Visiting Hong Kong - All Your Questions to Make Your Visit Memorable

[SanMiguel]

Hi fans, friends and residents of Hong Kong!!!

Now it is only a week , then i will be in HK again.
Finnally ...after 1 and a halve yr.

I have planned many hiking tours this time...
eg: Lion's Rock , Wilson Trail part 2 and 3 and so on...
Of course i also will visit all Construction sites wich i know.
And be prepared to see some very amazing pics soon hehe
i managed a "special trip" ...shhht secret (get surprised)

Now i need your help:
A few time ago we talked (here or in SSP) about a church at top of Central Plaza...
Unfortunatelly this thread is old and deleted.
I only know there is a church service held on sundays.
But i dun remember the time and wich lift to take.
Who can help me?

And of course any1 who is in HK from 11th till 27th June feel free to contact
me if u wanna meet me maybe we can make a group meeting ? hehe
pm me or try to find me in icq ( i use go.icq.com when i'm in HK and got time :P)

CU maybe in HK

Mike

.

[InitialD18]

thats great!!!
u know hk so well!!!
I wish I can go there this summer ...
but unfortunately I can't ...
Please take some street scenes also if you have time
of like older neighborhoods like wanchai, western and sheung wan ...

2ifc has a floor open, west kowloon helipad is opened too i believe ...

[Dennis]

church on top of central plaza? wow, i dont know dude, sorry

well dont forget to make cool pix for us, and a update of union square and nina tower if u have some time hehehe

u can go up in the Bank of China, Central Plaza, 2ifc and Hopewell center

good luck!

[HKT]

Wow, that's cool. Is it a Catholic Church?

[hkskyline]

After a bit of searching on the net, I found the following info :

Community Church Hong Kong (Non-denominational)
75/F Central Plaza
18 Harbor Rd., Wanchai
Tel: +852 2551-6161
Fax: +852 2892-2466

Community Church (hk)
http://www.cchk.net
Welcome to Community Church Hong Kong. We are an international, interdenominational and inclusive congregation. This web site serves to inform and encourage visitors or members of our extended community. Community Church Hong Kong's services are held at the Apex on the 75th floor of Central Plaza, Hong Kong's tallest building. Services are held every Sunday starting at 11:00 a.m.

Upon arrival at Central Plaza, proceed to the lift lobby on the second floor, where you will find our welcome desk. Since the Apex is not normally open to the public, you will need to collect a nametag from the desk, before proceeding to the Apex. Follow the signs to worship. Please allow 10 minutes to get to worship from the building lobby.

[vincent]

i think that "special trip" will be a helicopter tour?

[scorpion]

Mike (SanMiguel)-- do us all a favor, and SHOOT 100,000,000 pics of HK!!

have a great trip to the world's BEST skyscrapercity...

best, scorpion-igzaklee

[kunming]

Well, what can i say....San Miguel, you're probably one of the biggest hk city fan i've ever met on this forum. Anyway, i wish you a pleasant journey here in hk and snap it all the way.

[vincent]

a lot of people here are just enthusiatic as he does. But a lot of the forumers are student so we are financially, and phsically (have school) can't go back to hk as often.

[szehoong]

Hi fellow forumers!

I would be visiting Hong Kong probably on the 19th till 25th July. This is not confirmed yet as I need to confirm on the hotels

I've been given a list of hotel:

Hong Kong Island
1) Newton Hotel
2) The Charterhouse Hotel
3) City Garden Hotel

Kowloon
1) Majestic Hotel
2) Park Hotel
3) Eaton Hotel
4) Royal Plaza

I am not too sure of the accessibility of these hotels to MTR stations and the quality of these hotels as I do not trust the graphical maps and the pictures provided by the hotel so I need some input from locals

I hope some of ya might able to lend a little assistance .....I'll be flying Cathay Pacific!

ANyone wants to do a meetup?

[vincent]

thx for supporting HK economy by choosing Cathay Pacific! hehe...j/k

how did you narrow your choices down to these? I guess it would be easier if you give us the price range and the location that you want to be in.

some general info for each hotel:
Hong Kong Island
1) Newton Hotel (North Point, right next to Fortress Hill MTR station, skyline view of kowloon anywhere above 10 floors)
2) The Charterhouse Hotel (can't find this hotel in the map search engine)
3) City Garden Hotel (North Point, one or two blocks from Fortress Hill MTR station, skyline view of kowloon anywhere above 30 floors, not sure if the hotel has 30 floors though)


Kowloon
1) Majestic Hotel (three blocks North of Jordon station, super old building view ;-), not very convenient for tourist)
2) Park Hotel (two blocks east of Tsim Sha Tsu station, not much view except a small park locates on one side of the building, the location is ok for tourist)
3) Eaton Hotel (four blocks North of Jordon station, super old building view ;-), not very convenient for tourist)
4) Royal Plaza (North of Mongkok KCR station, five blocks east of Mongkok MTR station, not good for tourist since the KCR tst extension is not in operation yet)

[szehoong]

Originally Posted by vincent

thx for supporting HK economy by choosing Cathay Pacific! hehe...j/k

how did you narrow your choices down to these? I guess it would be easier if you give us the price range and the location that you want to be in.

some general info for each hotel:
Hong Kong Island
1) Newton Hotel (North Point, right next to Fortress Hill MTR station, skyline view of kowloon anywhere above 10 floors)
2) The Charterhouse Hotel (can't find this hotel in the map search engine)
3) City Garden Hotel (North Point, one or two blocks from Fortress Hill MTR station, skyline view of kowloon anywhere above 30 floors, not sure if the hotel has 30 floors though)




Kowloon
1) Majestic Hotel (three blocks North of Jordon station, super old building view ;-), not very convenient for tourist)
2) Park Hotel (two blocks east of Tsim Sha Tsu station, not much view except a small park locates on one side of the building, the location is ok for tourist)
3) Eaton Hotel (four blocks North of Jordon station, super old building view ;-), not very convenient for tourist)
4) Royal Plaza (North of Mongkok KCR station, five blocks east of Mongkok MTR station, not good for tourist since the KCR tst extension is not in operation yet)

Hey Vincent!

Thanks for your prompt reply!

Actually this is the list of hotels provided by Cathay Pacific as part of its package. Its a 'free and easy' tour....meaning I am not tied to any tour itenary.

I was thinking of staying in HK island itself but I would prefer any hotel that is just right next to an MTR station as I would be using the system extensively

So if I am correct, you're saying that Newton Hotel is the nearest to an MTR station of the bunch right? I would prefer to stay in a reputable hotel with a distance of not too far from any MTR station so which would you personally suggest? As for the rates are concerned, all these hotel rates are almost similar so no worries.

Any other HK residents here would like to share their view too? ......would greatly appreciate as I need to confirm the hotel fast! ( sorry for being last minute......got the list day before yesterday )

Thanks again Vincent!

[InitialD18]

i prefer to live on island if i have choice ...
newton hotel is right across from fortress hill station ...
city garden hotel is at least a ten minutes walk from fortress hill station ... charterhouse hotel is located in Wanchai ... its three - four blocks west of nearest MTR station(CWB)
Newton would be closest to MTR ... Chaterhouse would be in older wanchai ... City garden would be in a neighborhood part of north point ...

[szehoong]

Oh goodie! Thanks InitialD18!

Why do you have the opinion that staying on the island is better? More 'happening'? ......pardon my ignorance but I just need to know more before going .....hehehe

So Newton Hotel now tops my list!

hmmmm........How bout in terms of room quality? .....any of the hotel on my list is good or which is the better ones?

[HKT]

As a local in HK, I could hardly tell the quality of room service since I don't have the need to stay in a hotel in HK...

Anyway, I'll talk about the locations. I agree pretty much to what Vincent and InitialD18 said.

HK Island:
Newton Hotel and City Garden Hotel are both near Fortress MTR station with Newton the closest. Fortress Hill is considered to be a little quiet (lesser shops) compared to North Point or Causeway Bay, but you still see traffic and people on streets.

The Charterhouse Hotel is located between Wan Chai and Causeway Bay. It is 5-10 minutes walk to Time Square where Causeway Bay MTR station is. It is also closer to the Central and Tsim Sha Tsui if travel by MTR. Causeway Bay (like Mong Kok in Kowloon) is best for electronics/computer shopping, dinning, cinema, and karaoke.

Kowloon
I would say Majestic Hotel and Eaton Hotel are actually very convenient for tourist considered that Jordan is near Tsim Sha Tsui and these two are located on Nathan Road. They are one block from each other and it is just a 5-10 min walk to Jordan MTR station. The location is best for shopping and eating.

Park Hotel is in Tsim Sha Tsui East. Again a 5-10 minute walk along Cameron Road is needed to Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station. The location is best for dinning and nightlife.

Royal Plaza is north of Mong Kok KCR station. The location is best if you travel to the New Territories such as Shatin, Tai Po, Sheung Shui and even Mainland China. A 10-15 minute walk along the busiest street is required to Mong Kok MTR station. The hotel is right next to a mall called Grand Century Place. Mong Kok is the best location electronics/computer shopping, dinning, and karaoke.

A last word I would say is that you won't get bored while walking from the hotels you mentioned to the nearest MTR stations. As for room quality, if you trust Cathy Pacific like I do, the hotels they listed should be better than average. They wouldn't partner with hotels that will ruin their image...

[vincent]

wow, u can live in the hotel for free? one plane ticket comes with a free hotel room for how long? 1 week?

I just found where Charterhouse hotel is. The location is good. But no view.
Between the Newton, CityGarden and Charterhouse, all of them are liscensed with the gov as listed here http://www.info.gov.hk/had_la/english/hotel/locat.htm
CityGarden and Charterhouse are also licenced under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance (HAGAO) and are registered as Tourism Services Provider by Hong Kong Tourism Board as shown here http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/...?qLocation=ALL

The Charterhouse hotel
http://www.charterhouse.com/content/...cilities.phtml


Citygarden hotel
http://www.citygarden.com.hk/main.php?page=3


Newton hotel
http://asiatravel.com/hongkong/newtonhk/accom.html

along all of the three, only Citygarden got wireless broadband connectivity, as well as tv. The other two has TV but no broadband.

In terms of view, Newton has the best view (kowloon view, no TST skyline view though) (ask for a room in the most northern part of the hotel for a wider range of view) along all seven hotels in your list, with probably the Royal plaza being the second. Newton also has a rooftop swimming pool also. Forget about what i said about Citygarden having view above 30 floors, i just found out that you won't see any skyline view even if you live in the roof. For Charterhouse hotel, it locates in the heart of the most exciting entertainment/shopping district in hk; even though the walk even MTR stations are slightly longer than Cithgarden and newton.

I think the quality is about the same for all seven hotels. Your decision should be based on facilities, view, and location.

[vincent]

http://www.hkha.com.hk/main.asp?sec=3
all seven hotels are part of the HK hotels Association. So the quality is pretty much guaranteed.

[szehoong]

Thanks a lot HKT and Vincent!


I really appreciate both of your detailed explanation on the facilities and location and also on hotel recommendations

However my aunt said better for us to get a hotel at Kowloon as they are staying in Kowloon so easier for em to meet us. So I had to choose one of those Kowloon hotel.........

HKT > In your asessment, all the Kowloon hotel seems good for nightlife and are near to MTR station except for Royal Plaza.......so which one give the best location actually?

Vincent > haha....the hotel rooms are not free but part of the package that only offers hotel room and air ticket. It also comes with a complimentary half day tour.

If anyone here could further assist me as I've got to make this important decision by Monday .....appreciate a lot - Thanks!

[SanMiguel]

^
haha... i wish i can go more often...
last time i was here was in Jan/Feb 2003.
and i'm not rich either...

Finally i arived in HK and today i had a nice trip together with my friends(non-forumers).
We were at 11/F of 1Peking Rd for lunch.
walking thru TST (i took a lotta streetscenes) and lunch at
5/F of Guangdong London Plaza(?)
Oh and we were at HK China Ferry Pier for some nightviews.

tomorrow i probably go to the church at Central Plaza...



Mike
.

[HKT]

Szehoong, nightlife is there along Wan Chai-Causeway MTR Station on HK Island and Tsim Sha Tsui - Jordan - Yau Ma Tei - Mong Kok - Prince Edward MTR Station, which runs under along Nathan Road on the Kowloon side. Nightlife does exist in other parts of HK and Kowloon but it will be limited to restaurants that offer TV to their customers. With the coming of the European Soccer Cup, they can be crowded too.

Anyway, back to your question, if you let me do a quick pick, I would probably choose Eaton. There are more tourists in Tsim Sha Tsui and Jordan. Places along stations north of Jordan to Prince Edward have more locals. That's why I choose Eaton because it's the intersection of nightlife cultures. The reason I didn't choose Majestic Hotel is perhaps the room view. You probably can see only Nathan Road. At Eaton, you can also see views from Cascoigne Road, which has more open spaces and greenery. Both hotels are located on Nathan Road and north of Jordan MTR station with Majestic Hotel one block closer to MTR.