Mérida does not announce itself. A first walk through the centre often leaves visitors slightly puzzled. The streets are low-rise. The colours, while rich, are not theatrical. There is no cathedral square that resolves the city's identity in one image. For travellers arriving with the expectation of an obvious tourist set-piece, Mérida's first hour can register as quiet to the point of underwhelming.

Most international trips to Mexico land at a coast and stay there. The country's reputation rests overwhelmingly on its beaches — the Riviera Maya, the Pacific resorts, the bay sequence of Tulum, Cancún, and Playa del Carmen. None of these are wrong reasons to visit. But they account for a fraction of what the country is, and for travellers willing to look slightly inland, the most rewarding Mexico tends to live in its cities.

Certain hotels feel inseparable from their city. Shangri-La Kowloon belongs firmly to this category — a property defined as much by its vantage point over Victoria Harbour as by its longstanding identity as one of Hong Kong’s classic luxury hotels.