Pre & Post Cruise Hotels Hong King & Singapore

[herbalsoaplady]

I have been surfing the net. I find that the rate to book the Hotel Intercontinetal directly is the same as one of those "75% off" only from us hotel booking sites. Is this a common experience for you seasoned travelers.?
Would we be better off dealing directly with the hotel via email?

A deluxe room for 2 with breakfast can be booked for Jan. 2006 for approx. $155 USD at the Intercontinental.

We are planning on one night in Hong Kong before the cruise begins and 2 - 3 nights in Singapore at the end.

Any recommendations/comments re Orchard Street vs. the Marina Area would be appreciated. We prefer to keep the cost of the hotel to under $200 per night.

I was thinking of the YWCA in Hong Kong - is this not a good idea?

Have purchased a Fodor's Guide to SEAsia and ordered several other books due in from Amazon. This is a fun and exciting project for me <planning the trip>. Since it's our first time in Asia any tips or hints are greatly appreciated.

I may have to wait till the cruise line sends us our air arrangements before I can book a hotel. I think my TA indicated that would be in April. The "discount" sites enact a stiff one night penalty for cancellations . I will have to read the fine print at the hotels site .

Bobbi ~

[meow!]

When we visited Singapore in 1993 for six days, I thought we stayed at the Holiday Inn at Old Orchard. Right below the hotel is the tourist district. Since Singapore is right on the equator, afternoons are very hot throughout the year. Stay in air conditioned malls! After sunset, it becomes quite nice, walk on Old Orchard street, which is filled with all kinds of south east Asian food stalls, as far as the eye can see or you can walk. Since Singapore is a lot more sanitory than neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia, normally it is quite safe to eat their food. Elsewhere, you have to limit yourself to brand name bottled water bought at major stores, and fully cooked food which is steaming hot! Hope this helps.

[sandy2004]

In my opinion, you are better off to book directly with the hotel. I would consider booking as soon as possible, knowing you can change the dates if need be. You can also cancel without penalty by booking with the hotel. We are staying at the Conrad Hilton in Singapore in December for one night post cruise and I booked it thru the Hilton web site, www.hilton.com. It sounds nice, and the rate includes breakfast, lounge access (free food and drinks). You may want to ask for and pay for air deviation so you can enjoy at least one night on each end of your cruise. Hilton has a policy to match anyone else's rates if you find a better rate. Good luck.
Sandy

[Jane110]

I always think it's better to deal directly with the hotel rather than an internet booking site.

When you book directly with the hotel you get their generous cancellation policy that's anywhere from 6:00PM day of arrival to 48 hours beforehand with no cancellation fee. Even if the rate is a bit more, I feel it's worth it. It's not like I'm getting a $400. room for $175. - I've never seen *that* much of a difference in price and I surf the web alot.

I book directly with the hotel and that way I have a person's name who works there should something go wrong. If the customer service dept of the website is closed for the weekend, you're out of luck should you arrive on a Sat. morning and have a problem checking in.

I've been to Hong Kong twice and love it. I've stayed at the Shangri-La and at the Grand Hyatt. Both are excellent. The HK YMCA is reputed to be the best Y in the world and those on a limited budget who stay there always report positive experiences on the travel websites I've read. I'd recommend having a look at www.tripadvisor.com to look at some more recent reviews.

Jane

[new_cruiser]

The Shangri-La hotels are great. Beautiful, good service, lots of wood and marble.

If you want something more economy, try the Eaton Hotel in Hong Kong. We stayed there last trip. It isn't quite as fancy as the Shangri-La, but it was very comfortable with a fine breakfast included for about $100 a night. It is on Nathan Street in Kowloon near the night market.

I've often found prices on the hotel's own website as good or better then those on the general hotel sites (e.g. Expedia or Hotels.com). I often try both kinds of sites.

[shoshona2]

Hi Bobbie,

We stayed at the Intercontinental in Hong Kong in October and had a waterfront room. It was awesome -- this was the first hotel in thirty-five years of traveling that I didn't want to leave the room. Boats of every different variety were going by all the time and, at night, the lights on the buildings across the water were fantastic to see. I think Oceania is using the Shangri-La in Hong Kong. You can go on line to frommers.com or Fodors.com as well as www.tripadvisor.com and read what people say about each hotel. I personally would book the hotel directly from their website. You can always cancell it with only a day's notice.

Sheila

[lahore]

Hi, agree with much of the above - do NOT use a travel agent, book with either hotel direct or check out prices on www.asiahotels.com (http://www.asiahotels.com) then see if you can do better with the hotel. Cancellation policies at the hotel can make a difference if you need to change your plans for whatever reasons. Be clear when you communicate with the hotels what your priorities are. They will quote you more expensive rates and/or packages including meals etc. unless you specifically state that price is your main deciding factor (if it is). I have got back to them closer to the date sometimes and checked again only to find that a new 'promotional' rate has come in and the price has gone down.

Agree that in Hong Kong the Intercontinental harbour view rooms are sensational! The location is just perfect too,it's a very hard hotel to beat if you have the money to splash out. I also found it difficult to leave our room, or the poolside! On the other hand if you want something affordable consider staying out in the new territories. I stayed at the Regal Riverside hotel at Shatin, which is so MUCH cheaper than the in town hotels (it was near the HK Uni which I was visiting) but despite that it is so quick to get into Kowloon or HOng Kong Island by the super efficient underground. What's more it's on a river and less oppressively crowded than in town.

In Singapore you have a choice of so many excellent hotels. I used to live there so have a pretty good knowledge of what's around. Orchard Road is where all the big shopping malls are and if you like that sort of thing it's a good place to be. Traders Hotel (owned by Shangri-la) is at the top of Cusdaden rd which leads directly into Orchard. It is an immaculate hotel that has the added benefit of being right next to a major expatriate-focused shopping mall (Tanglin) and one of the biggest outdoor pools in a hotel in Singapore, surrounded by a superb cafe (ahh, the pepper crab there is to die for). They run a shuttle down to Takashimaya (major HUGE Japanese dept store) on the half hour. On the other hand I wouldn't recommend the main Shangri-la in Singapore - it's way off the beaten track. The Marina district is a bit removed and sterile and boring really in my opinion - although now the underground MRT does go there (but you still need to walk quite a way), and it's very tourist oriented (hence expensive). The Ritz Carlton there is rather stunning however. A nice alternative on the river is the Fullerton, and of course if you are loaded beyond reason then just go for Raffles - nothing else compares.

There you go - how's that for starters?