Hong Kong

[tomo69]

Hi all

Looking to go to HK for a week in early June with the wife.

What is a good place to stay, popular areas to visit etc

Many Thanks in advance

 

[Hvr]

What is your budget? I like the HI in Causeway Bay, close to the station and tram and walking distance to Wan Chai Star Ferry. It is on HKG Island and you may want to stay on the mainland.

 

[yohy?!]

lots of good threads on here to get you started, just do a search to get the threads up (eg "Hong Kong Hotels", "First Visit to HK")

let us know if you have more specific questions

 

[NM]

What is your budget? I like the HI in Causeway Bay, close to the station and tram and walking distance to Wan Chai Star Ferry. It is on HKG Island and you may want to stay on the mainland.

I second this as a good value, well located place to stay. But if you want up-market, this is not the place. Its clean, but its not 5 star. I have probably spent around 100 nights there and use it regularly when in HK for business. The CP is not far away and a nicer hotel, but generally more expensive.

I really like the Causeway Bay location. Its walking distance to Wan Chai, has some nice/interesting markets, has some upmarket shopping locations (like Times Square), great places to eat, easy transport (MRT, Ferry, Tram, Bus) and generally a nice "feel", and is free from the pushy hawkers you find all the way down Nathan Road (no, I don't want to buy a fake/copy watch!!). The Excelsior Hotel is a good option too.

 

[Mgjdubs]

I would recommend the Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui for excellent service and a great location. Accommodations acceptable. I'm a bit of a fashion and shopping nut and this one is literally built in to Harbour City (massive shopping centre - all the major designers and anything else you could probably ask for in a shopping centre) and is really handy to wonderful views of the light show. Wasn't too pricey if memory serves. Additionally, there are two other Marco Polo Hotels in that vicinity (all built into the shopping centre there), one was the Marco Polo Prince and the other was the Marco Polo Gateway. I've heard great things about the service from those hotels. Being that this is a touristy area you can probably expect hawkers on the street offering cheap watches, massages, etc. I would stay away from them, and they can generally be avoided by walking through the shopping centre.

If money is of small consequence, I'd recommend the Four Seasons on Hong Kong island. Fantastic hotel with magnificent views, by all accounts, and again, great location. This place is the essence of luxury. Pretty decent for shopping too if that's your thing considering it is connected to the IFC centre, again there are many many designer stores here - Hong Kong does vanity no disservice.

If you've never been to Hong Kong before, then a trip to The Peak is a must, and if you strike lucky and get a clear day you will get some lovely views of the SAR. You can buy tickets on the steep tram (which I will freely admit is a bit of a novelty) return and also with a ticket to Madame Tussaud's, but unless you're particularly into that whole wax human replica thing I doubt I'd bother (which I didn't, for the record). I also did Ocean Park and Disneyland, both of which were a bit of fun. Disneyland nothing like the ones in the USA, but perhaps good to kill a day if you've nothing else to do and if that's your sort of thing. Highlights of Ocean Park were a few of the rides, the gondola that seemed to have gone on for ages which I liked, and the life-sized Panda soft toy which I had to bring back for my little cousin. Boy, did I get some strange looks with that one at the airport...

As far as shopping for various fashionable trinkets goes, I'd personally never accuse Hong Kong of being cheap. However there is fantastic selection, from brands you may have never heard of. Having said that, the sizing range is not so good (I have reasonably broad shoulders so didn't even bother looking at clothes, although I did manage a new carry-on and many pairs of shoes). Obviously I don't advocate any form of criminal behaviour (which shopping for fake designer stuff is) and even in spite of this I'd avoid the Ladies Market in Mongkok if I had my time again. That place felt so incredibly seedy to me, and not that I have ever personally tried to engage in the buying of any counterfeit materials, but my friend did on this occasion. Initially, we (I went with her because she didn't feel safe going alone) found it hard to get them to show us "anything else available other than what is on the shelf" as they thought we were police. Although we did manage to find someone that took us to one of their, ahem, 'private showrooms', after probably 30-45 mins. They're clearly paranoid. After all of that, she got totally ripped off. The 'Chanel' handbag fell apart at the airport no less than 2 days later. Which should serve her right.

I feel that High Tea at the Peninsula could be a real treat as there is a real sense of occasion and decorum surrounding everything they do at that hotel. It's quite wonderful. When Asian food became all a bit much I did appreciate BLT burger in the Harbour City mall, which offered up some nice burgers. They also had a BLT steak restaurant in the same centre, which was nice but, in my opinion, a little on the pricey side for what it was to be completely honest. Although I had to line up on a Thursday night to get through the door on account of its apparent popularity. I personally would not drink the tap water at all, and whenever I've stayed in Hong Kong I've always had complimentary bottled water in the hotel.

Hong Kong is an amazing city, and one of the few that I leave thinking that I could almost return permanently. The culture is perfectly vibrant and my scene, and there is generally something for everyone to do. I hope you both do have a fantastic trip!

 

[amaroo]

Absolutely love HKG - great choice!

IMHO the best place to stay in HKG is the Four Seasons.....the price is high however, it's worth every cent!

Will come back later & post Restaurants & sight seeing stuff.