Looking to find recommendations on what part of Hong Kong to stay at. going for fun not business. not looking for 5 star hotels, 3-4 is fine with me ($100 US/night). close to where all the fun touristy stuff is. good food, good nightlife and close to transportation. also, might book a night in macau. what casino/resort do you recommend? I read the sands macau is great ($200 US/night for a 650sq ft suite) where's that island where all this stuff happened?
Tsim Sha Tsui is where most of the tourists stay in HK. There are a ton of hotels there, I know there is a Holiday Inn that is reasonably priced there. Don't worry too much about transportation since you can catch a cab and get anywhere you need to go relatively quick, using the Subway is very easy as well. For nightlife...go to Lan Kwai Fong. It is THE place to be for drinks and going out. Shopping is pretty much the main attraction in HK, but here are a couple places you should definitely check out (The Peak, Stanley Market, Ladies Street Market, Big Buddha-Lantau Island). They just opened The Wynn on Macau, I'm sure it is pretty pricey though. The Sands is probably the most popular hotel there though. Hope this helps.
I stayed in the Langham Place Hotel. Its one of the best hotels I've ever stayed in. And its attatched to a 13-floor mall. I dont remember the price, but you should definitely check it out.
what's the advantage of shopping in hong kong? is their some crazy electronics that you can get there only? Every talks about Lan Kwai Fong. I must go there. The opened a venetian and a wynn, but i think the sands is closer to the ferry station.
It will be fun for you, but without a local that can guide you or a friend in HK, you're not going to get much out of it except for the general experiences like most tourists gets. HK is a heaven if you have money, and you know how to make it a heaven with your money. As for Macau, it's a very small city, but with many casinos, and some of the world's biggest casinos, outside the city, not much to see, but inside the casino, ton to see even if you don't gamble, you could experience the Chinese gambling mania dumping money like it's water into the sea, and the madness of the gambling tables. I also suggest you to go to other place beside these two, there are ton of cities near HK and Macau in the coastal China area that will impress you, at least it will give you a feel and experience on how China has really emerging into the world's economy and power. If you need advice or help, let me know
I advantage of shopping in HK is that there are stuff that you can't buy in the states, but only in HK, and there are ton more brand name stuff in HK than anywhere else, it's a international mall instead of a boring macy type mall. If you want the good stuff, just be sure to have money, or you can buy the cheapies, and complaint that it's fake afterall.
The advantage of shopping in HK is that you can get stuff you can't find over here. You can find crazy electronics but I don't think it is personally worth it since there will be no warranty or return policy. But you can buy a ton of nice clothes for cheap. Shoes are a big thing as well if you are into that. But for me personally, buying casual clothes as well as suits/dress shirts is what I buy the most. Definitely hit up Lan Kwai Fong, it is a great mix of Ex-Pats and locals all wanting to have a good time. The Sands is closest to the ferry station for sure, but the Wynn is pretty much next door. The venetian is a little ways away but is brand spanking new.
i dont know how shopping i'll do, i'd rather spend money on local food and sight seeing like an anthony bordain rockets fan edition. maybe some local artwork.
i heard the wynn and venetian are just replicas (some larger) of their vegas properties. i'll check them out. wynn even has the same restuarants. i like the venetian sports book in vegas, there i told a friend to bet on the bills vs titans (" its basically the oilers vs the bills, bet on the bills), then the music city miracle happened. i never seen so much chaos in a sports book ever. a close second was when Vince Young put his greatness on USC, USC fans in total devestation while horns fans and savy bettors in pure joy.
There are a lot of good food in HK, but it may be tough for you to order if you don't speak cantonese and can't read chinese. I also recommend staying in the langham place, just because it is lose to mongkok the area has the highest population density in the world (or close to it)... I think. You would never see so many chinese people at one spot in your life.
You're going to have a blast. Take the turbojet ferry from HK to Macau. Here are some quick suggestions off the top of my head: HK: Victoria's Peak Shop at Tsim Sha Tsui (yes, it's crowded) - get a suit tailor made for like $190 USD Lan Kwai Fong (bar hopping) Wan Chai (clubbing) Grand Hyatt Hong Kong or Shan Gri La are both nice places to stay Star Ferry to get across from the island to the Kowloon side take the train from Hom Hung station to Lo Wu in order to get to Shenzhen Macau: Portuguese restaurants Sands (original casino) massage Here's the view from the top of the Peak:
Tinman, this is glorious news for all! I too will be going to China again, only I'm going in late november. When will you embark in your journey of self discovery? will you visit the sacred land of comrade yao? otherwise the trip is pointless. to my surprise, there were mariachis in shanghai . Great experience in all. you must be blessed by it: a must see, the shanghai theatre: I got used to it:
Many restaurants in the morning will have many dim sum carts out, so you can see what you like and order it, but I would suggest you try everything because everyone has different taste, and see what you like the best, most of them are good anyway, and it's pretty cheap too.
If you want to be like a local, just go to a chain restaurant called Cafe de Coral during noon. The fun part of it is not about waiting for the food, but waiting for a table! What you need to do is to see if people are almost finished with their food, and you make a mad dash towards that table and stand right next to it. That'll give them pressure to finish up and leave quickly. Tinman, if you're physically fit you might even intimidate them into leaving sooner!
