Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Social Life, Food & Drink, Travel › Please Explain Hong Kong
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Please Explain Hong Kong

post #1 of 35
9/11/11 at 2:07am
Thread Starter 
I have the opportunity to go to Hong Kong for a few days over New Year. I am finding it mind boggling difficult to choose a Hotel as I cannot figure out where to stay. From what I understand there is the Hong Kong Island and there is Kwonloon. I want to be able to stay somewhere where I can easily get around and to City Centre at any time of day or night. Ideally cool neighbourhood with access to bars, food, nightlife, and shopping.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 35
9/11/11 at 6:55am
Kowloon can be difficult to get to late at night via public transit but you can still take a cab. They may be expensive. HKI is probably what you want it sounds like
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 35
9/11/11 at 7:24am
Probably the shopping and nightlife you want will be in Central. Hotels in Central are usually very expensive. But cabs and subway (before midnight) in HK are reliable and extremely cheap. So staying in the neighborhoods on the island a few minutes away from Central shouldn't be a big stumbling block.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 35
9/11/11 at 10:18pm
Causeway Bay or Central. I almost always stay at the Excelsior in Causeway Bay. Causeway Bay is ideally located as the midpoint on the blue subway line, lively (shopping area), and will have an abundance of taxis without being too over the top. You can get almost anywhere from there. Central is great as you will have Lan Kwai Fong (great bar/club area where locals and visitors alike party), be situated on 4 subway lines, and be even livelier. Most hotels will have great views, but I will particularly recommend at least visiting ToTT's at Excelsior one night (though they do require slacks and sleeves).

Don't stay in Kowloon. It is cheaper, but it is much more of a hassle if you plan to have fun on the island.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 35
9/12/11 at 12:23am
Strange. I've lived in Hong Kong for a lot of my life and I would actually recommend staying Kowloon side. Bunch of hotels in Tsim Sha Tsui. There's a big orgy of malls and stores in Tsim Sha Tsui with pretty much every store you can think of. You're also close to Mong Kok which is fun for a tourist. Lots of cheap goodies to be found there and lots of great food places. TST has a KCR and MTR station and is like two stations from Central where Lan Kwai Fong is, and Causeway Bay is just another station away.

Then late at night if you're piss drunk and it's like 3am, taking a taxi from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui should probably cost like $12-13 and it is a really quick and painless drive with not much traffic.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 35
9/12/11 at 12:39am
I'd go for central or admiralty area too if you have the means, and causeway bay if you're on a budget. causeway is just 2 to 3 trains stops from central and has far more inexpensive options like holiday inn express and those travellers' lodges. I've avoided the excelsior the past couple of years because it somehow feels so old and tired, and whenever I stay in the area more than likely I'd be staying at the park lane. I used to stay in tsim sha tsui a lot but its more of a place for older american/european tourists and is chock full of those indian tailors and hard selling electronics stores. also, there were several complaints of bed bugs in marco polo gateway (the cheapest marco polo hotel there).
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 35
9/12/11 at 6:23am
I was gonna say - I don't remember taxis being expensive at all in Hong Kong, $12-13 like lemmywinks said is on par with what I remember for taxi rides of that distance. I used to ride taxis from Central down to the other side of the island, just so I could get a decent tour, and I never thought it was that expensive.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 35
9/12/11 at 2:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by acidboy View Post

I'd go for central or admiralty area too if you have the means, and causeway bay if you're on a budget. causeway is just 2 to 3 trains stops from central and has far more inexpensive options like holiday inn express and those travellers' lodges. I've avoided the excelsior the past couple of years because it somehow feels so old and tired, and whenever I stay in the area more than likely I'd be staying at the park lane. I used to stay in tsim sha tsui a lot but its more of a place for older american/european tourists and is chock full of those indian tailors and hard selling electronics stores. also, there were several complaints of bed bugs in marco polo gateway (the cheapest marco polo hotel there).

I should clarify my earlier statement. Excelsior definitely isn't on the level of Park Lane and other hotels. I do believe they've actually lost a star from the "golden days" but the pricing reflects that. Still, the vast majority of rooms had been renovated last time I visited and it's a happy medium for me in terms of location and pricing.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 35
9/13/11 at 8:20am
I like central, if you can, get a view of the bay.

honestly, I find that it ins't that easy to walk around hong kong - the sidewalks aren't as good as they used to be, there are a lot of walkways that are a story or two above ground. the public transportation system and taxis are fantastic. getting a hotel that is on a metro station is a good way to go. I stay at the conrad, which in on a mall called pacific place, I think, and has a metro station. there are 3 or 4 other hotels attached to the same mall, so all have access to the metro station. I've stayed in kowloon, and that isn't bad, either, but I prefer the island.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 35
9/16/11 at 8:41pm
I prefer staying in Central compared to Kowloon. Kowloon is overly crowded most of the time.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 35
9/18/11 at 7:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by oshinex View Post

Kowloon is overly crowded most of the time.

Thats part of the fun!
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 35
9/18/11 at 8:50pm
Here you go, stay at the Y. It's better than the W. And it's next door to Hong Kong's legendary Peninsula Hotel, a shell of its former self once the Daimlers were replaced by Rolls Royces - airport pickup has never been as grand.

If you meet the requirement for free membership (or can fake it) stay at the HK Mariners' Club.

For the genuine HK experience stay at the Chungking Mansions. They've fixed it up quite a bit since I've stayed there, so obviously it isn't as great as it once was. Try to stay at Guangdong Guest House in the Mansions.

All of these places are in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, which is epicenter of it all and a short ferry ride from Central. And Tsim Sha Tsui has the better view.

Of course you could take the road ferry less traveled: stay on Lamma Island.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 35
9/18/11 at 9:58pm
I agree on the TST view, one of the best things as tourist in Hong Kong is having some drinks and then watching HK island from the TST promenade at night. icon_gu_b_slayer[1].gif I like the other side of the island, down at Ap Lei Chau, where the apartments are built over the water and it's just the endless ocean out there. Awesome if you don't always have the sea nearby in your daily life.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 35
9/18/11 at 10:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by curzon View Post

Here you go, stay at the Y. It's better than the W. And it's next door to Hong Kong's legendary Peninsula Hotel, a shell of its former self once the Daimlers were replaced by Rolls Royces - airport pickup has never been as grand.

If you meet the requirement for free membership (or can fake it) stay at the HK Mariners' Club.

For the genuine HK experience stay at the Chungking Mansions. They've fixed it up quite a bit since I've stayed there, so obviously it isn't as great as it once was. Try to stay at Guangdong Guest House in the Mansions.

All of these places are in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, which is epicenter of it all and a short ferry ride from Central. And Tsim Sha Tsui has the better view.

Of course you could take the road ferry less traveled: stay on Lamma Island.

Chungking Mansions? Holy shit.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 35
9/19/11 at 7:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lexmann View Post


Chungking Mansions? Holy shit.

Its an adventure all by itself.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Social Life, Food & Drink, Travel › Please Explain Hong Kong