My husband and I spent 6 days in HK in early January as part of 3 months in SE Asia/NZ and OZ - following is a "just the facts" trip report - i.e. hotels/restaurants/sights - and a link to our blog which has lots of photos and commentary.

Air travel

We flew Singapore Airlines from SF to HK on the Star Alliance Circle Pacific Pass (a bucket of 26,000 miles - good for travel from the west coast of NA around Asia/NZ/OZ - it was a great value for us - $7,000 CDA each for Businss).

Singapore Airlines was wonderful (as was Thai Air) - when we hit Air Canada at the end of our travels we were shocked at the difference (I guess we're like the frog in the water - we've been flying Air Canada for so long we didn't know there was a difference!)

Hotel

We LOVED the YMCA Salisbury - forget the "Y" part - it's a terrific hotel by any standard and the rate cannot be beat. We had a Harbour View Room (approx $150/CDA) and highly recommend it - the view of the light show each evening was lots of fun. Broadband access in the room (for a separate charge) was a bonus.

Regarding the Kowloon versus Island debate - most likely because we were so happy with the hotel we loved taking the Ferry to Hong Kong - it was all part of the adventure and we really enjoyed walking in Kowloon as well.

Restaurants

We're like an army - we move on our stomachs! Had some exceptional meals in Hong Kong (with thanks to Cicerone for her list!)....Detailed photos and descriptions on our blog....link below

Yellow Door
37 Cochrane Street (under the escalator)
Sichuan cuisine
Wonderful food - we ate their twice, and once at their sister restaurant

Kin's Kitchen
9 Tsing Fung Street (Causeway Bay)

Mak's Noodles
77 Wellington

A main stay for noodles and broth - delicious!

El Bacarrat
On the Praya
Cheung Chau

Good - most probably all the restaurants along the Praya are the same

Sights

We walked miles in HK - did many markets - i.e. flower, bird, goldfish, Ladies (Kowloon) and herbal medicine, dried fish, meat, antiques etc (Hong Kong). I love NYC and had the same visceral response to HK.

The Art Gallery is a gem - I don't think it's high on tourists' lists but we really enjoyed it - it's right across from the YMCA Salisbury.

We took the bus to Stanley and enjoyed it (and the bus trip) very much - and then jumped a cab to the tram to the Peak. We're in the camp that thinks the new Peak structure is pretty ugly but a walk on the trails around the Peak is lovely. After the Peak we went to the Botanical Gardens (near the tram) - we really enjoy gardens and it was lovely.

Cheung Chau - hard to comment about this half day trip as my husband had a terrible cold and was being a real trouper to go in the first place. If he hadn't been feeling so rotten we would have rented bikes and explored more - as it was we walked around a bit and had lunch. There was a great deal of construction going on at that time, using small gas powered carts - so much so that sitting in the outdoor restaurant we practically couldn't speak it was so loud. That detracted from the "island with no vehicles" thing we were going to visit.......but as I said if we had rented bikes and gone exploring I'm sure we would have really enjoyed it.

Other details

We bought an Octopus card at the airport as is so often recommended here - it was a great idea - easy to buy and easy to use.

We took the Airport hotel bus to the YMCA as it seemed easier than the train - we had a fair bit of luggage for 3 months and the bus went door to door. Very easy purchase in the airport as you come out of immigration.

Here's a link to our blog - lots of food photos!

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/2007_adventures/b_hong_kong/index.html

In summary - Hong Kong was our first stop on our 3 month adventure - we both loved it and plan to return.

Happy to answer any questions.