Part 2 – Hong Kong
As I mention previously, we had a great time in Tokyo and were excited about our next destination, Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the flight from NRT to HKG on United was just sub-par in every possible way. The United lounge in Nartia didn’t feel like a lounge at all (we could barely find a seat). And the flight itself (5:20pm flight), well I would probably not even classify it as a business product (maybe economy plus and I’m probably being generous here). The seats looked like one of those bucket seats from maybe 30 years ago, had minimal recline, and not even a footrest. No personal entertainment system, just the TVs that come down from the top every 2- 3 rows. The business section was separated from the rest of the aircraft with a curtain. The food? isn’t even worth mentioning. And the FA, well she just was, not rude, but evidently smiling wasn’t part of her job description. What really amazes me, is that Tokyo to HK is probably the #1 business route in Asia, and is a 5+ hour flight. I couldn’t believe this was the business product United was offering to its customers on this route. Had I actually paid cash for my tickets, I would probably be furious. But hey, we got safely to HKG, which I guess is all that matters.
We landed in HK around 10pm on Monday and were flying out to Chiang Mai at 7pm on Thursday, so roughly 3 days. We decided to spend the 1st night at the Marriot Courtyard, as we would only get to the hotel around midnight to sleep, so didn’t make sense to book a luxury hotel. We used the Category 1-4 cert from the Chase Marriot card signup as the hotel is Cat 4. Its located on western part of HK island and is extremely easy to get to. We just took the H12 bus from the airport ($6 pp), which dropped us right in front of the hotel (5th stop). I can’t tell you much about the immediate area, as we really just slept and left in the morning, but HK is really easy to get around in. As to the courtyard itself, I was very pleasantly surprised. You don’t have a fancy lobby or anything but the room / toilets were greatly designed (very contemporary), new, clean, and just great ambiance. For people not looking to splurge in HK, this could be a great choice for an awesome hotel. When we woke up we just took a cab to the Grand Hyatt HK, which was about 10 – 15 min ride and cost about $6-$7 including luggage and tip.
Now the Grand Hyatt HK is anything but contemporary or modern, but looks like a hotel still stuck in the 90’s (maybe 80’s?). it has a very impressive lobby, but even that looked a bit dated to me. There is absolutely no comparison between this hotel and the GH in Tokyo for instance, which I think is leaps and bounds above the HK property. Hell, even the Courtyard rooms were much nicer than the rooms at the GH HK (and I stayed at one of their newer rooms). Even their treatment of Diamond guest was way lacking. Upon check-in we requested to be upgraded to their best available non-suite room, per Hyatt policy for Diamond members. The rep told us that we were upgraded to the King room on the club floor.
Now I did some research on the property and new that their best non-suite rooms were the Grand Deluxe Harbor View rooms (which are bigger, have the harbor views, and are newer rooms. People even advise on choosing these over their base suites, which are apparently quite dated), and knew that they had availability for the days we were staying at the property. I asked them why were we not given the higher category rooms and the response was that they usually upgrade diamonds to just the Club King. I requested to speak with a manager and explained that I don’t believe this was inline with Hyatt’s policy for Diamonds, which is clearly stated on their website. The manager said that they considered the Grand Deluxe Harbor view rooms as sort of Junior Suites, to which I replied that if this is the case it would be clearly identified as such on their website, but no, their website distinguishes suites from regular rooms, and this room was definitely in a regular room category. Finally, the manager agreed, but said that they only have a smoking room available in about an hour or so. I said ok, since we were anyways planning to go out and tour the city a bit. When we got back to the hotel, we were told that they were able to locate a non-smoking room for us (interesting). Once in the room, the views of the harbor were great, but the room itself smelled a bit musty, and looked a bit tired and worn. Anyways, it was plenty big for a couple staying for 2 nights.
On a positive note, the hotel is located about a 5 min walk from the Wan Chai station and 3 min walk from the Star Ferry terminal to Tsim Sha Tsui. The breakfast at the club Lounge or at the Café in the lobby was awesome with a huge selection of dishes and fruits. Also, we decided to leave 1 large suitcase at the hotel and have them deliver it to us at the HKG airport on the day of our scheduled return to the US. It was the items we purchased in the markets and we didn’t feel like dragging with us for 9 days in Thailand. They provided the service for $20, which was fantastic. Although the concierge looked very confused initially of the request, we were finally able to locate a gentleman who knew that the hotel provided the service and helped us in the process.
In terms of activities / sightseeing in HK, one should definitely take the tram to Victoria Peak. Its not very expensive and the views of the city are just stunning. There are also several restaurant there with great views (non-kosher). Otherwise, we spent the rest of the time walking around in Central district (kind of like midtown Manhattan, with office buildings and luxury stores) and in Tsim Sha Tsui on Kowloon island (which is more authentic Chinese area. Ave of the Stars is a nice area where you can take pics next the Jackie Chan’s or Bruce Lee’s stars). HK is pretty small and one could walk almost everywhere. The Metros are fast, efficient and easy to get around in, just get the Octopus Card). Even the taxi’s are not very expensive as long as you don’t hop between islands. For night life, you can go to the Soho area in central, which is the trendy part of HK island, with restaurants / bars. For Shopping, we did most of it at the Ladies / Night markets. Just go to Mongkok station on MTR, and follow the signs. Needless to say, you need to negotiate any quoted price by at least 50%, and most likely by about 75% (depending on the seller of course). There’s ton of fake merchandise, so if that’s what you are looking for, you are in the right place.
Heading for our flight, we took a cab to the airport express station in Central (not even $5 from our hotel) and took the express train from there ($10 pp). Loved the fact that you can just check in at the train station and drop your bags off as well. That way you don’t have to haul it in the train and the airport. The train is modern, fast and comfortable (highly recommend). HKG airport is great, but I would not plan on shopping at their duty free stores. Everything is super expensive and totally not worth it. For example, perfumes are over 50% more expensive than regular department store prices here in the states.
To be continued… next installment - Thailand (well Chiang Mai piece of it)
