sofa selected by Kelly, appreciate the delicate furniture and accessories of her choice and feel closer to her. It is amazing and fantastic. Harbour Plaza Metropolis has made the dream come true.

Situated in the heart of Kowloon, the hotel overlooks the spectacular Victoria Harbour. Conveniently located near the Hung Hom MTR station, it provides easy access to other parts of Kowloon, the New Territories and the southern part of the Chinese mainland. It is also very close to the Hong Kong Coliseum.

"A lot of people think Harbour Plaza Metropolis has affiliation with celebrities and artists because we are right next to the coliseum. Many local and overseas celebrities from different countries all over the world stay here or have celebrations here," says Andy Castillejos, General Manager of Harbour Plaza Metropolis.

The "Home Sweet Home" Theme Room Package is introduced in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the hotel. Ten popular Hong Kong pop singers are invited to design a special theme room of their own. The theme rooms include Kelly's Suite designed by Kelly Chen, "HIP"tel designed by Louis Cheung, Vincy Simply designed by Vincy Chan and the Ofuro Room designed by Adason Lo.

Andy understood all the pop singers have long working hours and travel abroad frequently. They always longed for a "dream" hotel room where they could unwind at the end of the day. The dream has come true for some at Harbour Plaza Metropolis. The ten singers have used their astonishing artistic talent and imagination to design ten unique rooms.

"Basically, we want to create a home-like atmosphere," says Andy with a smile. The artists paid great attention to detail in an effort to provide our guests with the most comfortable, relaxing and stylish "home".

The hotel has collaborated with Francfranc, a renowned Japanese home furnishing lifestyle brand, on this project. The singers participated in all phases of the planning and implementation process. These included selecting the color scheme for the rooms, choosing the products at Francfranc's store and setting up the rooms with Francfranc's furniture and accessories.

"I like all the 10 theme rooms but my favorite one is Kelly's Suite. It is modern and chic and showcases more than 300 pieces of Francfranc designer items," says Andy. He points out the graphic design of the dining sets and the animal decorations that reveal aspects of Kelly's unique personality and astonishing interior designing talent.

The other theme rooms have their own character and charm as well. Adason Lo chose to hang a huge green rug on the wall, demonstrating his creativity, sense of style and love of nature.

In the suite, Vincy Simply, the furniture and accessories are in beige, black and white, giving the suite a sophisticated and elegant style that is also comfortable and relaxing.

Facing a competitive market, Harbour Plaza Metropolis is devising strategies to whet guests' interests.

"We always come up with new ideas and offer something special to our customers to draw their attention, just like the 10 theme rooms," says Andy.

Besides the latest theme rooms, the hotel's other novelties include Valentine's Day promotions, Hagen-Dazs Theme Room Package in 2010, Vietnamese food promotion and Okinawa food promotion in 2011.

"We sent the Head Chef of our Japanese Restaurant to Okinawa, Japan, in 2011 to learn the local food culture," Andy adds. "We also invited a guest chef from Okinawa to travel to Hong Kong to help us work on the menu for the Okinawa food promotion."

Andy, who has over 20 years of experience working with many renowned hotel groups, outlines his management philosophy: "Over all these years, the hospitality industry has had a lot of changes. It is very technology-driven right now. But one thing hasn't changed. It is people-driven. You depend on people in this industry.

"To stay competitive, we have to be ahead of the game. We have to come up with creative ideas, something new."

He picks "creativity" as the key of the hotel's success mantra.

"My managing philosophy is developing people. Trust your people because they will come up with a lot of good ideas. It is important to listen to them and provide a platform for them to excel and develop," he explains.

"The hotel business in Hong Kong will remain positive. A good reason for that is the strong support from the Chinese mainland," he observes.

Although there were times when the economy went down, such as in 2008 and 2009, Hong Kong has rebounded very quickly, he says, sounding optimistic about the prospects for the hotel industry in Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong is always a preferred destination for both business and leisure travelers. Harbour Plaza Metropolis is continuously evolving and we are sharing our creativity with the public to arouse interest and increase brand awareness," Andy adds.

(HK Edition 08/10/2012 page8)