OCATED in the heart of thrumming Kowloon, a short skip from the bustle of the Star Ferry pier, The Langham, Hong Kong plays sumptuous award-winning host to wide-eyed shopaholics, peripatetic business travellers, and the odd New Yorker looking for a taste (literally) of home. It is indeed ideally positioned to do so. And its rich European brushstrokes, sparkling new rooms, contemporary trimmings, and fine dining, have kept it in the company of the best Hong Kong business hotels.

Its 495 rooms include the plush Grand Rooms with look-in glass-wall bathrooms. Here ornate wool carpets drape wooden floors while Chinese gold leaf art and photographs of old Hong Kong adorn the walls. The décor is unstintingly lavish throughout. Chafing at the bright but conformist modern exterior, the lobby is sensually baroque, featuring a grand staircase with a gilded railing, barrel-vaulted ceiling, soft lighting, and crystal chandeliers.

Form does not reign over function. Guests enjoy state-of-the-art amenities that include 37-inch TVs, DVD, and i-Home sound systems.

The Langham ranks among the top Hong Kong conference hotels, with a Grand Ballroom, as well as the Botticelli, Bernini, Raphael and Michelangelo function rooms. These offer modern meeting spaces tinged with medieval elegance – silk walls, timber panels and rich carpets. A briskly run business centre is on hand to keep Blackberry-thumbing pin-stripers focused and plugged in.

If soaking up the rays is more to your taste, the rooftop pool in a Mediterranean setting is just the ticket, high above the city. Fitness buffs can pump iron at the Health Club and then refuel on palate-tickling Chinese calories at The T'ang Court. Also sample the legendary ‘matzoh balls’ at Main St. Deli, and lobster at The Bostonian. For more decadence, try champagne and a Jacuzzi soak at a plush Langham Suite.