Any information on the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong would be most welcome. Is Central a good place to be based? Variety of (cheapish) places to eat nearby?<BR><BR>Thanks.

Good hotel but the rooms are a bit old, new furniture's but the layout is from the 70s. Smallish bathrooms is probably the biggest drawback.<BR><BR>Food.... the hotel restaurants are OK, not cheap. Best at the hotel is Vong(fusion food owned by chef Vongrichstein.. something like that, ex Normandy restaurant head chef - Oriental Bangkok). No cheapish place near the hotel I'm afraid. Yung Kee restaurant is about 20 minutes walk from the hotel and that's not too expensive.<BR><BR>Shopping. The hotel is connected via a enclosed walkway to the Landmark shopping mall. It also pass through another building which have some good shops in it.<BR><BR>I'll give it 3 out of 5. For the same price range and on the Hong Kong side, I would reccomend either the JW Marriot, Conrad and Island Shangri La. All these hotels are new and with immediate access to the Pacific Place Mall.

Central - Cheap? No way! You are talking about the most expansive area in HK. Facing Oriental, it is Chanel and Gucci, keeping walking in the mall, there are all kind of top brands and expansive restaurant. Oriental is one of the best hotels in HK even though it is not my favourite. If you can afford Oriental, I would recommend the ones that mentioned by Stanley Ho, or try the Peninsula at the other side of the harbor. I think Kowloon (particualy TST) is the best - this is where the Penisula is at. On top of all the varieties you want, the view is also best.

The subway station is right across the street. Ferry to Kowloon is about a 5-7-minute walk. I like its cafe but it's not cheap. Yes. Vong is supposed to be very good but I've never been there.<BR><BR>There's a Chinese fastfood sorta place across the street called Bravo. Nice and clean and it's a hygienic place to sample barbecued Chinese food.<BR><BR>

(Cont'd...)<BR><BR>And since it's so close to the MTR (subway), yes it's a good place to be based. One good thing about this subway station (the Central station) is that it connects many places of downtown underground. Just walk down there on a hot summer day and you'll appreciate this underground walkway which can bring you to or to the neighborhood of the City Hall, Star Ferry, Lang Kwai Fong and the ferry terminal to out-lying islands. But since some sections of this underground walkway include the station itself, you might have to pay a one-way fare (US 50 cents) in order to get in.<BR><BR>Go to Exit B of the subway station and you're not far away from the long escalator that connects Central to Soho where you can find interesting international restaurants (lunches at reasonable price) and little tradional antique and food stores.<BR><BR>If you're on a budget, I would recommend Bishop Lei though. Nice and clean rooms. Pretty good Sunday dinner buffet. It's at the Mid-Levels but there's a bus stop right in front of it that'll take you to the Admiralty or Central subway stations. Take a cab and it only costs you less than US$3 to get to Central.

Kowloon is a better place to stay. Stay close to the water for great views.<BR>There is a wider choice of hotels on the Kowloon side. Tops are Peninsula, Intercontinental (formerly The Regent), Shangri-La, and many more at all price ranges. The Sheraton, Hyatt, Kowloon, Holiday Inn Golden Mile are all on Nathan Rd just steps from the waterfront.