Hong Kong Hotel Choice

[GerScot]

Hi

 

We will have 3 night stay in Hong Kong prior to our cruise in November. We have been given choice of Grand Harbour Kowloon, Stanford Hotel and or Regal Hotel Kowloon. Anyone have any experience of these and location they are in? We have never been to Hong Kong so a bit unsure. Any other similar options we should consider?

 

Thanks

[John Bull]

Best area to stay is Tsim Sha Tsui, the tip of the Kowloon peninsula, handy for the cross-harbour Star Ferry terminal, not too far from Nathan Road, and preferably with a harbour view.

 

I have no personal experience of any of the three which you mention, but I can comment on their locations.

 

If it's the Stanford Hotel (& not the Stanford Hillview), it's in Mongkok and some 40 minutes walk from the harbour-front, with little of interest within walking distance except the Ladies Market. So I'd avoid it

 

The Regal is the most centrally-located of the three, It's one block from the waterfront Avenue of the Stars, a ten-minute walk from the busy bottom end of Nathan Road, and a twenty minute walk from either the Tsim Sha Tsui ferry terminal for ferries to Wan Chai (the World of Suzie Wong) and to Central, or the Hung Hom ferry terminal (ferries to not-very-convenient North Point). But I'm not sure that any rooms have a Harbour view.

 

The Harbour Grand is on the waterfront, only a five minute walk from the Hung Hom ferry terminal (that's the ferry to inconvenient North Point) but 20 / 25 minutes further than the Regal from the other facilities of Tsim Sha Tsui. It looks very much like the majority of the rooms have a harbour view, but a lot have only a partial view, so check carefully that you have an unrestricted or at least a west-facing partial harbour view. 

 

Do I get the impression that those are the hotels offered as a cruise-line package?

We've never had a cruise line package, but from what I've seen of them the hotels offered have always been excellent in themselves but often inconveniently located - location is very important for a short stay but seems to be ignored by cruise lines.

Whilst the Regal & the Harbour Grand would be very acceptable, if you researched your own hotels I feel sure you could do a lot better for both location and value.

 

Ideal would be between the Tsim Sha Tsui ferry terminal (5 minutes) and Nathan Road (5 minutes) - along or off Salisbury Road, which is one very short block from the waterfront. Here amongst a selection of hotels you'll find two ends of the spectrum - 

 

The Peninsula Hotel - that's the one with the fleet of Rolls-Royces, probably the best and most expensive 5-star hotel in Hong Kong.

https://www.peninsula.com/en/hong-kong/5-star-luxury-hotel-kowloon

 

And next-door to the Peninsula, the Salisbury Hotel - a four-star which offers probably the best value in Hong Kong. Hotel facilities are excellent, it's one block from the harbour-front Avenue of the Stars, "Hong Kong" is right outside the hotel door, and the ferry terminal & Nathan Road are a five minute walk. It's owned by the YMCA, but that's mis-leading - it's no back-packers hostel, the only vestige of its origins is an education facility on the 6th floor.

We stayed there in an unrestricted harbour-view room - they're on the 11th floor & higher, because the view from lower floors is blocked by the Space Museum.

http://www.ymcahk.org.hk/thesalisbury/en/location/index.html

 

We've also stayed at the Kowloon Shangri-La.

Front line to the harbour, and harbour-view rooms have a wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling picture window. 10 minute walk to Nathan Road, 20-minute waterfront walk to the Tsim- Sha Tsui ferry terminal.

Not as convenient as hotels on Salisbury Road, but more convenient than the three which you listed.

https://www.shangri-la.com/tc/hongkong/kowloonshangrila/

 

Here are the hotels on googlemaps (ignore the dotted blue lines)

https://goo.gl/maps/2AMVvMSXpjTG4GsL9

 

If you choose a harbour-view room in any hotel, the nightly (8pm) "Symphony of Lights" is accompanied by music relayed by radio. Our first night in Hong Kong was on the ship - no music, and the light show was dis-jointed and disappointing. But from our room in the Salisbury - with the music - it was brilliant. Whichever hotel you choose, make sure that your harbour-view room has a radio & check with reception where on the radio dial you'll find the Symphony of Lights music.

If you don't book a harbour-view room find a harbour-view venue with music. For instance it's broadcast on the Avenue of the Stars.

 

Hong Kong has a brilliant mass-transit rail system, including lines which cross under the harbour.

But far more fun are the Star Ferries and the island's rickety old trams - I could spend a whole day just riding the ferries & trams 🙂

 

An eclectic city on both sides of the harbour - one of my favourites.

Have a great time there

 

JB 🙂

Edited April 1, 2023 by John Bull

[GerScot]

Thanks John for a very comprehensive and useful response. Lots of food for thought! The hotels were the travel companies recommendations but we do not have to go with those. Much appreciated.