Hotels in Hong Kong: Where to Stay?

Our (highly opinionated) guide to Hong Kong hotels

Where should I stay? Of all the questions our Little Adventures in Hong Kong guests ask us, that’s one of the hardest for us to answer. Hotels are such a personal decision. Without knowing more about a person’s taste, budget and travel style, suggesting a hotel is really a tricky proposition.

To help you with your choice, we’ve come up with the following list of suggestions. We’ve picked these hotels first of all because first and foremost we like them. But we’ve also tried to guide you towards hotels located in our favorite neighborhoods, close to the streets and sounds we’ll be introducing you to on your Little Adventures in Hong Kong private or group walk.

Of course we have another bias: Food. The hotels on our recommended list below are all located near delicious Hong Kong restaurants and street treats. If you stay in one of these hotels and book a Wontonathon or a Cook’s Tour food walk with Little Adventures in Hong Kong, you’ll be in the perfect spot to return and revisit the places we’ve visited together, on your own.

We’ve organized our list by price, with the most expensive up top, and the bargains and hostels at the end. And to help you even more, we’ve partnered with agoda.com, the global hotel booking agency, so that our guests can take advantage of some great Hong Kong hotel deals.  Just click on the “Book” button below each hotel to see Agoda’s special discounted room rate.

The Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong

The quintessential Hong Kong hotel, and much more. The MO has style,  history, and also that rarest of things: a close connection to Hong Kong daily life and society. It opened during Hong Kong’s go-go 1960s, and its design expresses the verve and optimism of the manufacturing boom that pulled Hong Kong well and truly out of its WW2 hard times. The magnificent mid-Century Chinese style lobby, which accommodates both the hoi palloi and the beau monde of Hong Kong society, has chandeliers worthy of Miami Beach alongside intricately carved and gilded Lingnan-school wooden sculpture panels. Even if you don’t stay here it’s worth a visit to the lobby to witness our local smart set and business executives meeting over tea on the mezzanine. Or you can indulge in tea, scones and signature rose petal jam in the quiet of Cafe Causette upstairs.

The Four Seasons Hong Kong

Comfort and modern style is why travelers choose this outpost of the well-known luxury chain in Hong Kong. The “upstart” in the big five star hotel category may not have the charmed history of the Mandarin, but it has larger guest rooms and extraordinary views of Victoria Harbour. (One way to catch these views if you’re not staying here is to book a massage in their superb spa, which faces the Harborside). The FS also has two celebrated Michelin restaurants on premises (we love the cheese selection at Caprice Bar), and is super-convenient for transport and shopping–a short walk puts you in the thick of the Sheung Wan markets, on a Kowloon bound Star Ferry, or on the fast train to the airport.

Upper House

This was one of the first boutique luxury hotels to open in Hong Kong (it’s called “upper house” because it occupies the top floors of the Marriott Hotel in Admiralty). Strong on personalized service and privacy, it also boasts one of the best places for sunset cocktails on Hong Kong island (Cafe Grey Deluxe–amazing views and excellent drinks). As far as we’re concerned there are only two reasons why you may not like staying here. First is that it has a global-modernist, Phillipe Starck type design, which is highly subjective–some people really love it, others find it anonymous, without any “Hong Kong” personality. The other issue is location–access to Upper House is either by taxi, or through a large shopping mall. We don’t find that to present too much of a problem, because once you figure out the route out of the mall, you are on the doorstep of Wan Chai and its terrific shops, bars, restaurants and of course right near the start point of our popular Sunday in Wan Chai food and culture walk.

Pottinger Hotel

This boutique hotel, excellently located steps from Queen’s Road Central (Hong Kong’s “high street”) has rapidly become a firm favorite with our guests. Although the lobby is small, it has a lovely little bar and makes a great spot to wait for your Little Adventures in Hong Kong host before you head out on an “Essential Hong Kong” walk with us. We also love the Pottinger’s attention to Hong Kong history–they’ve created a cool little heritage walk online to introduce their guests to the surrounding area of markets and cultural attractions.

Hotel Indigo

Another winner in the mid-rage boutique hotel category. Located in Wanchai, Indigo’s rooms are on the small side (as are, alas, most Hong Kong hotel rooms outside the luxury category), but man, that pool! It extends out from the roof and over Queen’s Road East, and you can literally see the street below through its transparent bottom. As if that weren’t enough, the Indigo is one of the best spots for exploring Wan Chai and environs: turn a corner and you are in the bustling WanChai market. The Wanchai area is a superb place to base yourself during your stay in Hong Kong–we recommend signing up for our Sunday In Wanchai group walk to help orient you to the neighborhood.

Lanson Place

Our guests consistently give Lanson Place high marks for its larger-than-usual rooms and suites, and quiet and personalized boutique atmosphere. With no restaurants on site, and kitchenettes in many of the rooms, the Lanson feels more like a home away from home than a hotel. Across the street is Haven Street Settlement, a classic old Hong Kong apartment block with an arcade of unexpected shops from tailors to vintage. You are also in kicking distance of Tai Hang, the enclave of restaurants and bars that locals-in-the-know head to for low key night out. Our team has created a very cool walk to introduce you to the Tai Hang and Tin Hau neighborhoods that are at Lanson Place Hotel’s doorstep. Contact us and let us know you’ll be at the Lanson, and we’ll set you up with this private program.

Jervois

Another guest favorite, the Jervois is an all-suite designer hotel with larger than usual rooms (a big plus) and a super location in the heart of Sheung Wan, the starting point of many of our Little Adventures in Hong Kong “Wontonathon” food walks. It’s literally 45 seconds from one of our favorite places to eat roasted Cantonese pork!

Butterfly on Hollywood

Butterfly on Wellington

The Butterfly chain of Hong Kong hotels has taken budget and made it brilliant. While the rooms may be a bit small, these boutique hotels punch above their weight in service and comfort. Best of all, they are situated in Hong Kong’s most central and walkable neighborhoods. If you are on a travel budget and this is your first trip to our city, or if you are stopping over on your way to or from Southeast Asia, we highly recommend basing yourself in one of these two branches of Butterfly.

Holiday Inn Express Sheung Wan

The well-known American chain has a Hong Kong secret–the top floors of this well-priced hotel have harbour views just like the pricier hotels at the top of our list. Our guests report that it is comfortable and they particularly like that they can walk out their front door and be at great restaurants, bars and coffee shops in minutes.

Ibis (Sheung Wan)

The famous French budget chain provides cheap, simple but well-designed rooms in the funky heart of Hong Kong’s famous dried seafood district. It’s the site of one of our most popular Little Adventures in Hong Kong walks, and a hop and skip away from the famous old Lin Heung Kui teahouse, where you can head as early as 6:30 am for dim sum breakfast. Bustling and a bit airport-like, the Ibis nevertheless is a strong value-for-money choice, and earns top marks for convenient location in a most authentic corner of the city.

Mei Ho House

This little hotel and hostel may be the most unique lodging in Hong Kong, budget or otherwise. It is the last surviving building of what was one of the first public housing estates in the city. While the guest area has been spiffed up and modernized, across the courtyard and connected to the Mei Ho is a superb museum that takes you through the history of Hong Kong’s public housing in a unique way. Each area has period rooms, showing how people actually lived in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Outside the Mei Ho, it’s a five minute walk into the heart of Sham Shui Po, the Kowloon area renowned for its street food (and another site where we take guests on our Wontonathon food walks).