Hotel Diaries: Go green with Eaton HK’s sustainable staycation

As soon as you enter the hotel – through the red entrance with neon lights and a cute statue of an alpaca – your eyes are immediately drawn towards the centre of the hotel where a slice of the action stands before you as a triple-height atrium. A 15ft tall chandelier adds warmth to the area with its light, revealing the food hall and the hotel’s cha chaan teng-inspired eatery The Astor. The retro yet modern design pays homage to 1950s and 60s Hong Kong but still manages to feel sleek and inviting. Bright coloured tiles are contrasted with terrazzo, while primary pops of red, blue and yellow add a sense of fun and youth throughout the hotel’s interior.

For those who haven’t been to the hotel, the meandering corridors, staircases and lifts, which are on the side of the building, can be confusing to navigate. But it does seem to create more usable space and lends itself to great views as you go up and down the lifts. The staff are all knowledgeable and utterly friendly, so it’s definitely much easier to ask than convince yourself that you know the way. Trust me on this one. 

The hotel, which merges both public and private spaces in terms of restaurants, a co-working space and a membership club, is undeniably cool. I mean there’s even an art gallery, a cinema, live music venue and bar, screening room, and a public radio station, aside from hotel amenities of the norm, for the local and creative community. There is, of course, a fitness centre, various dining options including The Astor, Eaton Food Hall, and their Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant Yat Tung Heen, event spaces named after iconic Asian women (Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung, and Michelle Yeoh), and a swimming pool reminiscent of the charming and symmetrical Wes Anderson film aesthetic. 

Eaton HK is much more than a hotel, it’s a community hub and it feels that way. But that doesn’t mean the staff are not up to hotel standards, because if anything they’re just as well-trained and courteous, with a genuine vibe that they’re actually happy to be there and happy to help you.  

We stayed in the Eaton Room fitted with a double bed, walk-in shower with natural shower products by Grown Alchemist, flat-screen smart TV, USB charging outlets, mini-fridge, hardwood desk and chair, and even a purifying Himalayan salt lamp. There’s interesting artwork by local creatives in the room as well as the rest of the hotel. The rooms are not big, about 183sq ft, but they are well-formed with a smart layout that showcases thoughtful design. It’s clean and comfortable, and ultimately, it sort of feels like you’re staying at a cool friend’s decked out guest room and I don’t know about you, but I’m down with that.

The ‘Live Clean, Go Green’ staycation starts in the room, where you’re greeted with complimentary vegan snacks including dried fruits, nuts, crackers and chocolates, along with reusable water bottles in the room which can be filled up from Water for Good stations dotted around the hotel, and a helpful Green Guide that lists all the sustainable offerings with insights on how to make small changes and positively impact the environment. 

You also receive a dining credit worth $500 per person which can be used on plant-based or alternative-meat meals and menus at the hotel’s venues. We opted for the Yat Tung Heen’s eight-course vegetarian set menu (which comes in at about $820 per person) which had a really great appetiser in the form of a deep-fried beancurd sheet roll stuffed with OmniPork Strips and shredded vegetable which was crispy and flavourful. Other highlights include the steamed tomato stuffed with OmniPork, lily bulbs, celery and yellow fungus, served in a naturally sweet and vibrant pumpkin sauce; OmniPork-stuffed morel and pomelo peel in black pepper sauce; and desserts of glutinous dumplings filled with almond cream and papaya puff pastry which were both tasty and creative takes on traditional sweets.

Guests who book the green staycation are guaranteed pool access and can take advantage of the rooftop yoga studio, so that is a great bonus. But the fact that Eaton HK makes a donation to Zero Foodprint, means you can stay, relax and feel good about it knowing you’re doing something that has the potential to help the planet. 

Eaton HK has a lot going for it. It has an excellent location, which is a big factor if you like to eat and explore around the local neighbourhood, but the hotel’s design is really quite stunning too. There are wide open spaces and areas and its concept and core is built with community in mind, encouraging us to rub shoulders with one another which is probably something we all need right now. Of course, this happens under the best possible social distancing and hygiene conditions that the hotel does carry out. Unlike other hotels though, which are all about getting privacy and getting away with your other half, friends, or family, Eaton HK’s contrarian approach is more progressive in the way it thinks and supports the community, artistic expression, local grassroots projects and creative thinkers. And that, my friends, must be the future.

The ‘Live Clean, Go Green’ staycation package starts at $1,200 per room, including the donation, $500 dining credits, vegan snacks and water. It will be running until October 2021.

If you’d like to book, or check out the other packages, visit this link