Barhop through the City’s Five Star Hotels

Tea from China, fine china from China, a string quartet playing music that's not from China--Hong Kong's Peninsula is the type of place where the colonial British perfected their concept of the late-afternoon meal. The colonial-style hotel serves tea with sandwiches and other dainties on tiered trays from 3- 6pm. Arrive late and call it a light dinner.

Once done, step outside and cross Nathan Road to glimpse Chungking Mansions, a decrepit series of guest houses and apartments where manual laborers from Asia's poorest countries live crammed together. It was popularized in a 1994 film called "Chungking Express."

Having taken in the contrast, turn on your heels and return to the Peninsula, possibly making a mental note to think about it further when your five-star night is done. Fan yourself with your hand.
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1928 Salisbury Rd.
852-2920-2888

Back in the hotel, make your way to the top-floor restaurant and bar for your first cocktail, or just a peek at the view and the restrooms. The lighting in the eccentric wood-paneled elevator dims as one reaches the 24th floor.

Step out to see dozens of chairs with faces on them staring back at you from inside the Philippe Starck-designed restaurant. Have your cocktail at the long bar or in the padded room that looks how an astropod should look.

Do not leave without visiting the restroom, where the sink faucets pour water on a flat counter and where the men's urinals abut a floor-length window overlooking Hong Kong Harbor.

When the Peninsula opened in 1928 its Salisbury Road address was on the water. These days there's another row of buildings in front of it, built on reclaimed land (dredged from the sea floor.)

To reach the water, cross Salisbury and bear right toward the Star Ferry Terminal. A ticket for the primitive, two-deck ferry costs HK$2-$3. (Efforts to raise the price partly sparked riots in the 1960s.) Cross to Wan Chai (not Central, not yet). Consider sitting outdoors if you are dressed for it and watch your step on the gangplank when you get off. (You can skip the ferry and take a taxi from the Peninsula, but it will cost you 100 times as much, at least.)

Even if you don't stay for a drink, have a look at the remarkable size of the glass wall in the Grand Café of the Hyatt, at the left end of the lobby.

The neighboring Hong Kong Convention Center, which looks like a bird in flight from the harbor, has a similar glass curtain design. If you do stay awhile, consider the outdoor Waterfall Bar on the 11th floor, which has great views and which is part of the Hyatt's hotel-within-a-hotel, you know, for guests who find that five stars aren't quite enough.

Now it's time to head to Central and taking a taxi may be best.

The landmark hotel in Central may not have the views of its brethren, but it has been The Place to stay in Hong Kong for half a century. It also has been The Place for wealthy locals to take visitors for a drink. The bars are fairly intimate. Choose either the Chinnery, which boasts one of the world's largest collections of single malt whiskies and serves beer in silver tankards, or the Captain's Bar, which has been serving spicy peas since before Californians could spell edamame. It often features live singers from the Philippines who are astonishingly talented mimics of the latest stars on iTunes. There's also M Bar, which has tapas and great views, if you haven't seen enough of the harbor yet.

Hong Kong's relatively new Four Seasons may have the most attractive pool in the city, its infinity edge appearing to spill into the harbor. Fortunately, it also has a pool bar, open 'til 9:30 p.m. If outdoor seating isn't your thing, or it's late, the chic Lounge is very attractive as well. If you still have stamina (and money) left at this point, make your way up to Lan Kwai Fong or SoHo by taxi or on the pedestrian walkways and Mid-Levels escalator and continue to barhop.

Still at it? Try the old sailors' haunts in Wanchai. There's no such thing as the last bar in Hong Kong losing steam before you do.