Harbour Plaza North Point

I’ve stayed here many times over the years, first as a long-term Hong Kong resident and now as a frequent business traveller, and the place is a mixed bag. There’s a nice pool, a decent gym, a spacious lobby and an OK restaurant, though prices there are pretty high. Standard rooms are roomy and the beds are comfortable, but the rooms look tired, and the hotel feels like it’s on a downhill slide. It’s out of the way, although there is a subway station close by, so you’ll otherwise have some travelling to do. On this trip I was upgraded to a deluxe room. The floor and room were nice, but the bed was ridiculously hard, like they’d cheaped out. I moved back to a standard room after one night. I also needed to work in the hotel, and the office chair was just hard plastic like a cheap restaurant chair. They brought me a better one when I asked, so credit for that. The price is usually pretty good, but all things considered, you could probably find better value.

We had a spacious superior room on the 25th floor, with a lounge, small kitchen, large bedroom and bathroom. The metro is 100m across Kings road. Enter through Exit C and buy an Octopus card at the kiosk by the barriers. Each card costs 50 dollars as a deposit, and we added 50 dollars for travel. After three days, we got 72 dollars back, with an 11 dollar admin fee charged. Our travel cost about £3 each on the very efficient metro. Lines are colour coded, and a couple cross to the mainland as well as running east to west on HK island. Some stations are huge with as many as 4 exits, so note which one you entered through and use it when you return. We took the metro to the hop on hop off bus starting point at Ferry pier 6. I recommend taking the wonderful Star Ferry across to the mainland from pier 6 too. It runs both ways every 8 minutes and cost us 50p. The city was beautifully clean and vibrant. Just don’t get lost in the huge shopping centres or the walkways connecting them.

I love this hotel and stay here about 3 times a year, for my meetings as well. The staff are easily my favourite part. They’re great, and now greet me by name. The rooms are great, especially the ones with harbour views. Food, buffets and tea time are all great, and the meeting spaces work perfectly for what we need. Thanks, as always. Joe Lorenzo

SCAMMER HOTEL AND AGODA I booked through agoda expecting “free cancellation,” but they kept all my money. The customer service was very poor. Please don’t book this hotel or use agoda. It’s high time we changed the way we travel and book hotels. Attachment: 1. agoda website saying free cancellation 2. agoda customer service response saying no money will be refunded