The Murray, Hong Kong, A Niccolo Hotel

The Murray, Hong Kong, A Niccolo Hotel

The Murray occupies the actual Murray Building, a 1969 structure designed by British modernist Ronald Phillips and one of Hong Kong's most recognisable landmarks, which Foster + Partners restored as part of a billion-dollar preservation scheme under the city's Conserving Central Project rather than replacing it with something new. That is the one thing this hotel has that no other hotel in Central can claim: an actual building with a past, not a new one built to resemble one. It opened at the end of 2017 with 336 oversized rooms and suites across 25 floors, a short walk from Hong Kong Park, the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, and Central. Five restaurants and bars run through the building, from Murray Lane and Garden Lounge on the lower floors to Popinjays on the roof, where the view opens 270 degrees over the skyline, the park, and the gardens below. A complimentary shuttle reaches IFC, Central and West Kowloon Station within minutes, useful for anyone here on business rather than sightseeing. Below street level, an indoor pool, sauna, spa, and gym sit apart from the noise of the lobby above. Families get highchairs and babysitting, though the smart-casual dress code at the lounge and the age line drawn at twelve suggest a hotel that accommodates children rather than one built around them. Anyone wanting a brand-new tower will feel the difference here. It holds a One MICHELIN Key listing and EarthCheck certification, and even at check-in, the deposit and extra-bed terms read more like an office building's paperwork than a resort's. What lingers afterward isn't the marketing, it's the sense of a building that changed jobs and kept its bones. The Murray restores Hong Kong's 1969 Murray Building into a 336-room hotel under a billion-dollar Foster + Partners preservation project. Popinjays' rooftop delivers 270-degree views over Central and Hong Kong Park, and a One MICHELIN Key sets the address apart.