TravelJoyously

Hi,
I've been advised against staying in the hostels in the Chungking or Mirador Mansion complexes.

But I'm looking for a centrally located, safe, affordable hostel for a brief 3 day visit to HK. Does that exist? Any suggestions?

Thanks

MmePerdu

I think I mentioned on a previous thread that the Salisbury YMCA hotel also has hostel rooms. They're very nice and quite popular so do put in a request asap if you're interested.
http://www.ymcahk.org.hk/sales/html/hst001e.htm

rkkwan

There are tonnes of guesthouses are that centrally located, affordable and pretty safe. You just have to read the appropriate forums, like on Lonely Planet and on various guidebooks and website.

Most of them are NOT inside ChungKing or Mirador Mansion. But in other older residential/mixed-use buildings. I don't know how my friend find this one, but I believe she stayed at the YiYuan on 6th Floor, Lyton Building, 36 Mody Road. The building seems fairly safe, with a few other guesthouses in it, but no massage parlors or other illicit businesses like that in it. Her room is small and spartan, but seems clean. Main problem is that there are always some noisy people hanging out in the common sitting area - which you may find okay, or may be not. And I guess that's what you will find in most of these places anyways.

Now, I am NOT recommeding this place, as I haven't seen others to compare. Just saying centrally located, safe and affordable accomodations do exist in Hong Kong. Just small and spartan, and may be noisy without much privacy.

TravelJoyously

rrkwan
thanks. I did not see that hotel option show up on hostelworld.com or bookings.com. It does look like a great option. Do you think Tsum Sha Tsui or Wan Chai would be a more central area for the major sites of Hong Kong?

MmePerdu
I appreciate your suggestion, but at $150-200/night the Salisbury is too expensive for my budget.

MmePerdu

Again, not the hotel but the hostel. Same wonderful location but on a separate floor. About $36 a night. Have a look here:
http://www.ymcahk.org.hk/sales/html/e_DR.htm

MmePerdu

To be clear, that's HK$260 + service charge of 10% + about US$36.

TravelJoyously

Thanks for the link MMePerdu,
But I'm only looking for a single room, not a 4 bed shared dormitory.

rkkwan

Hong Kong is very small, so most areas where you will find these guesthouses are convenient for sightseeing. As a local,, I don't like Tsim Sha Tsui - as it's full of mainland tourists and local South Asians pandering fake watches.

Wan Chai depends on the specific location. Several blocks of Lockhart Rd are full of bars with questionable stuff going on, and at the least, noisy at night. Other parts of Wan Chai are fine.

I'd also avoid guesthouses in Mong Kok. Many of those buildings are scarier than ChungKing Mansion with lots of yellow and pink neon signs for the so-called "foot massage" units.

Instead, I'd pick Causeway Bay. Extremely convenient for shopping and dining, as well as going to other areas by MTR or bus; while the buildings there are generally "cleaner" as it's not known as an area for illicit activities.

Again, I am not recommending any particular guesthouse, but one called Alishan has been around for years. Some others are in the Paterson Building on Paterson St, or nearby.

TravelJoyously

Hi rrkwan,
I,m wondering if you can help,me with some advise regarding transportation and money exchange in hk.

I booked a room at the hk Star Eorld Guest House, Wing Lee Building, 27-33 Kimberley Road. Can you give me suggestions about how to get from Shenzhen airport to close to the hotel? I heard taxis in hk are expensive, amped it,s better to use public transport. Is that accurate?

I,ll be flying from Guilin into Shenzen arriving at 9:10 on oct 2. I,m not sure where I can change money from us dollars into hk dollars in the airport so I can take a public bus or metro into hk. Should I just change a little bit at the airport, and wait to change more at a bank in hk? Or are the rates the same?

Thank you for your advise.

Hanuman

1. You cannot take a "public bus" or "metro" from Shenzen to Hong Kong. Shenzen is in China proper while Hong Kong is in the Special Administrative Region (S.A.R.) of China. You will need to go through the immigration process of both places.

2. Once you are processed from crossing the border you can take the train into Hong kong.

3. Shenzen uses RMB, or the same currency as in Guilin. Wait until you crossed the border before you exchange your USD into HKD. Both the RMB and HKD are pretty much fixed to the USD so not much fluctuation.

rkkwan

From SZX to Tsim Sha Tsui, the most reasonable way in terms of convenience and cost is to take the ChinaLink bus. Print out this info page, even if it's in Chinese. Easy to understand and look for their logo after baggage claim at SZX. Last direct bus at 10:30p, so you should be okay.

http://chinalink.hk/co_service_routes17.html

Taxis are pretty cheap in Hong Kong. But you can't take a taxi from SZX. Nor immediately across the border. Therefore, the coach is the best way.

The coach takes RMB. 100RMB per person, in fact. Get off the coach at the Elements Mall. Walk through the mall to the Kowloon Airport Express station underneath and use ATM to get HK dollars in cash and then buy your Octopus card with it. You need that. Then take a taxi - about HK$30 (US$4) to the guesthouse.

TravelJoyously

Thank you so much rkkwan and hanuman. These detailed instructions are very helpful.

I will print out the bus information. And good to know I can pay with rub.

Now I,m feeling more comfortable with the border crossing and knowing there,s an ATM in the mall before i get out into he city, is great!