Where to stay?

Three of my friends are going to HK in the coming months and they all posed the same question to me, where/which is a good place/hotel to stay in HK ? It is a good question and an essential one at that too, but quite rarely it is answered in  satisfying way. Most travel books and guides on the net do not seem to anwer that question directly, opting instead to list down every single hotels from each star ratings on every area in HK where there are hotels or accommodations to be found.  Now this type of guide is really good and helpful, only if you are a residence in HK or have been there countless of time, but for first timer, for those who have never set foot on HK soil, to select a place to stay and the hotel to book based on this kind of information guide is quite a daunting if not horrifying task. Kowloon, Central, Wan Chai ? How would a first timer know what is there in those area and what to expect if one chose to stay there? Am i supposed to finish reading to whole travel book just so i get an idea which place suits me? Who have the time for that anyway? It then dawned upon me that for first timer, they need to have a brief insight of each of the potential area in HK so that they can choose a place knowing something about it without actually having been there.

There is not one definitive answer to the question above. The selection of which hotel to choose from and where to stay at all boils down to two basic factors: 1) budget and 2) preference/intention. Once you have established how much you are willing to spend on your hotel room, then identify your preference and/or intention, are you expecting to travel around easily? do you want to be close to all the good shopping scenes? do you just want to be next to Disneyland?  do you want to be close to the local scene instead of being in a tourist-ladden area? I will try to offer some gist to all the well-known area in HK worth to be staying at based on my perspective, though some professional travel guides (written by people who claim to have been domesticated in HK for many, many years) may suggest otherwise, but I digress. I write on my experience of being a traveler, not a local (that’s why the title of this blog is ‘A beginner’s guide to..’. Anyway, as for me, I’m what you’d call a loyalist, I find something that I like and convenient, and I’ll stick to it most of the time. I’m the kind of customer companies and major retailers are dreaming about. That is why for all my previous trips to HK I’ve been staying at the same hotel and will be staying there for my subsequent trips (though I would not advocate the same to others). In my opinion, since travelling to HK means going places (unless you’re a recluse who for some reason prefer to be holed-up in hotel rooms for the duration of the stay), there is only one most important factor to consider when choosing a hotel to book; no matter which one you choose in any area you prefer, just make damn sure that your hotel is just a hop away from the nearest MTR exit/entrance. HK have one of the best metro system in the world and their metro (called the MTR), is the heart and vein of their public transport system. With the exception of the southern part of the Hong Kong Island, there is technically no place in HK worth visiting that you cannot reach vide the MTR. Hell, you can even go to Shenzen (the nearest Chinese city bordering up north) for a day’s excursion by taking the MTR. Check out the location of your intended hotel on a map, if you have to walk more than a block to the nearest MTR exit/entrance, then find yourself another hotel (that is unless, you have a walking fetish and you really, really like to walk). The next factor you may want to consider, though not really crucial, is how convenient your hotel is to reach from the airport. Since you’d be lugging your luggage around, logistics will be a factor. If you’re taking the Airport Express MTR, then the first consideration I stressed above will alleviate your problem. If you are taking the Airport Hotelink, check out their website to ensure your hotel is under their list of hotels being served. If you’re taking the Citybus (in my case, the Citybus No. 21 have a stop directly in front of my hotel entrance), whether your hotel is next to its service route. Check out my earlier piece about disembarking from the airport here.

Next shall be the area in which to choose your hotel from. As per all my blog entrance before, each area or district as it is to be called, is unique in its nature. As explain before (but to save you from clicking and doing more reading), HK is actually a combination of a peninsula (Kowloon+New Territories), 3 major islands (Lantau, Hong Kong & Lamma) and hundreds of small inhabitable island. The island of Lantau is where the airport and Disneyland is located, Hong Kong Island is where most movies will depict and the Kowloon peninsula and to the north of it which is the New Territories is where the mainland of HK is (picture Penang island and Seberang Perai). Unless you’re seeking some adventure, or have been travelling to HK quite a few times and would like to have something different, the main location to find your accommodation shall be either Kowloon peninsula, Hong Kong Island, or Lantau Island (though I wouldn’t suggest so since staying in this island means you will have a long travel time and more expensive fee to fork out for transportation when going about to-and-fro between your hotel and major tourist attractions in HK. Check-out Google map to see the geography of HK and you’ll get a better feel of what HK looks like.

Kowloon peninsula is separated into different district, and you can determine them by the name of the MTR stations. You have Tsim Sha Tsui (abbreviated to and famously referred as ‘TST’) on the south bordering the harbor between the peninsula and Hong Kong Island, then Yau Ma Tei, Jordan, and Mongkok. After Mongkok you’ll be entering the New Territories. There is a major road that runs from TST upward until Mongkok and end at the border to the New Territories, namely Nathan Road. This road is the main artery of Kowloon Peninsula and all the other smaller roads and streets will branch out of this road. Hotels are aplenty located along Nathan Road and this is the main tourist area, to the point that locals dubbed it the “tourist ghetto” of HK. The hotels in Kowloon are generally less expensive than that in Hong Kong Island, with the exception of TST where the prices are quite steep. My preference is Mongkok, and I have a deep love with Mongkok. Though the local ‘actions’ are more vibrant here in Kowloon Peninsula than that of the Hong Kong Island, it is in Mongkok where you get the feel of what being a Hongkies is all about. To elaborate, check out my ramblings about Mongkok here.  Street markets, traditional shops, trendy retailers, side-street stalls, shopping malls, most densely packed area in the world, are all in Mongkok. Though other district south of Mongkok (etc. Jordan, Yau Ma Tei) will have the same feel, you can’t beat Mongkok of being, truly local. If you are an explorer, if you have a knack for indulging yourself with local culture, Kowloon Peninsula and Mongkok in particular is the place to stay. You can get all sorts of inns, guestrooms, motels and hotels in the surrounding area, and prices are affordable. However, hotels at TST are in stark contrast. Here, perhaps the fact that the location is facing the harbor and the Hong Kong Island which offers a magnificent view, only the upscale and 5 stars lined up the area. The best of them all is “The Peninsular”, which boasts a huge fleet of Rolls Royce as the hotel limo-service.

Another district worth mentioning is Kwun Tong, which lies to the east of Kowloon, near the eastern harbour tunnel crossing. In fact, Kwun Tong is the place I stayed the first time I set foot in HK (business trip). The atmosphere in Kwun Tong is similar to Kowloon, except less hectic, and not being the centre of tourist attraction means that hotels here are cheaper but unfortunately not being the centre of tourist attraction also means there’s not much action here. It does offer an alternative for places to explore if you are coming on a second or subsequent trip.

In Hong Kong island, as with the Kowloon peninsula, there are several district stretching from the west to the east, but the option for finding accommodation lies in three most famous of them all, Central/Admiralty, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay. All these districts are neighbor to each other, and easily travelled to thanks to the MTR. Central and Admiralty are connected to each other (figuratively, not literally), some say that Admiralty is an extension of Central. Central is where the money rolls, it is the business and administration district, filled with towering skyscrapers and government buildings. The only reason one would stay in hotels in Central is because they have a meeting at one of the banks surrounding the area. The district is dominated by yuppies, bankers, stockbrokers, realtors, and all those people we would point our fingers at to blame when the economy goes belly-up. The hotels here are those posh and upscale 5 star types, the kind that if you arrived in HK by an AirAsia flight then you certainly can’t afford it.   Causeway Bay on the other hand, is a shopping haven. Shopping malls upon shopping malls and retail outlets lined-up the streets around this district. This is where girlfriends burn a hole in their boyfriend’s wallet, and wife pisses their husband’s asses off. This is a place to see and be seen. Be wary though, Causeway Bay is the second highest in the world after Manhattan in New York City in terms of rent, so expect the hotels here to be the exact same as those in Central. But as opposed to Central, there are some lower ranges and below 4 stars hotels that can be found here but the room rate is still considered expensive. Think of our own Bukit Bintang area (only 50 times better) and you get a rough idea what Causeway Bay is if you want to find accommodation here.

If you really have to stay in Hong Kong Island, but feeling appaled at the room rates offered by hotels in Central and Causeway Bay, then Wan Chai is your best bet. The hotels here are slightly cheaper (emphasis on “slightly”). The district of Wan Chai is nestled in the middle between Central/Admiralty and Causeway Bay. You can find all ranges of accommodation from inns to guesthouse to medium range hotels to high end. Wan Chai is second to Causeway Bay in terms of shopping scene, but here the market caters more to local shopper. It may not be as hip and trendy as Causeway Bay, but it offers something else unique in itself. More traditional shops can be found on the southern edge of Wan Chai, and a lot of ‘jewels’ and trinket items can be found around the shops here. Staying in Wan Chai is the cheapest alternative you have but still be at the centre of the ‘action’ in Hong Kong Island.

Lantau Island, located on the west of Hong Kong Island, is the biggest of all the islands found in HK. The airport is here, and so is the Disneyland Resort. The island is mostly mountainous in terrain, scarcely inhabited and only a few satellite cities are erected along the coastal line where most of the inhabitants are expat. At the time of writing there are 3 known hotels in the island, the Skycity Marriot and Novotel both in the city of Tung Chung, and the Disneyland Hotel at Disneyland Resort. I’m guessing those attending business meet at the AsiaWorld Expo next to the airport would probably be staying in those hotels, otherwise most common tourists wouldn’t bat an eye of thinking of staying in Lantau island.

Regardless of where you choose the area of your stay, so long as you are close to the MTR station, it wouldn’t really make much difference. You can get around from one district to another with relative ease. Once you’ve made your decision, your best tool to finally book your room is through the many travel websites that can be found on the net. Sites like asiaroom.com, tripadvisor.com, agoda.com offer you convenient hotel booking at a mouse-click. Just enter the area of which you decide to stay (ie. Mongkok, Hong Kong), key in your date of arrival and voila, a whole host of hotels available will be listed for you to scrutinized before finaly burning a hole on your credit card. Just ensure your hotel is a few steps away from the MTR and you’ll be good to go. Oh, and by the way, space is at its premium here in HK, so unless you are staying at JW Marriot or the Hilton, don’t expect your hotel room to be spacious in nature even though you have forked out a good RM600-RM700 per room per nite. Have a good stay!