aussiedreamer

Have just decided to surprise my sister (a chef) with a week in Hong Kong for her birthday and Xmas. Of course DH & I will have to go with her!!!! We will be going in March next year.

I haven't done a lot of research yet (ok, none. just back from 6 wks US) but wondering does anyone know of a two bedroom hotel/apartment /suite? As Dh & I will be there it makes sense to have two bedrooms but would still like to be together. Especially as this will be all about food, it would be lovely to have a small kitchenette.

& if anyone has must do/sees re food please let me know.
Thanks as always.

Cicerone

My first comment would be to please pick another month for your visit! March is really a terrible month here weather-wise: cold, damp, foggy. February is less foggy, and April is hotter and a bit brighter. If you have to choose the spring months, then either of those would be better, IMO. March is the month I try to leave Hong Kong for a vacation in better weather if I can. If you have any choice at all over timing, I would pick mid-October through early January as that is the very best weather of all; but otherwise IMO the summer months are better. Although very hot and humid and there will be some rain, the air pollution is better in the summer (prevailing winds shift). March is just a depressing month.

In 2010, Chinese New Year will be celebrated from February 4 -16, and it would be interesting to be here at that time to observe and participate in the festival and of course to see the fireworks in the harbour. I would pick Chinese New Year over March. In April we have a grave sweeping festival (Ching Ming), not as big a deal as Chinese New Year, but if you make an effort to get to a cemetery, you can see families cleaning graves, burning offerings, and having picnics. April also has the Easter holidays, which next year coincides with the grave-sweeping festival. The Tin Hau festival, a huge festival at various temples here, is also celebrated in April or May (depends on moon phase).

To answer your actual question, there are “serviced” apartments with kitchens, some of which have 2 bedrooms. Unless your budget is really good, these will tend to be on the small side, but certainly livable for a week, and the kitchen means you have to eat out for every meal or have room service. You might look at some of the following:

For serviced apartments in Hong Kong, sort of in descending order of price, on Hong Kong Island, try the Four Seasons Place at http://www.fsphk.com/, the Pacific Place Apartments at Parkside, go to http://www.pacificplace.com.hk/living/live_index.html. I am not sure either will rent for such a short period. I believe that the Parkview apartments, which is a very nice luxury flat complex up on top of the hill above Happy Valley has some serviced apartments which they let on a short-term basis, go to http://www.hongkongparkview.com/. Some of the best walking and hiking in Hong Kong would literally be out the front door, there is a pool, kids play area and grocery store in the complex, and a free shuttle bus to Central. There is also the Convention Plaza in the Grand Hyatt Hotel complex, (go to http://www.conventionplazaapartments.com, again I am not sure they would rent for only a week).

I would certainly recommend the serviced apartments at Two MacDonnell Road (at http://www.twomr.com.hk). They have a nice location near to Bowen Road, quiet, green (for Hong Kong) and close to a good walking flat walking path, and a grocery store across the street. These would not be at quite the same luxury level as the ones above, but not as pricey either.

There is a chain of serviced apartments with various location on Hong Kong Island, take a look at http://www.thev.hk/. I don't know anything about this group or the quality of the apartments. Most of these are in the Causeway Bay area or Happy Valley, two areas on Hong Kong Island, both convenient for seeing sights and more in the mainstream for tourists. The area of Causeway Bay in which they are located is quite congested (not really more so than Kowloon, however), but very close to Victoria Park and there is some great shopping in the area. The one in Happy Valley is in a bit quieter location, yet pretty convenient to transport. The area has some good restaurants and is a mix of European expats and locals (the French international school is nearby). Although the map does not show it, the street is on a somewhat steep hill.

On the Kowloon side, the only service apartment I know of in the main tourist area is The Gateway, which is at the Star Ferry Pier and would be a nice location, I have never seen the rooms so don't know anything about them. See http://www.gatewayapartments.com.hk/. Again, I don’t know if they would let for only a week. The Langham Place Hotel has serviced apartments, see http://hongkong.langhamplacehotels.com/en/index.html, not sure of your price range, it’s a very densely populated busy area, but overall might be OK. Close to a subway.

There are some serviced apartments in Tolo Harbour area called the Horizon Suite Hotel, go to http://www.horizonsuitehotel.com/eng/index.html. I don't know these apartments at all, but you might take a look. It is not close to the city parts of Hong Kong, probably 30 minutes by subway. This is not a tourist area, I don’t know what you are looking for; it would certainly be a very local experience. Hong Kong is very safe, so I would not have any concerns with this area with regard to that, but as I don’t know if you want to be close to main tourist sights or not, it is hard to advise. However, I know the area fairly well, and the countryside there is probably the most beautiful in all of Hong Kong (or in a tie with the Sai Kung area certainly), and there is some great walking nearby (including the easy and scenic Bride's Pool walk), and there is a bike path all around Tolo Harbour and across Plover Cove dam that is a lot of fun. The town area is quite built-up, but you can get to green areas quickly, and there are lovely water and mountain views.

There are new serviced apartments opening here all the time it seems, so you might run a search.

When looking at serviced apartments, if a full kitchen is important, be sure to ask if there is a stove/cooker and an oven. Many just come with a microwave and two-burner stove. (My first flat here did not have a stove at all, as it is not commonly used in Cantonese cooking.)

You could also consider a “holiday chalet” type place on Lamma Island, just a short ferry ride from Hong Kong Island. Lamma is a lovely, green, quiet island with some nice beaches and a really fun laid-back atmosphere. Some good walking, some good local restaurants, esp in Yung Shue Wan. You can ferry into Hong Kong for a day when you want to see some city sights. You can take the wonderful local wooden kaido ferries to Aberdeen and from there go to the south side of Hong Kong Island for its beaches and walking. Take a look at http://www.lamma.com.hk/ and http://www.lammaresort.com/ for rentals. These are going to be fairly basic, I think.

Finally, you might see what sort of rental apartments are on offer at vrbo.com.

I think most hotels would offer a 2-bedroom suite, but without knowing a budget it is hard to make reccos. You may also find that the suites have very limited kitchens.

aussiedreamer

Woh, thank you so much. I have read a few of your suggestions to other people and will investigate all your suggestions.

March is LOCKED IN. We really wanted to travel on my sisters birthday, so flights are booked. We will just have to 'deal' with the weather.

A 'full' kitchen is not so important, more of a kitchenette, microwave, hotplate will do fine. Location is key I guess, we want to be able to walk or take short bus/ferry rides to get to places and hopefully have great cafe/restaurants/markets in the general area of where we are staying. Does it sound like I 'want' it all? Sorry, just trying to explain what we are looking for. I will spend the day looking at your options.

thanks so much for taking the time.
We Arrive March 25 and depart March 31.

Cicerone

OK well at least perhaps late March may be better, and let us be optomisits and hope that the weather will pleasantly surprise us both! (One thing I will say is that walking aournd someplace like the Peak in a thick fog is really wonderful in weird way: all dripping trees and perfect silence even though 7 milion people are below you somewhere in the fog. It’s just that you hopefully will also get to see the view from the Peak on a <i>clear</i> day too. ) If you want neighborhoods with good local markets and restaurants, I would look in Wan Chai, Happy Valley, Mid-levels, then Causeway Bay, then perhaps Sheung Wan and Kennedy town (probably fewer options in the latter two). I think Wan Chai may be esp interesting for some of the more avant garde restaurants (like Bo Innovation) and private kitchens (like Yin Yang and Xi Yan). Mid-levels is good but will probably be more expensive. All these areas are on Hong Kong Island, which is where the majority of tourist sites are located, and where you can get ferries to outlying islands (and to Macau, which with a week you may want to take a day trip to, go on a weekday for fewer crowds). It also has the best selection of Western/European restaurants and of course of very good selection of local ones too, both cheap and dear. I personally find the Kowloon side too touristy and the restaurant selection to be not as good. Plus, you will end up coming over to the Hong Kong side more often than not each day and so you may as well stay here.

The http://www.thev.hk/ group of serviced apartments has apartments in Mid-levels near Soho and the escalator which has a 2-bedroom which may work. This area has a very large number of upscale restaurants and boutiques (and a decreasing number of local restaurants, but they can be found). They also have a location in Wan Chai (seems to be studio flats only) in a very good location for shops, markets and restaurants, which is walkable or a short bus, tram or taxi to Central. (It’s also near a subway stop.) I have not seen any of these apartments, and of course anything can look good on a website; perhaps you can search them on tripadvisor.com.

I have a list of restaurant recommendations for Hong Kong which is now 40-pages, which I would be happy to e-mail it to you if you want to send me a message at [email protected]. It is broken down by view, no view, area, price and food type/region.

aussiedreamer

thanks again, I've had a good look at 2 Macdonnell rd, a little dearer than we'd hoped. but looks good. I will quickly check out thev.

email on its way