Hong Kong Highlights --- at a Reasonable Price

‘Reasonableness’ is relative in Hong Kong, one of the most expensive cities in the world. After three visits, I was still trying to strike a balance between cost and convenience there --- and then discovered the Regal Kowloon. Before you click on my review of this hotel find, here are a few of my personal Hong Kong highlights:

* Riding the Star Ferry from Kowloon, on the mainland, across the harbor to the skyscraper district of Hong Kong Island. Do it twice; once by day and again by night.

* Riding the Peak Tram, which clings to the side of the mountain that dominates the island until it terminates at a lookout high above the city and harbor. The restaurant at the peak is said to be one of Hong Kong’s most popular. When I was there, a free open-top shuttle bus connected the Star Ferry to the Peak Tram’s lower terminal. Serious hikers could ride the tram to the top, then trek back down the opposite side of the peak to sea level.

* Going somewhere --- it doesn’t really matter where --- on one of Hong Kong’s majestic double-decker trolleys (trams).

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If you haven’t been to Hong Kong since the new Chek Lap Kok Airport opened, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. It’s huge, but if your airline has enough clout to merit a jetway gate, it’s very easy to navigate. If your plane has to park on the tarmac and have its passengers bused to the terminal, then it’s less user friendly. Still, all you need do is to clear customs and then follow the signs to the rapid-transit platform.

With the airport came a new high-speed electrified rail line that will whisk you from airport to downtown Hong Kong Island in 35 minutes or less or, if your hotel is on the mainland, to a transportation center in Kowloon. (The station here is NOT downtown, and a bus transfer to your hotel can take another 10-20 minutes)

Hong Kong has three main rapid-transit --- ‘Metro’- --- lines connecting the island with various destinations on the mainland. They run in subways on Hong Kong Island in and Kowloon, but on the surface in the outlying territories. Where the ‘Metro’ doesn’t go, a bus or tram probably will. I’ve never had need for a taxicab in Hong Kong.

On my first stay in Hong Kong, I stayed in an out-of-the way place in Kowloon, that, except for giving me a private bath, was more like a hostel than a hotel. On my second, it was a Holiday Inn conveniently located on Nathan Road, Kowloon’s main street, but far more expensive than I’d have expected for that chain.

The Regal Kowloon is about a half-mile east of Nathan Road --- the vibrant social, shopping and night-life area of mainland Hong Kong --- and just a few minutes’ walk from the waterfront. The popular Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island was a 15-20 minute walk away, reasonable for the money saved by not taking a harborside hotel. My room in this mid-rise tower had a single king bed, was adequate but not large, and looked out on a small shopping mall/park and elevated pedestrian walkway to the harbor. As I’ve said in earlier hotel reviews, I like inns that execute all the basics well without superfluous frills. This fit that mold perfectly. The one extra I did appreciate was a spacious, well air-conditioned lobby and large sheltered driveway where I could wait for buses to the transportation center and airport. (The Regal Kowloon is one of the regualr shuttle-bus stops.)

The hotel had several restaurant options. Because it served early dinner, I chose a Continental/Italian room. It was on a low floor, didn’t offer much of a view, but was quiet, comfortable. offered good service and --- for Hong Kong, at least --- seemed rationally priced.

My travel agent was quoted the equivalent of U.S. $80 for a single room, but after dinner and breakfast, evening cocktails and Hong Kong’s sky-high taxes the bill was more like $200. (Currency fluctuations may also have played a role.) This was still much less than the privilege of staying on Nathan Road had cost me on the previous visit. And, it was buying what in my opinion was a high-quality hotel.

‘Golden Mile’ describes this Holiday Inn’s location accurately. On Nathan Road, just a short walk from Hong Kong Harbor, it’s at the heart of Kowloon’s considerable tourist attractions and near a subway (‘Metro’) line that connects you quickly with Hong Kong Island and the outlying territories. You’ll pay for this convenience, however.

I stayed at this hotel during a December 1997 visit to Hong Kong. My plane had arrived early in the morning and the hotel had no room ready for me. The receptionist asked me to wait in a lounge while he made a ‘special effort’ to find one. He did --- but when the bill came I discovered he’d ‘upgraded’ me to an ‘executive floor’ for an extra $50 or more --- considerably more after Hong Kong piled its hotel tax on top of that.

My room was certainly large and comfortable, though the view was dominated by a nearby, somewhat dilapidated office high-rise instead of the cityscape I was hoping for. The main dining room --- reviewed separately --- was very good and very expensive. A routine American-style breakfast in one of the several food-court restaurants on the lower level was severely overpriced at more than U.S. $17. My total bill, room for one night, dinner, bar and breakfast, came to more than $300. And that was 3-1/2 years ago!

That’s a long time to assume that a hotel review is still current, but I walked by the property in August 2000 and it appeared to be little changed. The lobby is patially surrounded by shops and it’s easy to walk by without recognizing it as a Holiday Inn. This is a quality property, but if you want to pay up for location, you might as well go all the way and pick one of hotels that’s actually ON the waterfront.

If you’ret tired of sitting in airplanes, and would like to see the South China Sea from a different viewpoint, consider a hovercraft ride to Macau. This former Portugese enclave --- Portugal administered it for some 400 years --- is now a Special Administrative Region of China. However, the U.S. Dept. of State says that nothing much has changed there since the hand-over in 1999. (Nor has much changed --- as far as tourists are concerned --- in Hong Kong, either.)

Macau is an unusual cultural blend of Mediterranean and Chinese, with Spanish, Moorish, British and Dutch also contributing. Portugese and Cantonese are both recognized as official languages, but you won’t have any difficulty finding English speakers in tourist-popular areas.

Hong Kong tourist authorities urge travellers to visit Macau for its multi-culture, multi-cuisine atmosphere but, on the day I went, most passengers headed directly to the large downtown casino a few blocks from the dock. Circumstances had forced me to postpone my trip until late June, when it was far too hot for serious walking-around sightseeing. That was unfortunate, because many of the more picturesque neighborhoods lay among the lush hills rising above the harbor. (The territory encompasses approximately 13 square miles, with a population of 437,000.)

Though we were sealed in a glass-enclosed cabin and asked to remain buckled in our seats for much of the trip, the high-speed ferry was still a pleasant way to inspect the then still-under-constrution airport site and the many islands populating the Pearl River estuary.

In summer 2000, Cook’s Timetable listed multiple trips daily, with running times of 55 minutes for the 74-kilometer (45-mile) trip for the equivalent of U.S. $14 round trip. (I’m converting Year 2000 Hong Kong Dollars at the June, 2001 exchange rate, so my price quote may be off. I’d made the trip during an earlier visit to Hong Kong and seem to recall paying substantially more than that.)

The Hong Kong Tourist Authority has several web pages on Macau within its own site: Hong Kong . To get to Macau a little faster, try Pearl River.

Alas, I have so far been unable to pry current ferry fares and schedules out of either address, but otherwise these sites, although a bit flowery in language, are beautifully illustrated and detailed.

The hovercraft terminal for Macau is perhaps two blocks from the Star Ferry, but last summer it took a circuituous walk around a huge construction site. If your stay in Hong Kong is limited, you’ll do better to concentrate your exploring on Kong Kong Island and the nightlife of Kowloon. But if you have five or six hours to spare, the side trip to Macau would be a worthwhile way to spend them.

You can get American-style spaghetti or just about any other Western comfort food you’d care to in Hong Kong or Kowloon, but did you really come all the way here for that?

My own hotel, the Regal Kowloon, had several restaurants. I had a fine dinner in the Italian-themed room there and highly recommend it. (71 Mody Road, 1-1/2 blocks east of Nathan Road.)

If you’ve always wanted to try sushi, but didn’t want to risk an entire dinner on the experiment, the Holiday Inn on Nathan Road, Kowloon (see hotel listing), offers a large, elegant dinner buffet of sushi, sashimi, and other Oriental appetizers plus a very fine selection of chilled Western-style seafood. I had dinners here in 1995 and again in 1997 and, in addition to the quality selection of cold starters, enjoyed main-course entrees that were intended to be served hot and actually were. Not all buffets accomplish that.

Be warned that this quality and variety come at a price: This is by far the most expensive restaurant I’ve encountered in the Holiday chain.

Several of the office skyscrapers near the Star Ferry Hong Kong terminal have top-floor restaurants with ‘Wow!’ views and very appealing menus, but none offered dinner service before 7 p.m. and, since my two previous meals had been on airplanes, that was too long to wait.

The restaurant on The Peak --- so highly spoken of by locals --- also had a very appealing menu. Had I not had an early departure the next day, I’d have probably gone back there for dinner.