Where to stay in Hong Kong and Macau

Old Aug 4th, 2014, 06:18 AM
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Where to stay in Hong Kong and Macau

My husband and I are retired and will be in Hong Kong from 11/2-14. We would like to spend a few days in Macau and the rest of the time in Hong Kong. Is 4 days enough to time to spend in Macau to be able to see the sights and enjoy the casinos? Where is the best area to stay in Macau? We will be spending the rest of our time in Hong Kong. What is the best area to use as our base in Hong Kong to be close to shopping, night markets, transportation and good sight seeing? Also are there any good day tours for both Macau and Hong Kong?
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Old Aug 4th, 2014, 07:02 AM
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my last trip to HK we stayed at the jw Marriott on HK island... there are many hotels in HK, most quite expensive.. what is your budget?
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Old Aug 4th, 2014, 08:50 AM
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Neither Hong Kong nor Macau is all that big. 4 days in Macau is probably plenty for most people. If you're planning to spend 12 days, including a Macau trip, I'd probably split the time between HK Island and Kowloon, with the Macau trip in the middle. In terms of deciding between Kowloon and HK Island, as long as you've got access to the MTR (subway), you can get around easily and quickly.

As Bob/rhkkmk says, your budget is going to be the key in recommending a place to stay. The very best places to stay are the top hotels -- a harbour-view room at The Peninsula or The InterContinental in Kowloon/Tsin Sha Tsui, or rooms at the Mandarin or Four Seasons on HK Island. Those rooms will run US$400-500/night or more. Rooms in comfortable Western-branded hotels (Sheraton, Hyatt, Marriott) will run around US$250 and up. As you go down the quality scale (Holiday Inn, Marriott Courtyard, etc), the prices of course go down accordingly.
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Old Aug 4th, 2014, 09:31 AM
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Avoid going to Macau on weekends and holidays!
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Old Aug 4th, 2014, 09:40 AM
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I have just returned from a Bangkok/Hong Kong trip. I also stayed (and really liked) the J W Marriott on Hong Kong island. In the past I have always stayed on Kowloon. This time we went only one time to Kowloon and found it to be way too busy, too many people, and the subway EXTREMELY crowded with people, and actually opted not to stay long enough to attend the ladies night market. It was just too bustling for us! I had not experienced that sort of crowd in my past stays in Kowloon.

The best market was not at night. We bought many things at the Stanley Market, which is on HKG island and you get there via bus (very easy to get to the bus from J W as it stops right across the street, in front of United Center). The bus is number 6 or 6X. The 6X bus costs slightly more than the 6 because 6X goes through a tunnel instead of around HKG island on local streets. 6X is a slightly shorter trip to and from Stanley Market. I want to say it was 7.90 for #6 and 8.40 for 6X. You must have exact change (although paying 8.00 for the number 6 bus is OK).
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Old Aug 4th, 2014, 09:45 AM
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Should have mentioned, we went to Macau on a day trip. We took the ferry to COTAI. This is the ferry stop that is near the big Venetian casino, plus the Sands and Hard Rock are also there. I will probably be in Macau in September 2015 for several days and will stay in COTAI, not "old" Macau. You can easily get from one Macau island to another. A family member says he got a taxi driver to take him from place to place. This was years ago, though, before COTAI was being developed. COTAI also has a Holiday Inn and a Hyatt Regency that I noticed right there at the casino central area. Many other casinos are under construction at this time, scheduled to open in the next 1-3 years time. Huge building projects!! Very impressive!! Macau will take the lead over Las Vegas as the gambling mecca before long!
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Old Aug 4th, 2014, 09:47 AM
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Carol Macau is already number 1 for the past 4 or 5 years in terms of gambling revenue. 5 or 6 times more money being gamble in Macau than in Vegas!
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Old Aug 4th, 2014, 09:50 AM
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Correction - for the year 2013 Macau's gambling revenue was 7 times higher than Las Vegas.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...95884261629874
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Old Aug 4th, 2014, 11:49 AM
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We did a similar trip at the same time last year with a total of 10 nights, two of those in Macau. In our planning, we missed the fact that our stay in Macau coincided with the Macau Grand Prix, which caused some traffic snarls and rerouting--e.g., the hotel shuttles were moved to a temporary location about 10 minutes from the ferry terminal and some streets were closed for the race route and/or the grandstands. It looks like this year's event starts at the tail-end of your dates, but I'd guess the preparations will be well underway before the 13th. You might want to consider putting Macau on the earlier end of your trip--or at least do some more investigating around this.

That aside, we did as Don suggests above, spending the first part of our trip on Hong Kong island and the end in Kowloon with the trip to Macau in the middle. That worked out well for us. Two nights in Macau was enough for us, but we were only there to see the historical area and not to gamble.
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Old Aug 4th, 2014, 08:23 PM
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The Macau Grand Prix this year is 11/13-16, so not a factor for the OP. Hotel prices are higher for weekends in Macau, just the opposite for the higher end hotels in HK, so the OP should spend Sun-Thur or Mon-Fri in Macau.

The mega-casinos on Cotai are not unlike those in Vegas, except it's even harder to go from one complex to the other. If you're more interested in seeing the historic sites, you're better off staying on the Macau Peninsula, which has plenty of good hotels too, including the Sofitel, MGM, Mandarin Oriental, Wynn, Grand Lisboa and so on. You're not limited to Cotai if you want a new, big and nice casino hotel.

As for HK, you have a lot of days, so you can afford to split your stays into two hotels, and even spend a night at an alternate like the Tai O Heritage hotel. Doing so, you can take your time doing the NP360 cable car, Big Buddha, visit Tai O and then spend a quiet night before returning to city next day by ferry. Just an example of what's possible...
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Old Aug 5th, 2014, 06:41 AM
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Thanks for everyone's responses. In response to the budget question, I would like to keep the hotel under US$300- but would like a nice hotel/
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Old Sep 14th, 2014, 10:57 PM
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Just got back from HK and we stayed at The Salisbury for 5 nights. It's next door to The Peninsular but at a fraction of the price. We had a Harbour View room that was very nice. We had breakfast included and had free WiFi and it fell inside your budget. We thought it was a very nice Hotel and would stay there again.
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Old Apr 22nd, 2015, 09:04 PM
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If you only have a couple of days, Tsim Sha Tsui is the best area in my opinion. With a couple more days, you might want to stay somewhere that you can find more breathing space (less people) so HK Island would be the preferred side then.

Keep in mind HK is very compact, so staying anywhere between Causeway Bay to Mong Kok typically means you are close enough to the sights and sounds.
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Old Apr 22nd, 2015, 09:24 PM
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Here's another vote for the Salisbury (actually the Salisbury YMCA, but don't let that fool you - it's really a nice hotel for the price in a great location).

The Salisbury is in Kowloon, and as OzJohnno mentioned above, a high floor (I believe there are only 16 storeys) harbor view room is the best deal in town. The view of the harbor at night is amazing (but make sure you get a high floor, or your view might be partially blocked by the museum across the street), there is lots of shopping and restaurants in the area, the ferry terminal is only a couple of minutes walk from the hotel, and the 20 minute ferry ride to HK island beats anything Disney has to offer.
The concierge desk will provide you with concise printed information and directions to anyplace in HK that you'd like to see.
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Old Apr 23rd, 2015, 01:40 AM
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and another vote for the Salisbury - we had a bit of trepidation about it, but it's really just an ordinary hotel with a great view!

to get there from the airport we took the train and then picked up the free hotel bus, getting off at the back of the Peninsular hotel - it's then just 50 yards to the Salisbury.
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Old Apr 23rd, 2015, 05:09 AM
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You might find cheaper hotels in Macau these days, compared to past years as Macau economy takes a mighty nose-dive. Both gaming revenues, aka, gambling and mostly by mainland chinese, is way down due to orders from the boss, Mr. Xi that there should be no more bad cadres. So since good cadres don't waste the public funds, as bad cadres do, fewer go to Macau now. Thus, tourism is down. Good news, maybe, for ordinary folks, not cadres.

Given the scenario, analysts declared that Macau is in recession -- two consecutive quarters of GDP decline.

What Led to the Decline in Macau?

Per analysts, as Macau started to grow, it focused on casinos, instead of diversifying into other areas. Since more than 80% of the government's revenues come from gaming, the economy is closely tied to the gambling industry.
As a result, when the Chinese government announced a crackdown on corruption in Macau in 2014, VIP gamblers either opted to refrain from gambling or tried their fortunes elsewhere. This lowered footfall at the local casinos, and thereby gambling revenues. Also, a cooling Chinese economy, political unrest and a smoking ban on mass market gaming floors compounded woes.

From Zacks

No Respite for Casino Stocks as Macau Slump Continues
by Zacks Equity Research Published on March 17, 2015 | 1 Comment
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Old May 4th, 2015, 07:02 PM
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If you saying the "best" means no money restrictions, then it has to be Venetian. it gets very lively at night. there are also good hotels like Sintra & the Sofitel. If you want casinos then stay in Cotai. bus and taxi are means of transportation. there's no train in macau as it is a small city. as for hongkong you can try four seasons, interncontinental hong kong and kowloon shangrila to name a few. again, these are the "best" without money considerations.
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Old Oct 8th, 2015, 03:48 PM
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We love Macau and just created our first video blog about some must-do spots and where to stay. It's an amazing place, full of history and juxtaposition.

You'll have an absolute ball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fovXx5syjk
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