Where to stay in Hong Kong?
January 4, 2010 4:52 AM Subscribe
Where should I stay in Hong Kong? Help me pick a hotel!
Just me & the wife, $100-200 US/night, near shopping, etc.
The online tourist websites all seem to say the same things about most hotels. I'm hoping someone on AskMe has had some personal experience at one of these hotels. Please hope me hivemind.
Just me & the wife, $100-200 US/night, near shopping, etc.
The online tourist websites all seem to say the same things about most hotels. I'm hoping someone on AskMe has had some personal experience at one of these hotels. Please hope me hivemind.
Best answer: I stayed in the Wan Chai district recently for 2 nights, the Hotel was rather crap though. Empire Hotel (I think) it was also a bit weird around there too as it seems to be where all the western bars + strip clubs are.
I think if i was going again I might look for somewhere around Mong Kok or closer to Causeway bay.
posted by mary8nne at 6:33 AM on January 4, 2010
I think if i was going again I might look for somewhere around Mong Kok or closer to Causeway bay.
posted by mary8nne at 6:33 AM on January 4, 2010
but then it really doesn't seem to matter that much where you stay as the Subway System is quite cheap and easy to use and you can walk most of the city anyway. (except the water of course).
posted by mary8nne at 6:36 AM on January 4, 2010
posted by mary8nne at 6:36 AM on January 4, 2010
If you don't mind a tiny tiny room and an even tinier bathroom but with a nice view of the Bay for uber-cheap (I paid USD 60/night), there's Ibis North Point. Advantages: cheap, right beside MTR. Disadvantages: tiny, not always perfectly clean, walls a bit porous to sound. My review.
posted by brownpau at 6:54 AM on January 4, 2010
posted by brownpau at 6:54 AM on January 4, 2010
I recently stayed at the anne black YWCA in Kowloon ... which was near-ish to the kowloon markets and cheapish ... but with spacious self-contained simple rooms. It wasn't the HK Novotel (where I also stayed ... which was VERY NICE) ... but it was simple and inexpensive.
posted by jannw at 7:20 AM on January 4, 2010
posted by jannw at 7:20 AM on January 4, 2010
I stayed in the Harbourview Hotel which was fine: decent room with a view over the Harbour, good access to public transport, quiet in the rooms themselves, good internet access.
posted by Jabberwocky at 7:54 AM on January 4, 2010
posted by Jabberwocky at 7:54 AM on January 4, 2010
Langham Hotel in the Monkok area of Kowloon is gorgeous and in the heart of an amazing shopping district, including the Lady's Market - a huge open air clothing market. Rate comes in just under $200 u.s.
posted by pavi at 11:45 AM on January 4, 2010
posted by pavi at 11:45 AM on January 4, 2010
Response by poster: Some good recommendations.
Just to clarify--we're looking for a nice place, comfort, cleanliness, privacy, etc., not to cut corners. I know our budget doesn't really leave room for luxury, but we're not looking for guesthouse experiences (on this trip--we've done a bunch of that on other trips).
posted by Joseph Gurl at 8:53 PM on January 4, 2010
Just to clarify--we're looking for a nice place, comfort, cleanliness, privacy, etc., not to cut corners. I know our budget doesn't really leave room for luxury, but we're not looking for guesthouse experiences (on this trip--we've done a bunch of that on other trips).
posted by Joseph Gurl at 8:53 PM on January 4, 2010
Best answer: a slightly left-of-field suggestion ...
You might be interested in taking the ferry to Macau and spending a night there. The Venetian hotel had a good "hotel and cirque de soleil" package ... well worth the trip (and additional expense)
posted by jannw at 10:20 AM on January 6, 2010
You might be interested in taking the ferry to Macau and spending a night there. The Venetian hotel had a good "hotel and cirque de soleil" package ... well worth the trip (and additional expense)
posted by jannw at 10:20 AM on January 6, 2010
The Mongkok Langham's pretty nice. I stayed there for a few days last year. Everything seemed fairly new or remodeled, with lots of glass and reflective surfaces to give the illusion of more space. The rooms are on the small side but I was told that basically everything in HK is a little smaller and more crowded than in America so I didn't really mind. Their concept of a twin-sized bed seemed a foot narrower than a twin-size over here. No idea what the larger beds are like but I imagine they'd also run smaller than American sizes.
More annoying to me was the lack of free wireless, but you can access the internet on some public terminals on the 5th floor (next to the lounge area), which is where I checked my email and looked up addresses/hours for places I was visiting. (Paid in-room internet was something like $15 USD extra per day, not really worth it if you plan on being out of your room most of the time.)
The cleanliness was great. There were a couple of days (perhaps the weekend?) when I noticed the room was cleaned twice and whatever clothes I had left lying about were neatly folded on top of my bed. I also thought the hotel was quieter than other hotels I've visited, even though I could still hear people talking in the hallway sometimes, it wasn't very loud. Fellow guests seemed quite courteous to one another and the hotel staff were pleasant enough. If you're into tours, the hotel does offer various guided packages, but then you have to follow their schedule. I preferred just striking out on my own with some info from google and previous Ask questions.
Can't speak to the food since I never ate in the hotel but the mall next door has some tasty and affordable places. Most of them are on the 4th floor of the giant mall next door (which connects to the hotel lobby with a covered walkway bridge). My favorite was a Shanghainese one near the end of the food court - it had great xiao long bao that made wish it was dumplings o'clock all the time. For breakfast I either had dim sum in a restaurant on the 3rd floor or a panini/breakfast combo from the 4th floor Delifrance. There's also a grocery store on the lowest level of the mall and various other delights elsewhere (ex: da dolce makes some good gelato).
Accessibility was fantastic. In addition to being next to a giant 12-story mall in a district renowned for its shopping, the hotel's just a few escalators away from an entrance to the MTR Mongkok station (on the basement floor of the mall). I got to Langham quite easily from the HK Int'l Airport, making two transfers at Tsing Yi (on the orange line) and Lai King (on the red line) before exiting at Mongkok. Pretty convenient. The MTR does get crowded but it's quite speedy and I would stick with the MTR instead of taking a taxi or bus to get to places in HK. And even if you don't end up staying in the Langham, as long as you get a hotel near one of the MTR stations, you should be fine.
posted by cobwebberies at 7:41 PM on January 7, 2010
More annoying to me was the lack of free wireless, but you can access the internet on some public terminals on the 5th floor (next to the lounge area), which is where I checked my email and looked up addresses/hours for places I was visiting. (Paid in-room internet was something like $15 USD extra per day, not really worth it if you plan on being out of your room most of the time.)
The cleanliness was great. There were a couple of days (perhaps the weekend?) when I noticed the room was cleaned twice and whatever clothes I had left lying about were neatly folded on top of my bed. I also thought the hotel was quieter than other hotels I've visited, even though I could still hear people talking in the hallway sometimes, it wasn't very loud. Fellow guests seemed quite courteous to one another and the hotel staff were pleasant enough. If you're into tours, the hotel does offer various guided packages, but then you have to follow their schedule. I preferred just striking out on my own with some info from google and previous Ask questions.
Can't speak to the food since I never ate in the hotel but the mall next door has some tasty and affordable places. Most of them are on the 4th floor of the giant mall next door (which connects to the hotel lobby with a covered walkway bridge). My favorite was a Shanghainese one near the end of the food court - it had great xiao long bao that made wish it was dumplings o'clock all the time. For breakfast I either had dim sum in a restaurant on the 3rd floor or a panini/breakfast combo from the 4th floor Delifrance. There's also a grocery store on the lowest level of the mall and various other delights elsewhere (ex: da dolce makes some good gelato).
Accessibility was fantastic. In addition to being next to a giant 12-story mall in a district renowned for its shopping, the hotel's just a few escalators away from an entrance to the MTR Mongkok station (on the basement floor of the mall). I got to Langham quite easily from the HK Int'l Airport, making two transfers at Tsing Yi (on the orange line) and Lai King (on the red line) before exiting at Mongkok. Pretty convenient. The MTR does get crowded but it's quite speedy and I would stick with the MTR instead of taking a taxi or bus to get to places in HK. And even if you don't end up staying in the Langham, as long as you get a hotel near one of the MTR stations, you should be fine.
posted by cobwebberies at 7:41 PM on January 7, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for the help, folks--ended up at the brand spanking new Crowne Plaza in Causeway Bay and the Sofitel at Ponte 16 in Macau. Both were awesome, but the latter bumped us up to a room in the executive floor for the motherfucking Macanese win.
Great trip.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 8:00 AM on February 5, 2010
Great trip.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 8:00 AM on February 5, 2010
Response by poster: Oh, and for future reference: Macau is really cool (and we aren't even gamblers).
posted by Joseph Gurl at 8:03 AM on February 5, 2010
posted by Joseph Gurl at 8:03 AM on February 5, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Walking around on the island involved much less hassle.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:11 AM on January 4, 2010