Just Plane Wonderful

By Sandra Scott

The flight from the United States is long—very long—16 hours long not counting any inner US connecting flights. And, to add insult to injury getting from the airport into a city including immigration and customs can add another two to three hours. Consequently, John and I have become big fans of airport hotels. Recently we flew 16 hours from Newark to Hong Kong, arriving at eight in the evening and checked into the Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott at the airport.

When John and I walked into the room we knew we had made the right decision. Waiting for us were chocolate treats that included a chocolate airplane. We nibbled on our chocolate, showered and went to bed. When morning came we felt bright-eyed and bushy tailed…no jet lag. I love the airport hotels in Asia. They are more like destination hotels. The Marriott is located on Lantau Island where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. It is the same island that is home to Disneyland, and there is a golf course right next to the hotel along with a convention center. Lantau Island offers a different experience from Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, which are quite congested, whereas Lantau, Hong Kong’s largest island, is treed with hiking trails. Originally the site of fishing villages, Lantau is often referred to as "the lungs of Hong Kong," because of its abundance of indigenous forest and relative scarcity of high-rise residential developments. Besides Disneyland the island is also home to Po Lin Monastery, the world’s largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha, a scenic cable car, and Tai O fishing village, where life has changed little over the years.

While at the Marriott it was a pleasure to meet the man who created the chocolate airplane, Pastry Chef Dick Chan. We discovered that he creates other chocolate delights for the Marriott. They have a Marriott chocolate airplane gift box that includes the airplane plus a chocolate praline, raspberry chocolate, and a chocolate truffle. On Chef Dick’s advice we headed to the Sky City Bistro where they offer a wonderful daily buffet with an international mix of Asian, Indian, and Western but it was the last station that caught our attention with the chocolate fountain, chocolate pecan brownies, chocolate mud pie, and homemade white chocolate with blueberries. Life is good at the SkyCity Marriott.

A chocolate fix and a good night’s sleep are not always enough to cure jetlag one hundred percent but the Marriott has just the thing to make one feel renewed. Their Quan Spa offers a variety of treatments designed to alleviate any lingering jetlag feelings. Their Chocolate Body Spa treatment includes the luxury of having chocolate poured over the whole body. The chocolate, vitamin-rich and high in antioxidants, helps prevent aging while the cocoa butter in the chocolate helps restore the moisture lost during the flight. The treatment starts with a chocolate foot bath followed by a full-body chocolate scrub, and a 60-minute chocolate body massage. After our stay at the Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott, John and I were ready to tackle the rest of Hong Kong and the rest of Asia.

Visit www.skycitymarriott.com.

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