Staff at the hotel, a favourite of state leaders and celebrities, found the bodies in the room on the 24th floor at about 3.15pm, with no signs of a struggle or ransacking.

The men were certified dead when an ambulance arrived shortly afterwards.

'There was no sign of injuries and no sign of ransacking or fighting in the room,' a police spokesman said. 'We can't tell if there are any suspicious circumstances until after the postmortem.'

A police source said the men, who were on a business trip and had checked in on October 10, were wearing long trousers and at least one was found lying on the floor. He gave no further details.

The Wan Chai district crime squad has taken over the investigation. A postmortem examination will be conducted today.

A hotel spokesman was unable to reveal further details, saying the case was still under investigation.

A guest on the 24th floor said the hotel had offered to let him change rooms without explanation.

Kevin Bilsby said he did not know what had happened until he found out about the discovery of the bodies from journalists.

'What surprised me is that they didn't tell me about it,' said Mr Bilsby, who has an office in the city and is visiting for two weeks with his wife and two daughters.

Security was stepped up at the hotel and several police officers were sent to guard a group of journalists at the rear entrance.

Otherwise, activities appeared normal last night, as celebrities and artists in fancy dress attended a Halloween party.

Artist-turned-barrister Melvin Wong Kam-sang, who arrived at the hotel with his wife, Gigi Chiu Ngar-chi, said they were not aware of the deaths and were not worried. Singer Alex Fong Lik-sun was also at the party.

The hotel, due to its proximity to the Convention and Exhibition Centre and Bauhinia Square's flag-raising ceremony, is one of the top choices for Chinese state leaders.