The hotels in Hong Kong are not cheap. Even a very small room in a youth hostel, without window, costs at least HK$300. To find a hotel in a convenient location, with comfort and reasonable price, is no easy task. A tip is to the set sight on the Western District on Hong Kong island.
Western District is adjacent to Central, Hong Kong’s banking and financial centre, and nearby there are some Hong Kong attractions such as the dry seafood street and the open air market in Graham street.
Its only disadvantage in terms of location is the lack of MTR (Hong Kong’s railway system) transport. But the Western District is linked by tram and bus to Sheung Wan or Central, from where you can take the MTR. It is about 15-minute tram ride from the Western District to Central.
Because of the lack of MTR transport, the hotels in this district are not as expensive as those in, say Central, or Wanchai, or Mongkok. So you can find hotels of reasonable price in this area, and some hotels seem to offer good quality and service as well.
One advantage of staying in this district is that you can easily observe the daily living of Hong Kong people, for the area is a residential area, and is an old district, with some of the traditional stores still being kept and run.
There are four major hotels in this area:
This 4-star hotel is far into the Western District, in an area called Kennedy Town. They provide free shuttle bus going from the hotel to various points in Central. The hotel is getting popular over the past year since renovation and change of ownership.
There is no price on their website. And the staff told me that their price is quoted on a daily basis. The price I asked on a Saturday is HK$580 plus 10% service charge, for a single or a double room. Some of their rooms command seaview, which will be charged more.
This hotel has a modern look and is freshly decorated compared to other hotels in the district.
This hotel is situated in the middle of the Western District, closer to the Central than Hotel Jen. It looks a bit old-fashioned, though. Hotel room price is quoted on their website, which seems similar to the price of Hotel Jen.
This hotel is nearest Central and situated more towards the side of harbourfront. The price would be the highest in the district, more catering to the business travelers. It offers special price for long stay, though. Say for July 2008, for a standard room, the rate is HK$21,000 a month.
Cosco Hotel
It does not have its own website. But you can check here for detail. The price would be the lowest in the district, with some good comments from users. See here.
This hotel, operated under a Chinese capital group, is the farthest into the Western District. A tram ride to Central from the hotel is about 15-20 minutes, though.
