Stanford Hillview Hotel

For solo travelers, this is a solid-value, no-frills place. The rooms are neat, with comfortable beds, clean bathrooms, amenity kits, plushy towels, fast internet, and an electric kettle. There's also a desk and lamp for working, and the staff are efficient and discreet. Check-in and checkout were fast and simple. The hotel is in the lively TST shopping and F&B area, within walking distance of Tsim Sha Tsui, aka TST, MTR station and Koowlon Park. My only issue was poor noise insulation, though it wasn't a problem when other guests were quiet.

The room was clean and recently renovated, and the bathroom was very well designed. It was the most value for money hotel in TST. Having a travel adapter in the room was handy. Check-in felt very cold. The staff seemed grumpy and unhappy to have me as a customer, which was a stark contrast with the warm, welcoming check-ins I'd had at hotels in China. It would also be easier to bring bags in if they installed sliding doors opening to the lobby, like Bauhinia hotel. The hotel is on a hill with steps, but taking the path from the Knutsford terrace means you can use the elevator from their basement and avoid the steps.

The breakfast was poor. Vegetable choices were limited, for example there were only tomatoes or cucumbers, not both, and the overall selection of fruit and vegetables was small. The juices tasted watered down, with just a hint of juice, and the coffee machines were switched off right at 10:00. Rooms were clean and comfortable, the location was good, and WiFi worked well. But corner rooms have only a small half window. Doors slam loudly and disturbed my sleep in the morning. Avoid rooms near the cleaner closet if you can, because collecting supplies early in the morning was noisy. The "don't disturb" sign was ignored most times. Even with the sign still up, a cleaner opened my door and came in 10 minutes before check out.

The location is good, close to metro stations. The metro is easy to navigate and great value for getting around the city. They promptly changed our room when we asked, but for several nights in a row they struggled to quiet noisy guests in the hallways after 11pm.