appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

SCMP Reporter

IT has been more than a year since it was announced that the Hongkong Hilton would be demolished to make way for office development, but the hotel's general manager, James Smith, still finds it sad to see it actually go after almost 32 years in operation.

    Hutchison Whampoa, which owns the hotel, has decided that the property will be demolished in June whether or not it has reached agreement with the Government on a development plan for the neighbouring sites.

 The 750-room, 26-storey porperty is destined to close by the end of this month but reminders of the Hilton will stay after its closure.

  Mr Smith said half of the 820 staff would be transferred to Hutchison's Harbour Plaza Hotel, due to open in Hunghom in July.

  He said most of the rest of the staff were believed to be quitting the industry.

  Some tableware and lobby furniture will be moved to the Harbour Plaza Hotel. Mr Smith said some of the bedroom furniture would be sold or given to hotels in China.

  A spokesman for Hutchison confirmed that some of the furniture would be moved to the company's recently-acquired Great Wall Sheraton Hotel in Beijing.

 The symbolic three-tonne granite 'Kugel' ball in the lobby and the dragon head and tail in the Dragon Boat Bar - have yet to find a new home. The ball is a symbol of the US$15 million renovation which took place in 1993, a year before the Hilton's management contract was bought for $125 million by Hutchison.

  Management group Hilton International has not found a replacement for what is seen as its flagship hotel in Asia.

  Mr Smith said he would like to see a Hilton hotel in operation before the one in Queen's Road Central closed.

  However, his hopes were dashed after more than a year's negotiation with an unidentified party failed to come to fruition.

  Mr Smith would only say that the financial scenario had changed and prevented the conclusion of a deal.

  He said Hilton International was selective in choosing its partners. It was its plan to find one or two partners in running hotels.

  Although representation at the world's major airports is a priority objective for Hilton International, the group has not placed qualified tenders for hotel development at the new airport site.

  Mr Smith said the group's head office in London had made known its intention to developers that it was interested in running one or two hotels in Hong Kong but when and where a replacement could be found remained unknown.

  Mr Smith, the hotel's third general manager, will stay in the territory for at least a year as a consultant to Hutchison.

  With less than a month before the hotel closes, Mr Smith said: 'Obviously we are unhappy, a bit despondent in a way because of what the staff have done, because not every hotel has got all the components.

  'It's the only one [hotel] I have ever seen which has got everything together - the attitude of the staff, the clientele, . . . and the attitude of the owning company which knew exactly what they wanted to do. They wanted the quality. Now they've made a business decision which may be a bit unfortunate. But you know, we can't criticise it. It's business.

  'As a hotel it's worth $500 million, as an office block it's [worth] $1 billion,' he said.

  'As I am a hotelier and given a choice, I think I would just stay with the hotel, simply because of the sentiment which is attached to it by myself, by the clients, by the staff, and I expect, likewise, even to some of the owners,' said Mr Smith, who has been with the hotel for 11 years and who lives there as well.

  But Mr Smith added: 'We've got to move with the times.' 



Breakers set June date with Hilton