City Guest House

This felt like a scheme. We booked through KLOOK, and the application showed no charge for one bedroom with two beds. When we arrived, the owner said we'd be in a shared bedroom, or we'd have to pay another 400 hkd, 300 hkd for cleaning service and 100 hkd for our own bedroom.

The room had been paid for in advance, but at check-in the reception guy wanted another 15% as a service fee, calling it City Tax. I refused and contacted my agent, who hadn't heard of any such fee. Then he said it was for cleaning service, but eventually gave up and handed over our rooms without extra payment. Take care.

There were a couple of positives: the location was quite good, it was easy to reach by bus from the airport, and at least there was somewhere to sleep. The hotel itself was hard to find, though. It took 30-60 minutes to locate reception. It's more like a rented floor in a skyscraper divided into hotel rooms than what you'd expect from a real hotel. The building was very dirty, people smoked everywhere, and a loud fire alarm suddenly woke us while we were sleeping, apparently because people were smoking. There were a lot of shady, dirty people in and around the building, so I'd avoid it as a family or as a woman. The room was tiny, just a bed and a small spot for shoes, with hardly any space for luggage. For a room that size, the price was much too high. It smelled a bit strange, had cockroaches, and no window, so the air circulation was bad. In general, I think Hong Kong is expensive for no reason and wouldn't recommend going there. Bangkok is cheaper, has higher standards, and has friendlier people.

I stayed in a six-bed dorm, but the linen wasn't clean and the lockers were broken. Staff didn't want to deal with us, and I wasn't given a key or keycard. There was just one coded door, and I had to ask for the code. If there was toilet paper, it was wet because the shower soaked the whole bathroom. Worst of all, rats ran and jumped across the room while we slept.