Hong Kong seems to have two types of accommodations: guesthouses and hotels. Guesthouses are not really houses. Rather, they're floors or sections of high-rise buildings called mansions. The word mansion in Hong Kong doesn't mean the same thing that it means here. Hong Kong doesn't seem to have any traditional lodgings like Seoul's hanoks. (More on that when I book the accommodations in Korea.)
All my searching has taught me that Hong Kong is a very expensive city. A budget room the size of a closet that will sleep two people runs about $100 a night... and that's not including sales tax. And I am not exaggerating when I say closet. I mean, these rooms contain one double or two twin beds, and that's it. You can't stretch your arms out without hitting the walls. Space is at a premium in Hong Kong and you have to open your pockets if you want it. Japan was the same way, but we stayed at a lot of traditional ryokans so there was a certain charm to the compact rooms.
Some of these places are real dumps, too. Looking at photos and reading reviews is a little nerve wracking! We can deal with cramped quarters and a shared bathroom. Our standards aren't sky high, we just want a clean and safe place where we won't get eaten alive by bedbugs or kept awake all night by noises heard through paper thin walls.
We are planning on staying in at least two places in Hong Kong. A budget place for part of the time, and a nicer midrange place part of the time. Lower end midrange places start around $200 and the prices quickly escalate.
I will keep you posted about which places we pick!
Yikes. SO expensive!
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