New Hong Kong hotel The Hari in Wan Chai: owner on target customers, technology and opening borders for tourists
- Aron Harilela talks about his hotel group’s latest property in Hong Kong, which has had a bumpy road to completion
- It comes with strong eco-credentials and the management emphasises employing locals of various ethnicities – now all it needs are customers
Aron Harilela is in high spirits. On December 12, after six years of scouting, building and designing, and more than a year of disruption caused by anti-government protests and a pandemic, he will finally open his latest hotel, The Hari Hong Kong, in Wan Chai.
“It’s been a long time coming,” says Harilela, chairman and CEO of Hong Kong-based Harilela Hotels, which operates 15 properties across three continents. “[But] I never thought about not going ahead with it. You have to see some light at the end of the tunnel, some chance for resolution – whether it’s social or economic, whether you like that resolution or not.”
Upscale, design-led and with impressive eco-credentials, The Hari on Lockhart Road looks to the future. The architecture comes with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) certification, while the 210 rooms, including three rather spectacular penthouse suites, were designed by British designer Tara Bernerd, who also fashioned The Hari in London.
The hotel has a sociable lobby lounge bar and two restaurants: Zoku, a Japanese establishment with a sweeping second-storey terrace; and Lucciola, which serves traditional Italian food in a modern setting.
The overall package seems positioned to attract a certain type of hip, affluent traveller.
