New hotel reaches the dizzying heights with optical illusions

There's yet another new hotel in town but this one is a bit off the wall. To be more precise, aspects of it are off-centre. In To Kwa Wan at 199 Kowloon City Road - within walking distance of the Kowloon City ferry pier - the newest of the Harbour Plaza group, the Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees, opened yesterday.

The 21-storey building offers more than 700 rooms, meeting rooms, banquet halls, restaurants, a pool and gym. But what makes it unique is that it is full of optical illusions.

Designed by PAL Design's Patrick Leung King-wah, the lobby (pictured), lifts, pool bar and ground-floor cafe appear slanted. 'The idea came from the hotel but the designer thought of the optical illusions,' a hotel spokesman said. 'And it is more than eight degrees, but we kept the name. Some people do get dizzy, but you gather your balance again quite quickly.'

It's certainly a novel and daring concept. No doubt it will be very appealing to M.C. Escher fans.