Cosmo Hotel Hong Kong

The Cosmo aims to attract guests with its trendy design and playful use of color and texture. Its lobby is covered in gleaming surfaces, like the imposing orange-lacquered front desk set with recessed lighting. To its right, suspended white branches wrapped in a string of lights creates a modern chandelier. Velvet turquoise slipper chairs sit under a white wall with a raised wave pattern. All together, the look feels a bit scattered, hitting a range of decorative styles and colors. Embedded in the floor, small dots of blue and green lights twinkle among the white floor tiles leading the way to the main attraction: Bold floor-to-ceiling red doors at the far end of the room, which opens to the ongoing party in the hotel's Nooch Bar. Inside, a moody wash of gray-on-gray sets the scene: Slate-gray curtains cover the raw, industrial walls and soften the space with its exposed ceiling and concrete floors. Curved red-leather banquettes are topped with white netting, and a cascade of metal beads provides a little shimmer to the space. This property tends to attract young couples, although business travelers and families also stay here. 

Cosmo Hotel Hong Kong is located in the Wan Chai neighborhood between the Happy Valley Racecourse and a large cemetery (which can be seen from some rooms). It's walking distance to many surrounding restaurants, and the popular Times Square Shopping Mall is eight minutes away by foot. The Wan Chai Ferry Pier is a walkable distance but a bit of a trek, 19 minutes away on foot. Depending on traffic, it's a six-minute drive to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and a similar distance to the main MTR Causeway Bay Station, the latter of which can also be reached on foot within 15 minutes. Expect a 40-minute drive to Hong Kong International Airport.

The Cosmo's 142 guest rooms have streamlined contemporary decor and a neutral palette of light-gray walls and carpets, with oversized headboards in bold orange, green, or yellow. Rooms are furnished with small glass-topped desks, leather chairs matching the headboard's color, and small bedside tables. Stocked minibars, safes, electric tea kettles, and pillow menus with 11 choices (scented jasmine, non-allergic, feather, etc.) come standard. Each room also has a small 20-inch flat-screen TV and a loaner smartphone that acts as a Wi-Fi hotspot paired with a keyboard. Bathrooms, attractively outfitted with vessel sinks and a wall of colored tile, have either a small walk-in shower or a standard shower/tub combo plus toiletries, slippers, bathrobes, hairdryers, and scales. The "green floor" of the hotel has rooms with added houseplants, natural boutique toiletries, and organic teabags. But it may be equal parts gimmicky and eco-friendly, since these rooms also include plastic bottled water for free. 

Behind the lobby's giant red doors is Nooch Bar, the hotel's main attraction and party venue. It's home to several recurring events and regularly hosts private parties, when it's not serving as a trendy cocktail bar for hotel guests and locals. There's no full restaurant here, but between the bar and the Breeze coffee lounge, guests have some drinking and dining on-site. The coffee lounge has an attractive covered rooftop terrace with patio furniture rimmed in greenery. A buffet breakfast with Western and Chinese options is available, though not included in standard rates. Other facilities and amenities are accessible next door at the Cosmopolitan Hotel Hong Kong, including a full restaurant, on-site fitness center, and a convenient free shuttle bus service to metro stops or commercial buildings at Causeway Bay, Wan Chai, Admiralty, Central, Quarry Bay and Ocean Park.