www.upperhouse.com

www.wooloo-mooloo.com

www.thepawn.com.hk

Hot on the heels of seeing Sex and the City 2, friends and I pulled out the glad rags and set off for a hens’ weekend in Hong Kong. We were booked into one of the city’s hottest hotels, The Upper House, and  attention to detail was first class. Doormen in crisply pressed suits greeted us and check-in was carried out on high-tech, handheld gadgets. The Upper House is pricey but worth it.

The small luxury hotel is superbly located, above the Pacific Place Shopping Centre. Throughout the communal areas and in our rooms, we marvelled at the high-end design. Our shopped-out and dance-weary feet drifted over exquisite carpet and appealing textures. Even the lifts display framed artworks for perusal during the ride to the rooms, which are situated on the building’s upper floors, 38 to 47.

We spent plenty of time languishing in our rooms, enjoying the oversized baths and the views from the ceiling-to-floor windows. A discreet notice in the bathrooms, titled “Sneaky Peaky”, warned guests to close the blinds for privacy in this city where tightly packed buildings rise up one after another. Good advice and a clever turn of phrase as my view was inland, towards The Peak. Other rooms looked onto shimmering glass reflections, the illuminated city skyline, and the harbour.

Instead of hanging out at The Upper House, as tempting as that was, we did a daytrip on an enormous motorboat. This showed me a part of Hong Kong that I had no idea about. Away from the city, the boat headed out into clean waters with views of verdant terrain and pale boulders that tumbled to the sea. The natural scenery of mountain ranges stretching toward the mainland of China was as impressive as the manmade architecture of Hong Kong.

After our day of boating, we kitted ourselves in the hen’s favourite colour, purple, and headed for champagne at The Upper House bar, with spectacular harbour views, followed by dinner at The Pawn (a novel building that was once a well-known pawn shop).

The next night, we set out in nothing less than Sex and the City get-up, our bride-to-be looking like Carrie in an oversized tulle skirt with stilettos to die for. The food at Wooloomooloo in Wanchai was superb, and the roof-bar views were breathtaking. We were blessed with glorious weather and the rare treat of seeing stars in the sky, competing with the striking nightlights of this bright city.

It was the type of weekend that could have been set in a movie. Oh, for a sequel!