Hong Kong Hilton was a hotel in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Built in 1963, the 26-storey hotel was initially the only 5-star hotel on the island side of the territory. It closed in May 1995, and was demolished soon thereafter along with

Beaconsfield House Beaconsfield House () was a government office building in Hong Kong's Central district. Built in 1963, the building was home to the Information Services Department until it was demolished along with the neighbouring Hong Kong Hilton in 1995 to ...

(the old address of the Information Service Department) and carpark to make way for a commercial development, the

Cheung Kong Centre Cheung Kong Center is a skyscraper in Central, Hong Kong designed by Cesar Pelli. It is 68 storeys tall with height of and a gross floor area of . When completed in 1999, it was the third-tallest building in the city after the Central Pla ...

History

The 26-storey building was owned by

Hutchison Whampoa Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) was an investment holding company based in Hong Kong. It was a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HWL was an international corporation with a dive ...

, who licensed Hilton Hotels Group to operate it for 50 years. The 750-room hotel opened in 1963 and was one of the most prestigious in the colony, a favorite of tourists and dignitaries alike. The Hong Kong Hilton was the first hotel in the world to introduce the

minibar A minibar is a small refrigerator, typically an absorption refrigerator, in a hotel room or cruise ship stateroom. The hotel staff fill it with drinks and snacks for the guest to purchase during their stay. It is stocked with a precise invento ...

in all of its hotel rooms in 1974. In the months following its introduction in-room drink sales increased 500%, and the Hong Kong Hilton's overall annual revenue was boosted by 5%. This led the Hilton group to roll out the minibar concept across all its hotels the following year. In January 1994, with about 20 years of the management contract to run, Hutchison announced the buyout of the remaining term for US$125 million. The hotel subsequently closed its doors on 1May 1995, the landmark was to be torn down and rebuilt as a multi-storey commercial office complex and headquarters for

Li Ka-shing Sir Ka-shing Li (; born 13 June 1928) is a Hong Kong billionaire business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. As of June 2019, Li is the 31st richest person in the world, with an estimated net wealth of US$33.4 billion. He is the senior ad ...

's flagship holding company,

Cheung Kong Holdings Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, is a multinational conglomerate, based in Hong Kong. It was one of Hong Kong's leading multi-national conglomerates. The company merged with its subsidiary Hutchison Whampoa on 3 June 2015, as part of a major ...

. The Hong Kong Hilton had a staff of 850. Its employees were given an average of nine months' salary as part of their redundancy packages. Moreover, Hutchison also placed over 60% of its staff in the new Harbour Plaza Hotel in

Hung Hom Hung Hom () is an area in the southeast of Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. Including the area of Whampoa, Tai Wan, Hok Yuen, Lo Lung Hang and No. 12 Hill are administratively part of the Kowloon City District, with a portion west of Hung Ho ...

. Hilton Hotels still maintains a presence on Hong Kong Island, with the Conrad at Pacific Place in Admiralty.

References

External links

* {{coord, 22.27978, 114.16050, display=title 1963 establishments in Hong Kong 1995 disestablishments in Hong Kong Buildings and structures demolished in 1995 Central, Hong Kong Defunct hotels in Hong Kong Former skyscrapers Demolished hotels Hotel buildings completed in 1963 Hotels established in 1963 Demolished buildings and structures in Hong Kong