The Mira Hong Kong is a hotel in

Tsim Sha Tsui Tsim Sha Tsui, often abbreviated as TST, is an list of areas of Hong Kong, urban area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hu ...

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 ...

. It has 492 rooms and suites, six restaurants and bars, and a spa centre. It was renovated in 2009 and became smoke-free in 2011. The hotel is owned by

Miramar Hotel and Investment Miramar Hotel and Investment Company Limited (Miramar Group) () () is a group with a diversified service-oriented business portfolio comprising hotels and serviced apartments, property rental, food and beverage, and travel services in Hong Kong a ...

. It was designed by architect Edmond Wong. Interiors were designed by "lifestyle guru"

Colin Cowie Colin Andrew Wilkie Cowie (born 3 January 1962) is an African-born American lifestyle advisor, author, interior designer and party planner. Biography Colin Cowie was born in Kitwe, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now Zambia), and educat ...

History

From after 1911 until 1925, the site was occupied by the ''Club de Recreio'' (). The Club then moved to its present location at King's Park along

Gascoigne Road Gascoigne Road () is a main road in Kowloon, Hong Kong, going west-east from Nathan Road to Chatham Road South through the head of King's Park, leading vehicles from West Kowloon to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel. Gascoigne Road Flyover () is a ...

. The hotel was formerly named Hotel Miramar. It opened in 1948, with 32 rooms, as Hong Kong's first post-war hotel. A major expansion in 1953 added 160 new rooms. It was purchased in 1957 from a Spanish mission by the founders of Miramar Hotel and Investment Company, Limited. A new wing was built in two phases, increasing the number of rooms to 380 by 1973. The grand opening of the rebranded and redesigned hotel took place on 17 September 2009. In 2013, after fleeing from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...

stayed in The Mira for a total of 20 days wherein he leaked thousands of classified

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

(NSA) documents regarding

Global surveillance Global mass surveillance can be defined as the mass surveillance of entire populations across national borders. Its existence was not widely acknowledged by governments and the mainstream media until the global surveillance disclosures by Edwar ...

to journalists. His presence at the hotel was a global spectacle with a media frenzy surrounding it.

Laura Poitras Laura Poitras (; born February 2, 1964) is an American director and producer of documentary films. Poitras has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2015 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ''Citizenfour'', about Edwa ...

created a documentary regarding these revelations named

Citizenfour ''Citizenfour'' is a 2014 documentary film directed by Laura Poitras, concerning Edward Snowden and the NSA spying scandal. The film had its US premiere on October 10, 2014, at the New York Film Festival and its UK premiere on October 17, 2014, ...

(which won the oscar award for best documentary (feature) in 2015). It was completely shot inside the hotel. The

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

'' Verax'', regarding the 2013 global surveillance disclosures by Edward Snowden features the hotel. The film's budget included a one night stay at The Mira, the most expensive item on the budget. On 21 January 2019, a window fell from the hotel and killed a passerby walking on Nathan Road.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mira Hong Kong Hotels in Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui Hotels established in 1948 Hotel buildings completed in 1948 1948 establishments in Hong Kong

History

See also

References

External links