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Connected Traveler|Highest Tech Hotel Rises from Hong Kong's Funkiest Burb Episode
High Tech Hotel of the FutureThe Langham Place in Hong Kong's Mongkok by Pat Meier-Johnson & Russ JohnsonAUDIO STORY MP3The pet emporium owner grinned as the chinchilla ran down my arm to his cage, spun around, lifted one paw, then the other, stroked its long whiskers and posed on his haunches like some cuddly Pokemon toy. My mind filled with Pied Piper thoughts, my husband, Russ, gently pried me away from the little critter and we wandered down the street to the electronics district where excruciatingly cute girls dressed in tiny colorful outfits hawked the latest in smart mobile phones to testosterone charged guys eager to out-geek each other.
This is Mongkok, literally "bustling corner." Mongkok is the gritty, hyper-commercial district of Kowloon across from the sophisticated skyscrapers of Hong Kong. Once one of the most densely populated areas on earth with evidence of villages 1000 years ago, Mongkok is a domino assembly of traditional family-run businesses in dilapidated buildings. Street after street of flower, bird and ladies garments markets, and wall to wall people blend into a screeching Chinese opera of sounds, fragrances, color and commerce.
But what is this? In the midst of the mayhem, looming before us, as if it had just landed from space, rises an aerodynamic, glass and steel complex. The Langham Place Hotel is a harbinger of high-tech hospitality of the future not only to this gnarly Hong Kong burb, but to hotels in general. MORE
[ Fri, 10 Mar 2006 02:04:00 GMT ]
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