Well, we booked our Hong Kong places! We are staying at the YMCA Salisbury Hong Kong and Caritas Bianchi Lodge. I've made a handy little Google map for you to see their locations. Both places are in central locations in the Kowloon region. We like to break our trips up by moving around and staying in different locations.
Both places are about $150 a night after sales tax. If you want to stay in HK for less, you're going to end up in a place like the infamous Chungking Mansions. While I was researching accommodation possibilities, this place came up on my radar more than once since it' a very popular place for budget travelers. It's a monstrous structure full of guesthouses, shops, and residences. Part of me was intrigued by its weirdness and part of me thought it was a bad idea. After reading about it and discussing it at length with Mike, we decided to look elsewhere. I'm getting to a point in my life where slumming it isn't as glamourous as it used to be.
The YMCA came highly recommended from friends, books, and TripAdvisor. For it's location and price, it can't be beat. We requested a room with a partial harbor view. I'm looking forward to seeing the futuristic skyline of Hong Kong lit up at night.
Caritas Bianchi Lodge (or Carnitas as Mike calls it) wasn't our first choice, but it seemed the least dodgy for what we can afford. We selected this place after poring through countless reviews. It's run by a Catholic nunnery.
A lot of reviews mentioned that hardness is the standard for mattresses in that area of the world and that the beds are often too short for tall Western people such as ourselves. I am already imagining Mike's feet dangling off the end of the bed, ha ha! So many of the reviews also mentioned bad smells emanating from the bathrooms of many of these places. I think it has something to do with the plumbing? I am not sure. Apparently Hong Kong means "fragrant harbor" so maybe the water just stinks?
My list of Seoul possibilites are complete and we're in the process of deciding. Seoul is (surprisingly) somewhat cheaper!
Chungking Mansions sounds crazy.
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