Hello. I'm a 27 year old traveling with a girlfriend. We cannot figure out which area to stay in HK. We would like to be close to public transport and preferably to nightlife. We looked at Central, but the hotels there are a little pricey. Any suggestions/recommendations? Thanks!

we really love the kowloon side...there are tons of hotels and bars and restaurants and even better tons of shopping experiences....plus all the transportation you would need...

When are you going and what's your budget?

And not sure what kind of nightlife you're looking for, but if you want to stay late in Lan Kwai Fong, you do want to be on Hong Kong Island. Lots of hotels in Causeway Bay that are cheaper than Central.

We are going March 16-20th. We were hoping to spend under $150. We currently have a reservation at the Ritz in Central for $220 and decided that it's a little more than we would like to spend. I was told that Kowloon would have better deals, but how convenient is it? Which area of Kowloon would you recommend, which hotels? Where are the majority of the "sites" - cultural as well as shopping? On the island, is the Causeway Bay well located? I would hate to find myself in the middle of nowhere, really out of the way of civilization...

If you can get the Ritz Carlton for $220 a night, I think you should stay there. Yes, there are hotels for $150, but any one of those will be 3*, a significant downgrade from the Ritz Carlton.

Causeway Bay has tonnes of shops and restaurants. And MTR service. You may find <b>too much civilization</b> over there.

We stayed at the Prudential Hotel in Kowloon. It is definitely nothing like the Ritz, but it is located above a subway station and nice shopping mall. Clean and fairly basic - but we found it entirely adequate since we spent hours and hours each day exploring Hong Kong. You will find more than enough to do in the immediate area whether you choose to venture up Nathan Road into the more Chinese areas or down Nathan Road into the more touristy areas. I checked your dates on precisionreservations.com, and they show rates of $105-115 US per night. You might want to check their website.

A few days late- if you still need a hotel have a look at Salisbury YMCA- best position, views, great price and you are next door to the Peninusla Hotel- we are going again in Mid March07 and this time staying at the Sheraton , again opposite Nathan Rd to Peninsula Hotel
Hope you love HK- this is our 4th trip over for a short break- lots of colour, movement, contrast

I second the YMCA. It is not like a dorm...it is a real hotel with nice rooms and comfortable beds in a great waterfront location. Pay for a harbor view room.

At your age, you will want to go out at night in the Lan Kwai Fong area of Central and possibly up in Soho, so staying at the Ritz-Carlton is actually fine; it is walkable in about 10-15 minutes or an even shorter and very cheap cab ride. Another hotel to try would be the Hotel Lan Kwai Fong, which is IN the bar area and would literally be a few feet from several bars/restaurants, and is in the same building as one of the most popular and trendy bars/nightclubs currently in Hong Kong, the Dragon-i. (Doubles as a very good restaurant during the day). Take a look at http://www.lankwaifonghotel.com.hk/. Rooms can be small, so go for the largest room you can afford.

The YMCA Salisbury Road is a perfectly nice hotel and has an excellent view, but you really will not be wanting to go out to any bars in that neighorhood, its very touristy other than the views and a few good restaurants. If nightlife is your preference, stick to the Hong Kong side; otherwise you will be schelppig over by ferry or subway every night. You can go over to the Kowloon side for dinner at Felix, Hutong (or any of the other restaurants on that floor), Spoon, Nobu or the Habourside in the Intercontinental (the cheapest option but still has the view...)

My fiance and I stayed in HongKong recently and there are 2 places to party there:
1. Central - Lan Kwai Fong
2. Kowloon - Knutsford Terrace

If you want a 10 minute taxi ride or MTR and still be close to Lan Kwai, do stay at Causeway Bay - Excelsior

Knutsford has cool bars like this Russian bar I go to for different kinds of vodka.