A stylish 210-room boutique hotel in Wan Chai has a new badge. The Hari Hong Kong has officially joined Vignette Collection, the branch of IHG Hotels & Resorts dedicated to independent luxury properties that want to keep their character while plugging into a global system.
The practical upshot for travellers: you can now book the Hari through IHG's worldwide channels and earn and spend IHG One Rewards points there. It's part of a wider deal announced last month that also brings The Hari London and a forthcoming The Hari Singapore into the collection, extending a partnership between the Harilela Group and IHG that stretches back more than five decades.
The hotel itself is worth a look regardless of loyalty points. Rising 30 storeys on Lockhart Road, it was designed by British interior designer Tara Bernerd and offers rooms with views over Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, The Peak and Victoria Harbour — three of those are signature rooftop suites at the top.
Food is a genuine draw. There's Lucciola for proper Italian cooking, Zoku for contemporary Japanese (the ceiling of angled timber slats, folded like origami, is a talking point in itself), plus The Terrace for drinks outside and The Lounge, a book- and art-lined space you can use all day.
What sets the Hari apart is its cultural programme. It runs The Hari Art Prize to support emerging artists, publishes The Hari Chronicles on art, design and culture, and offers a free Neighbourhood Guide Audio Tour that steers guests away from the obvious tourist route. If you like hotels that feel embedded in their city rather than sealed off from it, that's the pitch.
Why does this matter if you're planning a Hong Kong trip? Wan Chai is one of the city's oldest and most eclectic districts — tram lines, wet markets, harbour-side office towers and late-night restaurants all crammed together — and this gives IHG loyalists a boutique option in the thick of it, rather than a standardised chain property. Points collectors get a new way to burn or earn, and travellers who usually avoid big chains get access to the odd perk or package rate without sacrificing the hotel's individuality, which the brand has committed to preserving.
