Hong Kong Climate/Guesthouse/Fair Question
 

Hi All, I'm going full steam ahead with my plans to visit Hong Kong. A couple questions : I do not get my vacation until August and was planning on September for my holiday. After much reading,It looks like September would be extremely hot and very rainy. Sound right ? So I decided to go with October which looks like a much better weather month. Anyway,I heard a trade fair called the Canton Fair happens in October. Does this cause a lack of rooms and increase in pricing ? Any feedback on this guesthouse ? ---http://www.starguesthouse.com.hk/ I've stayed in pensions.B&B's,and small hotels throughout Europe,but it seems you have to really research the guesthouses in Hong Kong to get a safe and clean atmosphere.Budget hotels seem very scare as well. Any suggestions greartly appreciated. PEACE

IN GENERAL, after Oct 15 or so, temps -- and esp humidity-- will drop and so the weather is better. August is pretty bloody awful and so is September. Sometimes October can be warm straight through as well, but the odds are better that the weather will be cooler, and rain is much less likely and chances of a typhoon almost non-existent (but quite likely in August and September). Therefore October would be better.

Really inexpensive hotels are thin on the ground here. I don’t know the hostel you mention at all, I have looked it up, the location is certainly fine if you want to be in Kowloon. I am not a huge fan of the area, lots of tourists and touts selling to tourists, but it is perfectly safe and you can find neighborhood restaurants, etc. It seems to be recc’d by Lonely Planet, which is usually a good sign, check recent listings in their books or website for comments. What is your budget? Have you looked at the various YMCAs and YWCAs? (www.ymca-hotels.com, http://hotel.ywca.org.hk) Have you looked at the Bishop Lei? (http://www.bishopleihtl.com.hk)


A while ago, a poster was looking for short-term flats in Hong Kong and found a place called Studio, take a look at http://www.studiostudio.com.hk/. These are on Hong Kong Island in the Causeway Bay area, which is much less touristed and more local, and the units, while small, also have kitchens which could be a savings for breakfast and dinners. I think they do weekly rentals, the price may be in your range. You could e-mail them for a quote. I don’t know anything about them.

Cicerone is right on about weather. The later you go the better.

Canton Fair is from 10/15-31, with a break in the middle. You're correct that there's significance increase in hotel prices. More so with the 3-4*, probably not with guesthouses.

Consider these budget hotels in Kowloon:

YMCA International House (not the Salisbury)
YWCA Anne Black House (that's where I usually stay)
Caritas Bianchi Lodge
Salvation Army Booth Lodge

These will all cost more than the guesthouses, but are real standalone hotels.

The Bishop Lei that Cicerone mentioned or YWCA Garden View in the Mid-Levels on Hong Kong Island are even nicer, but cost even more.

Oh, for really budget accomodation (but safe), there's the Jockey Club Mount Davis Hostel. Nice view and everything. Definitely safe, but not convenient.

http://www.starguesthouse.com.hk/info.html

It looks like this guesthouse has 2 locations. Can someone please advise which is a better location?

6th Floor
21 Cameron Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon

Blk. D, 8th Floor
34-36 Cameron Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon

They are on opposite side of a narrow one-way street, perhaps 50 yards apart.

Thanks. I'm trying to decide between these and the Alisan Guesthouse (http://home.hkstar.com/~alisangh/). The second is cheaper but not in Kowloon. It also has bigger beds which is sort of an issue because my friend is 6'4. How inconvenient is the Alisan location? We're in town for only 2.5 days.

The Alishan is in Causeway Bay. Basically next door to the Excelsior Hotel. Very short walk to the MTR, and hundreds of restaurants and shops nearby. Super convenient.

Thanks so much! Sounds like we may go with Alisan then. How far is the trip to Kowloon from there and what method of transportation is best?

Also, found this list of places in Kowloon, but none of them are reviewed. Do you know anything about them, or would you recommend we just get a room at the Alisan? We're going in December 07 btw.

http://www.bug.co.uk/cgi-bin/rs/redq...category_id=15

No, I have no 1st hand information or recommendations for any hostels/guest houses in Hong Kong. Sorry.

Where in Kowloon do you need to go to?

From the Alishan, you can easily take the MTR across the harbor (with a switch of trains at the Admiralty stop). Or you can take a tunnel bus on Yee Wo Street (short walk, same direction as MTR). #112 goes to Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok; #116 goes to eastern parts of Kowloon.

Unless I'm in a big hurry, I prefer the bus. No need to take several long escalators down to the trains, there's decent chance to get a seat on the bus (vs zero on the train), and chances are good that the walk to my destination is shorter from the bus than the train.

But if you're going to Tsimshatsui, then best bet is the MTR. Or if you have plenty of time, take a bus to the Wan Chai Pier, and then the Star Ferry across the harbor to Kowloon. Several buses, but #s 8P and 2A are the most frequent. Their stop is at 500 Hennessey Road (in front of the Hennessey Center demolition site). You will see a 2A or 8P literally every minute, and the ride is also only a few minutes. Or you can walk from Alishan to the Wan Chai Pier. About 3/4 of a mile, but not the nicest walk along and over the busy Gloucester Road. You can do it in 20 minutes or less.

I don't really have anywhere specific to go. Planning to check out the main tourist areas and hopefully some areas outside of that to get a sense of culture.

We only have 2.5 days, so would like to be in a convenient location without a 30min+ commute to main attractions and also would be nice to be close to nightlife. It's a weekend and we're meeting a friend who lives there right now, so we will probably be going out at night.

The New Garden Hostel looks nice in pictures, but reviews are all over the place. TripAdvisor's are all bad, but hostelworld are all good. hm.

Again, I have no personal experience, but my gut feeling is that guest houses in Causeway Bay like Alishan or Wang Fat will be safer and "cleaner" than those in Tsimshatsui or Mongkok.

Trust me, Causeway Bay is super convenient.

last year I stayed in one of the hostels that that are part of hostel HK, located in the peterson building, causwaayay.

the location was the best, I've stayed in kawloon a couple of times but I must conseed that causway is much better.

the rooms where not bad there was cable tv with air con and privet bathroom. only prob was lights went out a lot... but if you have stayed in guesthouses often, especially in asia. then you should be used to this. I think most travalers should always cary a mini flashlight with them.

Wang Fat that I mentioned is one of the larger, if not largest, guest houses in the Paterson Building. Maybe that's the one orgy7 stayed in?

Another large one is Sun Kong. And there are others.

RKKWAN

that's the place.

Try Yesinn (http://www.yesinn.com/). Based on the pictures on the website, the room is nice. Most important of all, free internet and free wifi if you bring your own laptop.

Thanks everyone! Based on your comments and my HK friend's suggestions, we booked at Alisan in Causeway Bay. We booked the 3 person room for the two of us as recommended by Lonely Planet so we can have more room.