Hong Kong advice

Yay! Another Hong Kong tourist.

Firstly (and most importantly, of course), there is a gadget heaven in a shopping district called Mong Kok (yes, feel free to giggle; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mong_Kok ), a street called Sai Yeung Choi Street: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_Yeung_Choi_Street

Map: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...=16&iwloc=addr

All the big shops there are legit and quite competitive, so don't forget to haggle!


Hotel-wise I don't know what your budget is, but the one that I usually put my clients in is the Royal Plaza Hotel, which is also in Mong Kok and is above a great shopping mall: http://www.royalplaza.com.hk/

If you're looking for a budget hotel, the Shamrock Hotel in Jordan (near Tsim Sha Tsui - another shopping heaven; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsim_Sha_Tsui
) would be a good choice: http://www.shamrockhotel.com.hk/en/index.html

Obviously you should try to book via travel agents, which will make it a lot cheaper.



Restaurant: if you can read Chinese, there's a fantastic online guide for HK restaurants. I've personally picked three, one of which I have been to before (the second one):

Super Star Seafood Restaurant 鴻星海鮮酒家:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=3391
(map) http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/s...3391&mapType=1

East Ocean Seafood Restaurant 東海海鮮酒家:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=690
(map) http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/s...=690&mapType=1

Tack Hsin Restaurant 德興火鍋海鮮酒家:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=3423
(map) http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/s...3423&mapType=1

They are all in the Tsim Sha Tsui district - just an 8-minute underground train (we call it the MTR) journey from Mong Kok, and it is another shopping heaven. However, don't bother visiting those so-called "tax free" electronics shops, as we don't have value-added tax anyway plus they have many scamming tricks up their sleeves, just for tourists.

The buffet restaurant in the hotel is also very nice, and I think they do afternoon discounts which would be great for your family.



Other attractions and links:

Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong - my favourite shopping mall in HK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_Walk

Central - a financial district with the skyscrapers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central%2C_Hong_Kong

IFC - a shopping mall in Central: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Int...Finance_Centre

Wong Tai Sin - a Taoist temple, very popular in Hong Kong: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Tai_Sin

Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Tan_Buddha

Tai O - a fishing town on Lantau Island: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_O

Ocean Park - a theme park on Hong Kong Island with REAL animals (unlike our tiny HK Disneyland): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Park_Hong_Kong

Kam Shan Country Park - a nice walk with wild monkeys everywhere: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kam_Shan_Country_Park
http://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/count...is_cou_ks.html

Repulse Bay - the best beach in Hong Kong, in my opinion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repulse_Bay%2C_Hong_Kong

Transport in HK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Hong_Kong


Feel free to ask me any questions.

Richard,

Wow, thanks for so much great info!! I'm planning the trip now and you have made my life a heck of a lot easier, my wife also thanks you for saving her from one of my "it will be an adventure..." trips!! I really appreciate the links to attractions, restaraunts, etc. Also thanks for the heads-up about the "tax-free" shops...apparently I was scammed last time I was there

You rock!

My pleasure. Enjoy Hong Kong!

Just remembered some more places that I missed out:

Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden - beautiful countryside park, requires bus to get to but definitely worth it. It is something that you'd never expect to see in such a crowded city! http://www.kfbg.org/kfb/homepage.xml?lang=en

Mong Kok Computer Centre (again, for us lads really): http://maps.google.com.hk/maps?f=q&h...=17&iwloc=addr

Popular (and also my favourite) street markets, most are in Mong Kok: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/...opu_open.jhtml


Of course, you can always refer to the official Hong Kong Tourism Board's website - plenty of tips there: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/index.jsp

Thanks again for all the help, I've got a pretty good-looking trip planned based in no small part on your advice. I did find a good website that has pretty good prices for hotels, www.agoda.com

Thanks!

Wow, that's a neat website. I'll recommend it to my friends in the future. Thanks a lot.

Just out of interest: which hotel did you pick in the end? Still in the Mong Kok area?

Yeah, I booked at the Prudential Hotel, which appears to be right on the border between Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui, seems like a good place to be. I read about 100 positive reviews of the place on various travel forums, the MTR stop is actually in the basement of the hotel and supposedly you can easily walk to the markets. Which is good since I am traveling with two women who's primary goal in life is to die with the greatest number of shoes
Do you have any experience with this hotel?

Shamrock Hotel, which I recommended, is also directly above the same MTR station (Jordan). I don't know much about the hotel you've chosen, but the 100 reviews can't be wrong (unless they are fake, of course) so you should be fine.

That's good! thanks. I used the sinohotel.com, booked the Shamrock Hotel.