Novotel Century Harbourview. Health club has full harbourview and rooftop pool. Only one restaurant; the Waterfall Caf&eacute;.<BR>Rm. 2305 Standard Suite has harbourview, simple d&eacute;cor and small bathroom<BR>Rm. 2312 Standard rm has very small room.<BR><BR>Empire Hotel. Two blks. From Nathan Rd. Convenient location, modern, hip &amp; trendy.<BR>Rm. 2012 Deluxe rm. – 20 sq m, small compact room but takes advantage of the space, full harbour view, TV. is mounted on the wall. <BR>Rm. 2612 Studio Ste – 400 s.f., full harbour view, very nice bathroom, separate bathroom and tub. Lots of glass. Indoor pool is located inside an atrium that you can look up into, overlooks city. <BR>

Hyatt Regency Kowloon. Businesslike hotel setting but with more warmth, very good customer service, good location, no pool. Hugo’s restaurant; BEAUTIFUL. Gothic feeling, very intimate. Cuisine is Steaks, etc. The Chinese Restaurant; simple, elegant, open, pricey.<BR>Rm. 1514 Twin bed guest room – 320 s.f., same size as Standard room.<BR>Rm. 1511 King bed Standard room – 320 s.f.<BR>Rm. 1431 Executive Suite – 640 s.f.- Corner Ste, nice size for a couple, elegant, nice size bathroom w/sunken tub, separate shower; rooms 1430 &amp; n1431 can be closed off for a family suite. <BR><BR>Harbour Plaza Metropolis. Very large lobby, open and breezy, very nice. Opened June 2002. Wonderful views of harbour especially from the Promenade Restaurant; almost postcard view. Shuttle bus 7-11pm to Peninsula Hotel every 20 minutes. Across from Kowloon Canton Rail Station. Hotel is spacious and roomy, very nice. Outdoor pool area overlooks harbour as does the fitness center.<BR>Rm. 1871 Harbour view – 240 s.f., shower; no tub.<BR>Rm. Superior Rm. – 240 s.f.<BR>Rm. 1890 Deluxe Rm. – 600 s.f. – city/harbour view, has kitchen, bedroom is small.<BR>

Hotel Nikko. Hotel lobby is nothing special; lots of brown &amp; muted colors. Could stand an updating. Rooftop pool is nice size. Beyond the lobby the hotel is nice looking; better than what I expected. <BR>Rm. 940 Moderate rm – 30 s.m., nice colors, decent size.<BR>Rm. 928 Suite – Very nice size bathroom; sunken Jacuzzi tub w/separate shower and steam bath, 1 ½ bath.<BR>Rm. 903 Superior rm, American standard size.<BR>Rm. 914 Harbour view room, slightly smaller than superior room.<BR><BR>Grand Stanford Inter-Continental – 5 star hotel; beautiful. Would never know this was formerly a Holiday Inn. Corridors are nicely decorated. Very elegant hotel. Average size rooftop pool.<BR>Rm. 709 Standard rm – 32-35 s.m., very nice, bright &amp; airy, tub only, soft lighting<BR>Rm. 736 – Beautiful harbour view, king bed, same size as previous but different view.<BR>Rm. 1736 Diamond Suite – 1 ½ bath w/bidet, beautiful room.<BR>

Hyatt Regency Hua Hin. Beautiful Thai style hotel. Feels like something maybe of Bali? Quiet and tranquil, beachfront, very landscaped, only a few minutes from town. Authentic Thai restaurant. River pool leads to freeform pool w/waterslide. Regency club has separate pool.<BR>Guest rm. – standard lead in room – 40 s.m.<BR>Rm. 1118 – Garden Parlor rm – all ground floors have no balcony or patios but have a sitting coach which turns into a futon bed (12 &amp; under only).<BR><BR>Sofitel Central Hua Hin. Beautiful British Colonial style hotel. Large landscaped grounds with topariary animals and gardens, many pools.<BR>Rm. 128 Superior rm – lead in room; gorgeous for a standard room, lots of dark woods and brown colors, balcony, reminiscent of Morocco.<BR>Rm. 057 – Deluxe rm – bigger than previous rm, shower &amp; tub in same room area.<BR>Rm. 277 Duplex Ste – Gorgeous w/staircase leading to upstair bedroom, 2 bathrooms, terrace.<BR>Rm. 171 Deluxe rm.<BR>Rm. Colonial Suite – Expansive suite, gorgeous bathroom, very long balcony overlooking gardens and pool. <BR>Rm. 717 Lotus Suite<BR>

Samui Palm Beach. Bhoput Beach. About 10-15 minutes from Chewang Beach. More quiet area. Small lobby but don’t let that influence you. This is a small treasure. Eight Beachfront Bungalows are what you think about and want when you want something directly on the beach. Other resorts are deep whereas this resort is wide. 36 Villas available.<BR>Villa A29 Royal Ste<BR><BR>I'll post the rest of my trip report sometime next week. All I need now is a vacation!<BR>

Thanks for the report. I'm headed to Thailand next month. Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for taking the time to prpepare your long and detailed report. Sounds so much like my first Trip to HK and BKK. New York through Vancouver and on to HK. Like you I flew with Cathay Pacific. I liked them so much I've used them every year since - 98-99-00-01 and I leave in few weeks for Hong Kong and then on to Thailand again with them. I've been lucky as I never had a lost luggage issue with them so far. Also like you, except for 1998 - they've been late in leaving New York every year.<BR><BR>Also Like you I stayed in the Hyatt Regency on Nathan Road, Kowloon. But only my first trip. I thought the Hyatt was nice enough, and had a good location, but the room safes were in a cabinet at floor level. If You sat on the bed, you couldn't see the combination lock well, so you had to sit on the floor. <BR><BR>I had another issue too. I wanted to sleep with the bed spread on - and every night, housekeeping would take it off the bed, and we'd have to fish it out of the closet.<BR><BR>Last three years as well as this coming vacation, I stayed at the Marco Polo HongKong Hotel on Canton Road, TST, Kowloon. The room safe is at a decent level in the closet. <BR><BR>Anyway thanks for the report.<BR>Michael From New York

Thanks for a very detailed report. Have been to several of the hotels myself and would have appreciated the detail you gave before going. I'm sure it will be very useful for many people!

topping to keep this very detailed report going!!!