I have been waited so much for this trip!! I did not mind too much about the early morning flight either, I just wanted to be there and feel that 'am in China!! Ok, ok, I know, Hong Kong is so different from the "Mainland" but anyways, it was so unbelievable that I got there. Singapore is too perfect I wanted to see some "imperfections" and authentic ambience..
World news were filled with the protests in Hong Kong, I was worried a little, not because I would afraid of the happenings itself, but I thought it will affect our entire trip by tourist places will not be open. Else I was excited about the situation, wanted to see how people protest and what's happening there at all. And yesss we have been there and took lot of pictures, I felt like a reporter, was standing next to the Chanel NewsAsia and CNN! It was just simply awesome to be a part of it!
Arriving to Hong Kong, at the airport everything goes smoothly. We got only a small paper(no stamps) about the visitor permit ( I'm allowed to stay without visa for three month, unfortunately I can not live with this advantage now..) and that's it.
The first thing is to grab our tourist passes for the four days we spend there. The Octopus card is the most convenient if you are staying for more than three days, else there is an "Airport Express Travel Pass" which gives you 2 journeys from and to the Airport by the Airport Express Train (for 300HK$) and unlimited usage of the MTR for 72 hours! I think this is the best option as the airport express is a bit costly if purchased separately.
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| Travel pass for tourists |
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| Single Journey Ticket |
There is a complimentary Airport Express Shuttle-bus service between Kowloon and the nearby hotels, we were not much informed(forgot to read the leaflet given along the travel card) so missed this opportunity. So we went to the Central and changed to the MTR towards Tsim Sha Tsui, where our hotel is located.
Hotel Review:
We stayed at the Panorama Hotel by Rhombus at 8A Hart Ave. Check in time from 2pm. We arrived about 1.30pm but they don't give the rooms earlier, although the check out time is at 12pm!!
We faced to an uncomfortable situation when they asked 1500HK$ "deposit", quoting their hotel policy. We did not know about this "policy" although I have checked their website earlier, directly to avoid any hidden fees. Asking deposit and not telling for what purposes is quite unfair I feel. And they told us the purpose of the deposit only after we refused to pay it as it was not mentioned anywhere and we were upset about the extra we should pay. So the fact is, they ask 500HK$ per night for the usage of "minibar" and watching movies in the room...We did not want to use any minibar and wasting time by watching tv, we went for sightseeing to HK not to cinema! So annoying. They should clearly state their conditions in advance before you book the room, mainly if it affects your pocket!
I have read reviews of this hotel and all of them was positive. I know that the "harbour view" can not be given to everyone only for those who stay on higher floor, but our room was on the 12th floor and the view was very poor, and not much sight for the Harbour. If you want a better option, you have to pay extra for that also...
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| It was raining that day... |
After few minutes somebody came and locked the "minibar" which was a fridge I guess. It would have been good to use that, at least to put our own water or whatever we want...
An another negative thing, that there was a door on our room wall, which seemed like a gate to the another room. We closed it, but during the night somebody was trying to open it from the another side, it was scary!
Good points are: on the 40th floor there is a nice terrace("Sky garden") where you can enjoy the spectacular view of the Harbour, and a gym too if somebody feels like to exercise before of after climbing up to the Big Buddha!
In Kuala Lumpur we stayed in an "Inn" which was much friendly and better then this four star hotel. I excepted more from it maybe. Anyways, later it was ok, but the first moments were quite uncomfortable.
This area is very good, the MTR station and the Avenue of Stars is about 5 minutes walk from the hotel.
Read more about Hong Kong:
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