The Top 5 Luxury Malls in Hong Kong
Comparatively small Hong Kong ranks in the top 10 cities in the world with the most millionaires. Where do these wealthy people go to shop? Four of these malls are on Hong Kong Island, and one is in Kowloon...
HK — Top of the World for Luxury Shopping
Wealthy Hong Kong shoppers prefer to personally shop for luxury products in the malls instead of shopping online, and, until recently, there was a surge of Mainland Chinese luxury shoppers. Both groups of people spent so much that Hong Kong luxury stores were top in the world until the recent downtrend in 2014. But Hong Kong still remains among the top in the world as of 2015.
1. Landmark
Mainly wealthy people browse the stores in the Landmark where the shops are the most luxurious and the price tags are about the highest in the city. It is out of the range for most regular people even wanting to window shop there.
The mall is in the lower floors of the 5-star luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel. There is a cavernous atrium with luxury stores, and sometimes the space contains extravagant holiday decorations. The company that owns the mall owns four other adjacent malls that are interconnected.
Products: luxury fashion, jewellery, watches
Major stores: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Valentino, Chanel, Celine, Mark Jacobs, PRADA, Harvey Nichols, and about 120 other clothing stores. BVLGARI, Cartier, and about 30 other jewellery and watch stores.
Dining: Several Michelin-starred restaurants in 2016.
Transport: MTR Central Station
2. IFC Mall
The IFC Mall in the IFC Towers is the best luxury mall in China for tourists wanting to enjoy luxury shopping while enjoying fine views, fine dining, and convenient location. Unlike the Landmark Mall, it is a favorite of window shoppers and tourists.
The waterfront view is among the best in Hong Kong. It overlooks Victoria Harbor, and its rooftop cafes and bars are notable. It is a place to watch the daily Symphony of Lights.
Convenient transport: It is a busy pedestrian thoroughfare for people passing between the Central ferries, the MTR subways below, and the rest of the area. People enjoy shopping on the way to the airport via the convenient, direct Airport Express subway below it.
A Variety of Shops and Restaurants
Though the stores are mostly high end, the prices are more moderate than the Landmark, and the presence of inexpensive places to eat such as McDonalds and Starbucks makes it a favorite place to congregate.
The ritzy shops, a 3-star Michelin restaurant, and the big Four Seasons hotel puts it definitely at the top of the luxury class.
Products: luxury fashion, jewellery, electronics
Major stores: Apple, Rolex, Bose, Versac and about 200 other boutiques and stores.
Special Features: good scenery, world's best transport (four MTR Lines meet underneath), world's top restaurants
Dining: Several Michelin-starred restaurants in 2016 including Hong Kong's best 3-star Cantonese, one of the best French restaurants, and a popular and moderately priced dim sum restaurant called Lei Gardens.
Transport: MTR Central Station, Hong Kong Station, and Airport Express with airport baggage check in. Hong Kong's subways are the best in the world.
3. Pacific Place
Pacific Place in Admiralty is huge! It has a mixture of many luxurious stores and some moderate-priced stores, and a wider selection than the first two. Some like to walk the endless corridors for window shopping perhaps on their way through the Admiralty MTR station below or on their way to Hong Kong Park adjacent. But it has an impersonal, overwhelming feel to it.
A large Harvey Nichols store is a main attraction as is an international gourmet supermarket called Great Food Hall. There isn't as high class a selection of gourmet restaurants as in the preceding two. The presence of the Watson's that sells cheap toiletries and similar products helps to make it a place where people can buy a plethora of everything from groceries to articles for dally use to very high priced luxurious items.
Products: luxury fashion, jewellery, watches, electronics, musical instruments, luxury furnishings, footwear, sporting goods
Major stores: Celine, Harvey Nichols, Zara, Prada, and many others for fashion. IWC, BVLGARI, Roger Dubis, and Cartier for watches and jewelry. Lane Crawford Home for furnishings.
Special Features: atop metro station and adjacent to Hong Kong Park
Dining: There are popular moderately priced restaurants.
Transport: Admiralty Station.
4. Lee Gardens
This mall is located in the very expensive Causeway Bay area near Russell Street which until recently was the most expensive luxury shopping street in the world. It is a sister mall of the Landmark and owned by the same company. Like the Landmark, mainly wealthy people enter the luxury stores in the Lee Gardens. It attracts customers from one of Hong Kong's highest priced residential areas nearby.
This mall is a complex of several buildings in a plaza. Compared to the others, it has more Asian oriented fashion and products and features Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese brands and stores as well as locally owned stores. The highest priced shops are mixed in with non luxury stores such as Hong Kong's biggest Chinese book store.
Products: luxury fashion, jewellery, watches, children's products
Major stores: Louis Vuitton, Chanel, BVLGARI, Hermes, Burberry Children, and about 200 others
Dining: One 1 star French restaurant (2016) and many others.
Transport: Causeway Bay MTR (Island Line) Station, Exit F2
5. ICC Elements Mall
The Ritz-Carlton Hong KongICC Tower and Elements Mall
Rounding out this list of the top five luxury malls is this large new one in a strategic location. It is in Hong Kong's tallest building called the ICC Tower that is in Hong Kong's budding new finance and business center. It isn't fully developed yet, but its location and the Ritz Carlton above makes it one of Hong Kong's most luxurious.
The construction around it discourages pedestrian traffic. Customers seem sparser than the busier malls. When the construction projects are completed, it should go up in rank in popularity and ritziness. By the end of the decade, a bullet train line from Guangzhou may connect with the MTR stations below and greatly increase visitors.
Popular Shopping
Visitors usually enjoy it for its central location, open feel, blend of shops, variety of restaurants, and entertainment areas. It was built by the same company that built the IFC Mall and towers and has the same comfortable feel.
Products: designer luxury fashion, jewellery, watches, and electronics
Major stores: Jimmy Choo, Rolex, REISS, Mulberry, Miu Miu and about 120 others.
Special features: Hong Kong's best high tech movie theater, central transport hub, Sky100 observatory
Dining: Two Michelin starred restaurants for Cantonese and Italian (2016), plus many other gourmet and moderately priced restaurants of many varieties.
Transport: MTR Kowloon Station, Airport Express line with baggage check in