SHA TIN HOTELS

Sha Tin is located in the New Territories, just north of the Kowloon Peninsula. Built on land reclaimed from the sea, the main residential areas surround the Shing Mun river and have been, for many years, a proud example of Hong Kong's ability to build a new, modern city where none existed before.

Popular hotels in Sha Tin include the Hyatt Regency Sha Tin and the Regal Riverside Hotel. The area boasts a world-class horse racing track at Sha Tin Racecourse; a huge, popular shopping complex (of course) at Sha Tin New Town; and one of Hong Kong's finest academic institutions, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Cultural attractions include the 10,000 Buddhas Monestery and the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.

HOTELS IN NORTH POINT, HONG KONG

North Point is located on the eastern part of Hong Kong Island on Victoria Harbour, and is the northernmost point on the island. Hotels in North Point are generally a less expensive option to further east on the island, and there are convenient MTR connections at Fortress Hill, North Point and Quarry Bay stations to get you into town.

But there are some nice hotels here, making the area a popular place to stay in itself including the Harbour Grand Hong Kong Hotel and the East Hotel. If you want to be on Hong Kong Island, and be close to the hiking trails to the east, and the city to the west - and often at a better price - this is a great place to stay.

HOTELS IN MONGKOK

Mongkok is the next stop north of Yau Ma Tei on the Tsuen Wan line, as you move further away from the harbour at Tsim Sha Tsui. Let's see...it's the most densely populated areas on earth (according to the Guiness World Record folks) and it's the (former?) home of the most famous and dangerous Triads (Hong Kong gangsters).

So why stay here? Why visit? You need to be mentally prepared for it but, for one, the sheer amount of people and blaze of neon is fascinating. Once you visit here, other parts of Hong Kong may seem downright desolate! It's also the largest shopping district in Hong Kong. Finally, hotels in the area are lower priced than those closer to the TST harbourfront, with good choices such as the Metropark Mongkok Hotel and the Langham Place Mongkok Hotel.

LANTAU ISLAND HOTELS NEAR CHEP LAP KOK

Lantau Island is a beautiful weekend getaway for residents of busy Hong Kong, and a favorite day-trip for visitors. In addition to its scenery, there are several major attractions here. Hong Kong Disneyland is here on the northeast part of the island.

Also, attached to Lantau by a short bridge carrying thousands of rail, taxi, bus, car passengers a day, is the almost entirely land-fill island of Chek Lap Kok, home to Hong Kong's International Airport. The Novotel Citygate Hong Kong Hotel is essentially an airport hotel, but officially on Lantau Island just across from Chek Lap Kok. 

Ngong Ping 360 - Giant Buddha / Sky Ride

Lantau is home of the world's largest outdoor, sitting bronze Buddha. And getting there is half the fun. You can take a 3.5 mile (5.7 km), 25-minute ride on a cable car which offers stunning, panoramic views of the island's rich mountains and valleys, the South China Sea, and the airport. Highly recommended.

Tai O

An ancient fishing village on the northwest of the island, the attraction here are the hundreds of stilt houses and terrific seafood. A real glimpse into a traditional fishing community, set on the South China Sea.

Hong Kong Disneyland

The popular theme park opened in 2005, and is a smaller representation of the original park on California. Fun for the whole family. Along with Ocean Park, on top of a family's to-do list.

HOTELS IN HONG KONG CENTRAL AND SHEUNG WAN

Central / Admiralty

Central is the Manhattan of Hong Kong, home to many of its banks, financiers, real estate companies, and brokerages with Admiralty being a (relatively) new upstart neighbor with gleaming glass skyscrapers, many interconnected by elevated walkways. The huge projects accompanying the building of the new airport (Tsing Ma suspension bridge, West Kowloon Reclamation, Western Harbour Tunnel) also include, in Central, the Hong Kong Terminus of the Airport Express Line railway.

Near its locale at Exchange Square (in the upper left of the map below), stands the towering Two International Finance Center. It is the second tallest building in Hong Kong, after the International Financial Centre. Over in Admiralty, the Pacific Place office and shopping complex dominates with its enviable position at the border of Hong Kong park. Finally, rising up in the middle of all of this is the resplendent Bank of China building, a Hong Kong landmark.

HOTELS IN WANCHAI

Formerly a playground for sailors and home to one of the racier parts of Hong Kong, Wanchai has grown into a business district. Its crowning jewel - the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre - sits proudly in the harbor guarding Wanchai's new reputation. Don't be too deceived, however.

There are a few remnants of older days mixed with the trendier places such as Joe Bananas and Delaney's. Still, to underscore the new focus on business, North Wanchai at the harbor is more dense with skyscrapers than Central!

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center - HKCEC

The original HKCEC was completed in 1988. Completed in 1997, just in time to house the historic handover ceremonies, is the extension to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. Sitting in Victoria Harbour, the world's tallest glass wall opens onto gorgeous panoramas of the water, Kowloon, and up and down the island coast toward Central and Causeway Bay. Consistently voted one of the best exhibition venues in the world, it's a great place to visit -- even if you don't have a convention or exhibition to attend! If you're in TST, take a ferry to the Wanchai Ferry pier for a great view of the structure from the harbor.

TSIM SHA TSUI HOTELS

This is infamous Tsim Sha Tsui, home to the world's most stunning city views and some of the most concentrated, frenetic shopping anywhere. By the way, Tsim Sha Tsui was formerly written Tsimshatsui everywhere you looked but kindhearted people decided to split it into three words to make its pronunciation (slightly) more apparent. Anyway, it is pronounced, very roughly - 'jim 'sa 'joy - spoken rather quickly. Don't worry, no matter how well you say it you'll get a smile from the locals.

Highly recommended here is a stroll along the Waterfront Promenade which extends from the Star Ferry Pier down in front of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and Space Theatre around the Intercontinental Hotel, and then all the way past Tsim Sha Tsui East into Hung Hom. For shopping, it's huge Harbour City, the "golden mile" of Nathan Road, or the hundred of small shops and boutiques everywhere.

CAUSEWAY BAY HOTELS

Causeway Bay was one of the first areas in Hong Kong to have high-rises with buildings such as the World Trade Centre and the Excelsior Hotel being constructed in the 1970's and early 1980's. Now, shopping is the main thing here with commercial shopping rents in the area being the some of the highest in the world. (Madison Avenue is first.)

On the north of the area lies the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter. Plunging beneath Victoria Harbour between them is Hong Kong Island's entrance to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, now one of several tunnels between the Island and Kowloon with the addition of the Western Harbour Tunnel. At the center of the area, shopping abounds in Little Japan (near the MTR station), Jardine's Bazaar, and Times Square. At the far southern end of the area, before the island rises dramatically towards Victoria Peak, is the horse-racing track at Happy Valley.

In and Around Causeway Bay

Happy Valley Race Track (Horse-Racing)

Holding its first horse race in 1846, Happy Valley is one of the oldest racing venues in Hong Kong. The track is very crowded on Wednesday evenings and on weekend afternoons during horseracing season from September to June.

Little Japan

Causeway Bay has alway been a popular shopping area but with the arrival of several major Japanese department store chains (Matsuzakaya, Mitsukoshi and, of course, the ten-story mega-store for Sogo) in the 1970's, the area, particularly around the MTR stop, has become known locally as "little Japan".

Hennesy Road/Yee Woo Streets

These roads are teeming with designer clothing stores including Lane Crawford which occasionally holds terrific sales with unbeatable prices. Be careful if you come to this area on a Saturday, however, as it's jam-packed full of shoppers.

HONGKONG AIRPORT HOTELS

The building of the new Hong Kong International Airport and its accompanying required infrastructure - the Tsing Ma suspension bridge, the Kap Shui bridge, the West Kowloon Reclamation, and the Western Harbour Tunnel - not to mention the highway and rail links between and on these structures - is one of the largest engineering projects ever undertaken in the world.

The airport alone took six years to build and cost US$20 billion. Completed in 1998 and built on a small island shorn up with tons of landfill (Chek Lap Kok) just off the large island of Lantau, the airport replaces the aging, small Kai Tak airport on the Kowloon Peninsula.