Some nine hours later, firefighters had put out the blaze with no lives lost, despite the inferno being rated a No 4 alarm on a one-to-five scale. The insurance payout, up to a staggering HK$500 million to the building’s developer, Empire Group, was potentially the largest in the city’s history.
It was by all measures a memorable introduction to the Kimpton brand, an American hotel chain under the InterContinental Hotels Group that, despite operating regional locations in Shanghai, Suzhou, Taipei and Tokyo, had limited brand awareness in Hong Kong.
“The fire is the first thing anyone asks me about,” says a slightly exasperated Leo Verceles-Zara, the Kimpton Tsim Sha Tsui’s director of marketing and communications, as he leads me on a tour of the shiny new premises. “But there’s a Chinese saying: wherever a fire burns, fortune comes.”
Walking into the building, tucked into a quiet corner of Middle Road, just off Nathan Road, certainly drives home this impression. Guests are spirited away from a gleaming lobby to the reception on the 15th floor, where a panoramic view of Victoria Harbour welcomes weary travellers.
