Just 18 months ago, Hong Kong's hotel industry was flat on its back, stricken by a horrific illness and ostracised by the travel industry.
Occupancy at Kowloon's Metropole Hotel, ground zero for the Sars epidemic in Hong Kong, hit 0 per cent in April last year and stayed there for weeks.
Even Hong Kong Island hotels, untouched by the outbreak, became global untouchables, shunned by all but the most intrepid travellers despite 60 per cent discounts, free breakfasts and complimentary limousine tours.
But a year can make all the difference. Visitors can forget discounts now: occupancy across every class of hotel is approaching 1996 levels. Even the now squeaky-clean Metropole is booked up solid with mainland tour groups.
An estimated 21.3 million tourists will have visited Hong Kong by the end of this year, a record.
The influx of mainland tourists and the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland in September next year all but guarantee a sustained hotel boom, analysts and operators say.