M1 Hotel North Point

The market butcher next door left the welcome hall smelling horrible. The staff there were unfriendly, and even simple tasks took far too long. Booking site photos are misleading: the hotel is dark throughout, as if hiding the dirt and obvious need for renovation. My room seemed small but acceptable at first. Then the poorly sealed windows made it really cold inside at night in January. Insects crawled around, water leaked in the bathroom, and there was no soap or shower amenities, though you can buy them for 10HKD per day. During my 9 night stay, room service never brought new coffee cups, not once. The walls were taped, and with the leaks I wouldn’t be surprised if there was mold in some dark corners. On booking.com, reviews have already been disabled for this hotel, and I believe there’s a reason. It may be budget friendly, but don’t choose it. There was nothing positive about my stay.

For a budget stay, it was okay, but I don’t think I’d pick M1 Hotel again. I spent 5 nights there and messaged three times before arrival to check about late check-in, without getting a reply. After midnight, I found only one room available. The location is right in the middle of a market, so mornings can be noisy. That didn’t bother me since I’m usually up early. Buses, trams and MTR stations are close by. The room seemed decent at first, but had a strong smoke smell even though the front desk insisted it was non-smoking. There was also a leak near the bathroom entrance and some rust. Given the price, I wasn’t too surprised by those problems.

The rooms might be bigger than usual for HK, but this place is dated and not very nice to stay in. There was mould on the shower windows and wallpaper peeling away. It costs a lot for what you get. I’d pay a little extra for a much nicer chain hotel.

The room had lots of problems: uncomfortable beds, a fridge that didn’t get cold, a safe that didn’t work and unreliable Wi-Fi. There was barely enough hot water, so we took several cold showers, and my family got sick. We also didn’t get enough towels, the ones provided had holes, and housekeeping took towels without replacing them. Cleanliness was unacceptable. The room and bathroom smelled like a public toilet, and there was no hand soap. We saw cockroaches outside the room, and one got into my toiletries bag. When we reported these issues, staff weren’t helpful. I was also concerned that anyone could walk into the building without restriction. I wouldn’t recommend staying here.