Hey guys! It's been a while! I tried so hard so many times to try and write an article while in Hong Kong but, I just couldn't finish even one so I have a few drafts hanging and I will try to post them one by one.
Today, let me share with you how our trip went and where we stayed during our four-day, three-night stay in the paradise for shopaholics!
But first, some context - every employee working for Arcanys who reaches 5 years (5yearclub) in service becomes eligible for their annual incentive of traveling internationally with a plus one for free. My husband has worked for the company for almost a decade so it's his fifth time joining.
Some of my husband's colleagues were also part of the 5-year club, the others flew a few days earlier.
Last year was Singapore and this year was Hong Kong. We traveled from Bohol to Cebu a day before our flight and arrived at the airport just at the right time as our flight was at 6 AM on the 27th of October. Flight to Hong Kong was roughly just less than three hours and everything was planned by the company's Admin team who traveled with us as well for this trip.
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At Mactan International Airport, checking in, paying the travel tax
Traveled via Cebu Pacific Airline!
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Matti didn't want to sleep but eventually in the middle of the flight, he was knocked out! The other photo shows us waiting for the train to the immigration in Hong Kong!
Inside our private transfer bus, from the airport to our hotel. He was again sleepy, we hold hands.
The flight was smooth, we arrived at the airport past eight in the morning, and by 9:30, we were done with immigration and were just lining up for their Tourism freebies. Unfortunately, since my husband booked a private transfer for us, we had to go and leave our spot for the tourism freebies as our vehicle was already waiting. We arrived at The Kowloon Hotel an hour later.
For this blog, let me share with you the rates, reviews, and the experience we had at this hotel.
Rates
Honestly, I was shocked when I found out that it cost Php 21,000+ per night but it was on sale and they were 50% off that time. I was even more shocked to know that they didn't offer breakfast for our rates! Last year, and the previous years, our hotels included breakfast, and I love G Hotel for their really nice buffet.
Anyway, we have to move on about that. The company's admin booked our three-night stay at the Kowloon Hotel.
Location
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What's nice about staying at The Kowloon Hotel is the location. It is right at the center of Tsim Sha Tsui and so are the shopping malls, and all were just a few meters away. The famous Avenue of Stars is just nearby as well and the pier for their ferry is just a few minutes walk.
There are a lot of subway stations nearby and the hotel is just beside Peninsula Hotel. There are many hotels and mansions in the area too.
Check-In and Luggage
The check-in time is usually at two in the afternoon but thankfully, they allowed us to check in early as we arrived before lunch, they assigned us to rooms at noontime and we also were allowed to leave our luggage at the lobby. They have a little seating space in the lobby though, just a few lounges while their hotel was super busy, like, there were a lot of people coming in and out that the person at the door would just leave it open so he didn't have to continually open and close the door.
Upon checking in, they just asked for our passport and that's it. They had no questions or other things to ask for. Upon checking out, they have this express check-out where you can just place the room key and guests can just go out. I am thankful that they allowed our luggage to be left at the lobby as our flight was still at 7 PM and their check-out time was at 11 AM.
The Room
Our room was on the 16th-floor street view Deluxe Room, I noticed they didn't have any bellboys at all, all guests will have to bring their luggage and other stuff to the room, although they have a person assigned to help with the luggage left for storage at the lobby.
You may also watch this video:
The elevator worked fine, there were six elevators so we never had to wait for long each time we needed to use it. It was also fast.
Our keycards had to be inserted, at first, we thought we needed to tap it to the door but we actually had to insert and take it out. The room was 18 m² in size, the door was super heavy, I needed help each time I have to open it, but on the right side, we have the toilet and bath, they got a long sink area with the whole mirror wall, toiletries included, the bowl was big and nice, and there's a bathtub too which I had used a lot, hot and cold shower is available and there was a hair dryer provided and some sockets for other things.
Opposite the bathroom is a storage, there were robes provided too, slippers were changed every day, there's a mini fridge as well, a microwave, a water heater, some instant coffees and teas, and two bottles of water. Speaking of water, this is very expensive in Hong Kong, I found that Indian stores sell them at the cheapest price.
We were given a King-sized bed and it was very comfortable, there were bedside lamps and a telephone, and a tv too but it wasn't the smart tv that we expected, we watched some shows a couple of times but we hoped we could watch Netflix and play Youtube, unfortunately, it's not.
There's a glass table too and a chair which we loved because we could work on our laptop very comfortably, only that there was only one chair. But our favorite part of the room was the wall glass and the sitting space at the edge of the glass, it was a perfect spot for some self-reflection while having coffee. The curtains were really nice too! And from our room, we could see the neighbors swimming in the Peninsula Hotel's pool!
There were also USB ports which made charging easy, although it takes longer but we didn't bring any universal adaptors. Sockets were available in almost every corner of the room. Our luggage we placed under the bed and the stroller fit well under the lamp's floating table.
Entertainment
Again, the TV is only 32 inches and not a smart one. There's a WIFI connection everywhere in the hotel and was steady but this is just the speed for every user, I guess they had limited the data each user connected to the network because of the number of guests.
Review
Our overall stay here at The Kowloon Hotel was good, there were no major issues. What I really had felt discouraging was the lack of free breakfast considering the price that we had to pay.
The staff at the front desk was cool and I am grateful for the lady housekeeper who brought my eyeglasses out when we were about to checkout and she happened to be just on the other side of the hallway. She went into our room for housekeeping and found my eyeglasses, she immediately called me as we were still waiting for the elevator.
I asked other friends and they said the hotels where they stayed also didn't offer free breakfast so I guess it was a thing in Hong Kong, unlike other countries that we had been to. But there's a restaurant on the second floor so if guests wanted to dine in, they could have a meal there and a cafe as well at the lobby.
I don't know if we can come back to Hong Kong someday but if there is another chance, I might not be staying in this hotel anymore, perhaps, I'll book an Airbnb and see how a local lives in this expensive city.
Thank you once again to XLR8 Ventures Inc. (Arcanys) for this opportunity! We are always grateful for your generosity!
That's all for today! Thanks for reading!
J U N E B R I D E
Boholana | Cebu | Philippines | Travel | Photography Enthusiast | Calligraphy | Art
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