A tale of two towers

MANILA, Philippines – Upon arriving at the Ritz Carlton Macau lobby, we were whisked off to the 51st floor by a gracious hostess (a Filipina named Phoebe Ann Eugenio) to a plushly-adorned waiting room. As we settled in the crushed velvet sofa, we handed our passports to Phoebe for check-in as another hostess appeared and handed us flutes of champagne while we waited for our room keys. There were no lines as each guest arrived with a hostess and was escorted to one of the several waiting lounges. This is the Ritz Carlton, Macau-style.

At a time when hotels like Sheraton, Conrad, Holiday Inn, Grand Hyatt and the like in Macau are offering free accommodation for a little play at their casinos, I chose to pay the discounted introductory rate and sample the latest addition to the dozens of five-star hotels that line the Cotai strip in Macau. The Ritz Carlton is located within the gigantic Galaxy resorts complex together with other luxury hotels like the Okura, Banyan Tree and JW Marriott. All rooms at the Ritz Carlton Macau are suites and we were billeted on the 35th floor where my travel buddy and compadre Joey de Leon also was. I booked the cheapest accommodation but was amazed at the opulence and tasteful decor of my suite. The spacious living room was as big as the bedroom. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows with a view of a golf course, 60-inch flat screen TV and toilet on both the living room and bedroom were just some of the awesome features.

The bathroom featured a round bathtub with another TV atop a sparkling Italian marble floor. The toilet featured a motion-sensing lighted toilet seat that lifted whenever a person entered, plus all the high-tech features in washing your bottom.

As in most of the Ritz Carlton hotels I’ve tried around the world, the king-size bed was firm but comfy. The biggest plus in staying at the Ritz Carlton Macau are the meals served on the 51st floor like breakfast, lunch and snacks are free to all hotel residents. Should you decide, however, that you want fine dining, Lai Heen (Cantonese cuisine) on the 51st floor is your only choice within the Ritz Carlton Macau complex.

One of the many private pools at Ritz Carlton Macau

We opted to dine at the French-inspired bistro on the ground level of the hotel simply called the Ritz Carlton Bar & Lounge where they were featuring a French-tasting menu in commemoration of Bastille Day (the French version of our June 12).

Sixty-five kilometers away via jetfoil or chopper and soon by a four-lane highway that is under construction is the favorite Pinoy destination Hong Kong.

The Ritz Carlton Hong Kong which was located in the central district of Hong Kong just a few years ago is now located in the toney Elements complex in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Kowloon. The Ritz Carlton Hong Kong is the highest hotel in the world at 1,588 feet. Registration is on the 103rd floor and rooms are located between the 109th and 116th floor. Our room on the 109th floor had a floor to ceiling view of Victoria Harbour. The view was enough to make us stay in the room the whole afternoon, marveling at the busy movement of sea craft down below.

The Ritz Carlton Hong Kong has two Michelin-rated restaurants on the 103rd floor — an Italian restaurant named Tosca with one Michelin star back-to-back with a Chinese restaurant named Tin Lung Heen specializing in Cantonese food with two Michelin stars. We booked Tosca for dinner and secured a corner table with a magnificent view of the twinkling lights around Victoria Harbour. The Tuscan cuisine they served was worthy of their Michelin rating. I recommend the pasta with shaved fresh summer black truffles. Come November, they will serve the much-coveted Alba white truffle. After our three-hour dinner, I ordered coffee and was astounded with the coffee choices. There was regular brewed coffee and a coffee selection of single origin from as far as Ethiopia and Costa Rica, just to name a couple.

Before heading to the airport the next day, we had lunch at the Tin Lung Heen Chinese Restaurant. Eileen, Joey’s caretaker and better half, did all the food orders. The selection of crunchy but juicy Peking duck, suckling pig, prawns and golden crab hit the spot. The golden crab in particular, which is smaller than our native mud crabs, is jam-packed with an unbelievable amount of distinctly flavored crab roe that will make you dream of coming back for more.

Our ride to the airport got me excited again because it was the first time I experienced riding an all-electric limo called Tesla. The Tesla interior was very high-tech and quiet. All I could hear was the wind as we traversed the expressway to the Chep Lak Kok airport at high speed. As I settled in my economy seat on the plane headed for Manila, I realized I was back to reality.