aladin

Have never been to Hong Kong. Going in Nov.
Any hotel ideas with harbour view,reasonable
rate, and good location for accessing other
transportation to explore other areas.
Many thanks

AAFrequentFlyer

If you want to stay on the Kowloon side and have a nice view of the HK side and a reasonable rate there is only one choice - YMCA Salisbury.
The harbor view rooms are about $125-$150 and the harbor view executive rooms are about $200.

http://www.ymcahk.org.hk/sales/html/...facilities.htm

aladin

Many thanks for your time AAFrequentFlyer. Do you take the train
from the airport?

AAFrequentFlyer

Yes. I got the Octopus card for HK$300. That included R/T on the Airport Express with free bus transfer to major hotels. 72 hours of unlimited MRT use starting from the first subway ride. It also has HK$20 credit to use on other things, Star Ferry, buses, trams, even purchases in 7-11s and supermarkets, etc. HK$50 of it is a deposit which will be refunded upon turning in the card at the airport, as long as you didn't go over your "credit" limit. The card allows you HK$30 overdraft which will be subtracted from your deposit. They are also rechargable at HK$50 minimum. Personally I really liked the card. Never had to worry about change. I did recharge it once during my 7 day stay so, for HK$300 I was basically able to get anywhere I wanted. The train is great. The airport has free luggage carts which you could take to the train station. There are porters that will help you load your luggage onto the train. At the Kowloon and Hong Kong stations you are met by more porters waiting with luggage carts. They will help you off the train. You walk over to the free bus connection station and take the appropriate bus that stops at your hotel. Same procedure on the return. It took less than 1 hour from the airport to Conrad on Hong Kong island. It will take you about 15 minutes less to get to a hotel on the Kowloon side. Same for the return.
HK$ is based on US$ so it's always around 7.80 to 1 +/- few pennies.

For more info on the Octopus card : www.octopuscard.com

rkkwan

The Airport Express requires a transfer to a free shuttle bus from the Kowloon station to your hotel. [Or a taxi ride.] Instead, you could take the Cityflyer A21 airport bus for HK$33 each way. It stops one and a half block from the YMCA and runs every 10-13 minutes. I strongly recommend everybody to consider the bus.

aladin

YMCA not available. How about Kowloon
Hotel?

rkkwan

Kowloon Hotel is right behind the Peninsula, so I don't think you'll get any harbor view. It is built and run by the Peninsula Group, so you know you're getting extraordinary quality.

If you must get harbor view, and aren't willing to pay top prices for the Peninsula or the Intercontinental, here are some others you may consider, though all will cost a little more than the YMCA.

On Kowloon side:
Sheraton (the "Tower" rooms), Macro Polo Hong Kong Hotel, Grand Stanford, & Nikko. Also, the Harbor Plaza Metropolis, which is next to the KCR train terminal, but away from the MTR or the Tsim Sha Tsui shopping and dining area.

There are also many hotels on HK Island with a harbor view - it's a different view, and in general not as specatular as from the Kowloon side. Renaissance Harbor View is one - it's close to the Convention Center but far from the MTR. Or the new "Two Macdonnell Road", which is up on the hill. The Metropark, the Rosedale and the Parklane are all the in the Causeway Bay shopping/dining district and may have some partial harbor views.

These are the ones where you can get for ~$100-150 per night. Check out asia-hotels.com for the listings.

Lia

We've stayed at the Marco Polo Hong Kong hotel twice and loved it! I'm not sure about harbour view rooms but it's a very convenient location near the Star Ferry and Metro subway station. The hotel is one of three Marco Polo hotels (Gateway and Prince are the others) connected to the huge Ocean Terminal/Harbour City shopping mall. Our package included R/T air from San Francisco, 5 nights hotel, transfers, breakfast and city tour so I'm not sure how much the hotel alone would cost...probably USD$100-$150 as rkkwan indicated. I use www.asia-hotels.com and other sites to get information though I'd recommend booking directly with the hotel just in case there's any problem when you arrive. Enjoy the trip!

AAFrequentFlyer - Thanks for details on the Octopus card!

PeterN_H

'Octopus' is the name for the stored-value card.

The specific offer for visitors which includes the benefits listed (unlimited MTR for three days, two one-way Airport Express trips, HK$20 on other extras, although the offer may vary) is called the Hong Kong Transport Pass, which is what you need to ask for. This costs, as stated, HK$300, or HK$220 for the version which includes only one Airport Express trip.

An ordinary Octopus card costs a minimum of HK$150 (including the HK$50 refundable deposit, and HK$100 of stored value for travel etc.) but doesn't include the benefits listed above. Jumping on the Airport Express with this card will swallow up all its initial stored value in one go, unless you paid for more stored value at the time of purchase.

Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html

AAFrequentFlyer

Peter,

My card had BIG Octopus written on it and was rechargable, so I don't know why you think it's different. I could have kept it for up to 3 years if I thought I will be back. What's the difference?
The AE trip(s) is/are programmed seperately into the card, but once it's gone, the card becomes just a regular Octopus card.

rkkwan

The Tourist Card is a special type of Octopus, just that it has one or two AE trips, 3 days of unlimited MTR travel, and HK$20 of value stored on them. AAFF is right that after you've used those AE and MTR trips, it's just a regular Octopus Card.

Someone new to HKG just need to know which type to buy. If they're going to take the AE, and will use the MTR for 3 days, then go get the Tourist Card. If they're not taking the AE, then get the regular Octopus card.

That's all.

clevelandbrown

We got the regular octopus card and the train tickets at the same time. They would only accept cash, so hit the ATM before the ticket desk.

We found the airport express train very efficient, but it didn't give much of a view (on the famed suspension bridge it runs in some kind of gutter under the surface). Since our flight arrived at night, it wasn't a big thing, but on our next visit we will take the bus and enjoy the view. For the same reason, we preferred busses to the MTR. The MTR is faster, if you don't get lost in the station, but the busses are better for seeing things.

We were fortunate to get a room in the YMCA, excellent location at a good price.

Lyndie

The Harbour Plaza hotel at Hung Hom has fabulous views of the harbour. We stayed in Mar 2003 and paid approx 150 US. Check out google for their website-they have a great pool overlooking HK island.