Published in the South China Morning Post September 2006
When one of the two penthouses in Four Seasons Place fell vacant for a few days in July, the serviced apartment’s public relations firm was quick to seize the opportunity to invite journalists for a tour around the suite.
Both penthouses, it seems, are so popular that a chance to view the property had never before arisen, with the exception of a short launch period when it was first opened last October.
“The supply of this type of penthouse is very limited,” said Belinda Kuan, director of leasing at Four Seasons Place (FSP) Hong Kong. “There is no competition. You can’t find anything similar in Central – with a private terrace on top of the apartment and a stunning harbour view.”
It is pretty much the same story at the Pacific Place apartments where the penthouse suites, according to Jeremy Lamburn, leasing manager of Swire Properties’ Pacific Place Apartments, have always been popular.
“Due to the limited availability, our penthouse suites are in high demand. We believe this will continue,” he said. “As every organisation has its ‘boss’, we feel confident that there will always be a market for the ‘premier’ apartments in the building.”
As competition stiffens, luxury begins to take on new meaning. For example, FSP has a 65-inch Panasonic plasma TV in each of the rooms of its penthouses where the private pools come with counter flow, massage jets and underwater speakers and bath accessories are from Acca Kappa of Italy.
InterContinental Hong Kong went all out to achieve the wow factor with its 6-month old presidential suite, which took nine months and US$2.5 million to build. Its inclusion in concierge.com’s list of the world’s sexiest penthouses shows that it may have succeeded.
The duplex suite is a combination of two floors and, at 7,000 sq ft, is the largest in Hong Kong. Its two-storey wall-to-wall view of Victoria Harbour and its wraparound terrace with an infinity pool that gives the appearance of being one with the harbour, are definitely the highlights.
Designer names are all over this suite: there’s the 65-inch Sharp Aquos LCD TV, the first outside Japan, Holly Hunt lamps, B&B Italia lounge chair, Gretchen Bellinger accent fabrics, Bose home entertainment system, Toto Neorest toilet, Yves Delorme bath towels, Chanel bath amenities, Herman Miller ergonomic desk chair, George Jensen desk accessories…the list goes on.
At HK$87,000 a night, guests have, so far, mostly included royalty, heads of state and CEOs. “We haven’t had a rock star yet,” said Carole Klein, director of public relations and communications at the InterContinental Hong Kong.
But more than just the physical luxuries, service is another important area where companies are bending over backwards for their penthouse guests.
It’s a truism that it is the little things that touch our hearts and they are often what we take home with us from our ventures abroad. Guests in serviced penthouses expect to get pampered and they do.
For example, last Easter, a family with kids rented the InterContinental presidential suite. This presented a change of pace for the two butlers at the penthouse, who were more accustomed to serving the likes of bluebloods and captains of industry.
But both Tatsuo and Pang, ever the accommodating butlers that they are, did not miss a beat and busied themselves hiding Easter eggs in every nook and cranny for an impromptu treasure hunt with the children.
“Our two dedicated butlers are always a second away,” said Klein. “They have to read the guest well and anticipate guest needs without being obtrusive.” The butlers are there to assist, added Klein, explaining that guests can ask for private tai-chi or yoga classes to be arranged on their terrace or for help with getting a suit tailor-made.
No penthouse guest request is too big nor service detail too minor. “We will satisfy every request from our guests from the first minute they walk off the plane,” declared Kuan of Four Seasons Place Hong Kong.
This includes standard FSP penthouse features like being met at the airport and a specially-tailored orientation tour as well as helping organise parties on the roof terrace and assistance with purchasing personal necessities.
It is not just meeting every guest requirement but also the human touch that count.
As Swire Properties’ Lamburn puts it: “From experience, we find that remembering residents names, waving their children off to school and umbrella-transferring residents to their cars and taxis on rainy days is what truly impresses and sticks in their minds long after they have forgotten what colour the marble floor tiles were.”
Lamburn especially remembers the time when a Parkside penthouse guest enlisted the help of housekeeping, resident services and concierge to organise a surprise birthday party for her husband.
Every move had to be precisely manoeuvred to meet the deadline and to retain the element of surprise – banqueting at Conrad Hotel were brought in to work on the birthday spread, family members were secretly flown in, colleagues were smuggled up to the penthouse from the office and walkie-talkies were used to alert guests to the imminent arrival of the birthday boy.
“He was truly amazed at the level of coordination and later his wife told us that this was the most touched she had seen him on any birthday,” recalled Lamburn.
Penthouses that are linked to hotels get to leverage off this relationship by providing their guests with access to hotel facilities. An FSP penthouse guest, said Kuan, chose to stay with them because he could use the functions rooms at the Four Seasons Hotel for meetings and its F&B outlets for entertaining business partners.
While Swire’s Parkside penthouse 3701 rents out for HK$140,000 per month, FSP has not set any price on its penthouses. According to Kuan, the guest makes an offer and FSP considers this offer together with the background of the guest and the duration of stay requested.
“We are quite satisfied with the offers now,” she said. Earlier press reports had pitched the price of their 2,790 sq ft penthouse with a 2,094 sq ft roof and terrace at HK$500,000 a month, a new record for the most expensive serviced apartment in Hong Kong.
With five prospective tenants on the wait list, FSP is looking at a continuing price increase. And journalists may have to wait a long time before they get the opportunity for another viewing.