Kowloon Harbourfront hotel in Hong Kong
After flying from Schiphol airport, we arrived at Hong Kong International airport after a exhausting eleven hour flight. We were well on time for lunch and we ate something at the airport first, before we headed to our hotel. We also needed to buy the public transport card, Octopus, at the MTR Customer service counter, as our old ones became inactive. A card for adults costs HK$150 (HK$50 is deposit, which you can get back, and HK$100 is the value on the card, which you can use to travel and buy things). The counter is right in the Arrivals hall, left to the McDonalds, so you cannot miss it.
But if you don't have any luggage or just a hand-carry bag or suitcase, the first option is doable too. I actually wanted to go with the train, as I was already really tired from the long flight and I wanted to crash at the hotel as fast as possible. But I have never been to any of those metro stations before, so I couldn't tell beforehand if there will be many stairs or other problems with having bulky luggage. Only after our trip, did I discover that there are actually maps of all the metro stations on the official website of the Hong Kong metro. So, I could check out which platforms I needed to be for the transfers and if there are escalators. I will keep this piece of information in my mind for my next trip to Hong Kong. If you are traveling outside of rush hours, walking around in the metro stations with a large suitcase, is not that bad and look out for the wider gates, to enter and exit the metro. Another benefit of going with the train and metro is that the bus terminal is at the other side of the Hung Hom metro station and you need to carry your heavy bags over a lot of stairs to get on the walking bridge to enter the Fortune Metropolis mall, which is directly connected with the Hung Hom metro station. Once you are inside the Fortune Metropolis mall, there are many signs attached to the ceiling and at other places, which leads you to the correct exit that is nearest to the Kowloon Harbourfront hotel. When you get outside, you need to walk on several walking bridges again. After crossing a zebra crossing, you are almost near the entrance of the hotel.
As it was really hot in Hong Kong, even in October, I arrived at the hotel, totally sweating. The first counter that you see inside is for the people living in the serviced apartments and you need to walk further inside to get to the counter of the Kowloon Harbourfront hotel. After checking in, we could finally go to our 2-bedroom Quad suite with a city view.
I only took pictures of the twin bed room that I slept in, as the living room and the kitchenette was cluttered with our stuff immediately. There was also a bedroom with a queen bed and a separate bathroom with a bath tub. The room pictures and room layout on the official hotel website is very accurate, aside from some wear and tear.
The air condition in the twin room was a bit noisy (it disturbed my sleep, together with the strange, blinking red light dots projected on the ceiling, which I still don't know where it came from) and the bed was too hard for me. I heard that the queen bed in the other bed room had a softer matrass and the air condition noise wasn't that bad there. There was another air condition in the living room and it wasn't that noisy too.
They supplied slippers, bathrobes, a hair dryer, toiletries, and four complementary bottles of water every day. There is also a safe, a water cooker, a washing machine, a large two-door fridge, a microwave, and a cooking stove with two pits. If you are staying for longer periods and you want to cook and wash your clothes yourself, bring some laundry liquid, a dish washing liquid, and/or cooking oil in smaller bottles. Some salt & pepper and soy sauce in small containers is nice too. If I remember it correctly, there were coffee mugs, drink glasses, and some simple cutlery and plates. You may borrow more things, if you ask nicely.
The living room has a small coffee table, a sofa, a TV, a four people dinner table, and a kitchenette. It was great to hang out together in the living room, as it is more spacious than just having two separate hotel rooms.
Other benefits were the daily free breakfast at the cafe on ground floor, a club house with a large outdoor pool, a gym, a sauna, massage chairs, and a play room for the kids, free WiFi in every room, and the mobile phone, which you can use to make free local calls and to some countries or to share wireless Internet access with your other devices, when you are out and about.
The complimentary breakfast consisted of small sweet pastries, slices of toast, rice porridge (it is watery and bland, so add a lot of peanuts and salted vegetables; in the right corner in the back, you can find seasonings like soy sauce, vinegar, and chili sauce), Chinese steamed buns (savory pork filling or a sweet filling), cereals, and a juice (orange or apple juice). There is not a lot of choices and the quality is a bit subpar. Every day, you basically get the same things, except for the buns and juice that alternate. The Chinese steamed buns were the best out of everything. They were warm and fluffy and continuously re-filled. I shouldn't complain, as it was free and for all four hotel guests (some hotels only give you breakfast for two, even if you are staying with four people).
We chose the Quad suite with city view and we had a nice view of the Harbourview Horizon hotel next door. We weren't going to be inside the hotel room a lot and it wasn't the first time we were in Hong Kong, so we didn't pay extra to get the Quad suite with harbour view. But it is worth considering, if you have never been in Hong Kong before, as the harbour view is a nice thing to wake up to.
The location is not the best, as there isn't much in the direct vicinity. You need to walk at least 10 minutes or so to reach the Fortune Metropolis mall, connected to the Hung Hom MTR station, or 15 minutes in the other direction to the Whampoa MTR station, which is surrounded by supermarkets, malls, and restaurants. You can also take the free hotel shuttle bus which runs every 20 minutes to Harbour plaza metropolis hotel (sister hotel and also connected to Hung Hom MTR station) and afterwards to Tsim Sha Tsui and back, but please note that it doesn't allow you to take large luggage inside.
From the back exit of the hotel (the glass doors near the hotel cafe, where you eat breakfast), you can reach the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade, along the Victoria Harbour, by walking straight outside.
The Tsim Sha Tsui promenade is beautifully decorated with trees and flowers and the perfect route for a quick jog in the morning. Even the rain shelter areas, of which you can see one in the picture underneath, look amazing.
How to go from Hong Kong International airport to Kowloon Harbourfront hotel:
I couldn't find any directions on how to go to Kowloon Harbourfront hotel anywhere and I couldn't prepare the trip from well beforehand, as it was decided really sudden. It is one of the first trips that I made without planning anything. But there is free WiFi and a bunch of benches to sit on at the right of the McDonalds, so we could do our research there. In the end, we found two ways to get there with the public transport. A taxi might have been cheaper as we were with four people, but we each had a large suitcase and a taxi can only carry three large suitcases in the trunk.Option 1. Airport express train to Tsing Yi with free MTR connection. At Tsing Yi MTR station, take orange MTR line to Hong Kong and get out at Nam Cheong (2 stops), switch to purple MTR line to Hung Hom (3 stops). Get out at Hung Hom MTR station.We went with the Airport bus A21 to our hotel. The wide leather seats were really comfortable and there was a lot of space for my legs, so it wasn't as bad as in the airplane. I was so comfortable that I dozed off a few times. Luckily, nobody stole my handbag or my luggage.
Estimated journey time : 40 min. Fare: HK$65 (adult). Source: Train trip planner at MTR website.
Option 2. Airport bus A21. It takes 18 bus stops to reach Hung Hom station bus terminus, but you can stay and sleep in the bus the whole time. There is also lots of space in the large luggage compartment near the second door of the bus and even if there are only seats upstairs, you can still keep a eye on your luggage by looking at the screens. Estimated journey time: 71 min. Fare: HK$33 Source: Citybus website
But if you don't have any luggage or just a hand-carry bag or suitcase, the first option is doable too. I actually wanted to go with the train, as I was already really tired from the long flight and I wanted to crash at the hotel as fast as possible. But I have never been to any of those metro stations before, so I couldn't tell beforehand if there will be many stairs or other problems with having bulky luggage. Only after our trip, did I discover that there are actually maps of all the metro stations on the official website of the Hong Kong metro. So, I could check out which platforms I needed to be for the transfers and if there are escalators. I will keep this piece of information in my mind for my next trip to Hong Kong. If you are traveling outside of rush hours, walking around in the metro stations with a large suitcase, is not that bad and look out for the wider gates, to enter and exit the metro. Another benefit of going with the train and metro is that the bus terminal is at the other side of the Hung Hom metro station and you need to carry your heavy bags over a lot of stairs to get on the walking bridge to enter the Fortune Metropolis mall, which is directly connected with the Hung Hom metro station. Once you are inside the Fortune Metropolis mall, there are many signs attached to the ceiling and at other places, which leads you to the correct exit that is nearest to the Kowloon Harbourfront hotel. When you get outside, you need to walk on several walking bridges again. After crossing a zebra crossing, you are almost near the entrance of the hotel.
Kowloon Harbourfront hotel: 2-bedroom Quad suite with a city view for four people
As it was really hot in Hong Kong, even in October, I arrived at the hotel, totally sweating. The first counter that you see inside is for the people living in the serviced apartments and you need to walk further inside to get to the counter of the Kowloon Harbourfront hotel. After checking in, we could finally go to our 2-bedroom Quad suite with a city view.
I only took pictures of the twin bed room that I slept in, as the living room and the kitchenette was cluttered with our stuff immediately. There was also a bedroom with a queen bed and a separate bathroom with a bath tub. The room pictures and room layout on the official hotel website is very accurate, aside from some wear and tear.
The air condition in the twin room was a bit noisy (it disturbed my sleep, together with the strange, blinking red light dots projected on the ceiling, which I still don't know where it came from) and the bed was too hard for me. I heard that the queen bed in the other bed room had a softer matrass and the air condition noise wasn't that bad there. There was another air condition in the living room and it wasn't that noisy too.
They supplied slippers, bathrobes, a hair dryer, toiletries, and four complementary bottles of water every day. There is also a safe, a water cooker, a washing machine, a large two-door fridge, a microwave, and a cooking stove with two pits. If you are staying for longer periods and you want to cook and wash your clothes yourself, bring some laundry liquid, a dish washing liquid, and/or cooking oil in smaller bottles. Some salt & pepper and soy sauce in small containers is nice too. If I remember it correctly, there were coffee mugs, drink glasses, and some simple cutlery and plates. You may borrow more things, if you ask nicely.
The living room has a small coffee table, a sofa, a TV, a four people dinner table, and a kitchenette. It was great to hang out together in the living room, as it is more spacious than just having two separate hotel rooms.
Other benefits were the daily free breakfast at the cafe on ground floor, a club house with a large outdoor pool, a gym, a sauna, massage chairs, and a play room for the kids, free WiFi in every room, and the mobile phone, which you can use to make free local calls and to some countries or to share wireless Internet access with your other devices, when you are out and about.
The complimentary breakfast consisted of small sweet pastries, slices of toast, rice porridge (it is watery and bland, so add a lot of peanuts and salted vegetables; in the right corner in the back, you can find seasonings like soy sauce, vinegar, and chili sauce), Chinese steamed buns (savory pork filling or a sweet filling), cereals, and a juice (orange or apple juice). There is not a lot of choices and the quality is a bit subpar. Every day, you basically get the same things, except for the buns and juice that alternate. The Chinese steamed buns were the best out of everything. They were warm and fluffy and continuously re-filled. I shouldn't complain, as it was free and for all four hotel guests (some hotels only give you breakfast for two, even if you are staying with four people).
We chose the Quad suite with city view and we had a nice view of the Harbourview Horizon hotel next door. We weren't going to be inside the hotel room a lot and it wasn't the first time we were in Hong Kong, so we didn't pay extra to get the Quad suite with harbour view. But it is worth considering, if you have never been in Hong Kong before, as the harbour view is a nice thing to wake up to.
Public transport
The location is not the best, as there isn't much in the direct vicinity. You need to walk at least 10 minutes or so to reach the Fortune Metropolis mall, connected to the Hung Hom MTR station, or 15 minutes in the other direction to the Whampoa MTR station, which is surrounded by supermarkets, malls, and restaurants. You can also take the free hotel shuttle bus which runs every 20 minutes to Harbour plaza metropolis hotel (sister hotel and also connected to Hung Hom MTR station) and afterwards to Tsim Sha Tsui and back, but please note that it doesn't allow you to take large luggage inside.
From the back exit of the hotel (the glass doors near the hotel cafe, where you eat breakfast), you can reach the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade, along the Victoria Harbour, by walking straight outside.
The Tsim Sha Tsui promenade is beautifully decorated with trees and flowers and the perfect route for a quick jog in the morning. Even the rain shelter areas, of which you can see one in the picture underneath, look amazing.
Further down the road and near the Whampoa MTR station, you can also find the Hung Hom ferry,
which can take you to North Point on Hong Kong Island within minutes for just HK$7.5. If you are not in a hurry to get somewhere, it is quite a leisurely boat ride.
