Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong vs Four Seasons Hotel Firenze

The case for the Four Seasons Hong Kong is simple: it's the easiest 5-star base on the island, and the staff back it up in ways that don't show up on a rate sheet. One guest's partner had a small hole in her dress fixed during a routine pressing, no request needed. Another wanted a mango at breakfast, mentioned it once, and it appeared minutes later. A porter walked bags all the way to the Airport Express platform. That's the same shape of story from 2019 through this summer, told by different travellers who have nothing to do with each other.

The building is the honest trade-off. Several recent stays, including one detailed enough to score infrastructure separately, note the spa and gym feel dated next to newer Four Seasons openings, and the harbour view depends entirely on which floor and side you land: one January 2026 guest got a construction site instead of Victoria Harbour. None of that touches the three Michelin-starred restaurants on property. Lung King Heen and Caprice both pull the same travellers back on repeat visits, and the pool draws the kind of praise regulars save for the best in the city.

The one comparison worth knowing: people who've also done the Rosewood across the harbour tend to rate that hotel's rooms and design higher, while putting the Four Seasons ahead on service and calling it the better call if you actually want to be based on Hong Kong Island. That's a real trade, not a knock against either. Book this one for the location and the staff who remember you between stays, not for a freshly renovated building. On those two, nothing else in Central comes close.

The garden is what you're paying for as much as the room. Eleven acres, the largest private grounds in central Florence, and you walk through the gate and the city noise just stops, even though the Duomo is a walk away, not a drive. That's the reason people keep coming back even though the hotel sits slightly outside the main tourist core. The garden and the Michelin-starred cooking at Il Palagio are the two reasons to book this over anywhere else in the city. Staff show up by name and by specific act: a server named Francesco pushed the signature Negroni and made the table's night; a spa technician named Letizia got singled out for a nail appointment that ran long in the best way.

The real thing to know about is check-in. One recent report describes a honeymooning couple told, as they were shown to their room, what they would have had if only they'd taken the paid suite upgrade they had already declined — that's a training problem, not bad luck, and worth shutting down politely if it starts. Base-category rooms draw a separate, fair complaint too: dark, small, and a real step down from the palazzo suites; one guest was pushed toward one and only got moved after complaining twice. Summer brings enough toddlers to the pool that a couple of travellers found it more nursery than adult retreat, and the poolside burger gets called flavorless more than once.

None of that changes the case. Book above the base room if you can stretch to it, push back once if the upsell starts, and go outside peak family season if the pool matters to you. Book it for the garden and the kitchen at Il Palagio.