Side by side Mandarin Oriental The Landmark, Hong Kong vs Cap Rocat

This is the newer of the two Central Mandarin Orientals, a few buildings from the original, and the case for it comes down to the address: a covered walkway straight into Landmark mall, Man Wah rated by more than one traveler as some of the best Chinese food in the city, and doormen who remember your face by the second night. One guest recovering from a knee injury got upgraded to a room with a proper soaking tub and help onto the wheelchair lift without being asked twice. Another had a birthday and left with an upgrade and a warm word from the same doorman on every return to the lobby.

The catch is that this is a hotel still finishing its renovation, and it shows. Rooms have come back spacious and comfortable for most people, but at least one stay flagged a bathroom with no outlet by the vanity and finishes that already looked tired. The bigger issue is the spa and gym were not running at all during recent stays, with guests sent to another hotel's facilities and not warned about it before they booked a staycation built around exactly that. Breakfast is mixed too: several people loved it, one found the à la carte spread thin and the order wrong twice.

Book it for Central, for Man Wah, and for staff who clearly take pride in the small stuff. Skip the staycation angle until wellness is actually back, and confirm what's open before you pay for it.

Cap Rocat is a 16th-century fortress turned into just thirty rooms on its own stretch of coast near Palma, and when it works, it is one of those places people say they'll remember for a lifetime. The Sentinel suites built into the cliff are the ones to chase: guests who've stayed in genuinely special rooms elsewhere still call them unlike anything else they've slept in. Breakfast delivered to a private terrace over the Mediterranean, a roof terrace with sunbeds, and a spa pool that several people rate among the best they've used all point the same way: book the right room here and the place earns its reputation.

The catch is that the version you get depends heavily on which room and which night. Several guests paying close to two thousand euros for a suite without a sea window describe a damp, dim space with a plastic bath, nothing like the photos. A string of reports describe raw seafood and oily cooking at Sea Club, one guest was told she couldn't swap a dish because the chef was friends with the next table, and more than one traveller says they were held at the gate or refused a drink at the bar outside their exact reservation window. None of that is universal. Most guests who stay in the better rooms report attentive, specific service, like a concierge arranging an off-itinerary winery stop, but the gap between a good stay and a bad one here is wider than it should be at this rate.

Book it for the Sentinel rooms, the setting, and the privacy of only thirty keys, and go in knowing the standard rooms and the gate policy are where it occasionally slips.