Choosing where to stay in Hong Kong is the first step to a successful Hong Kong trip. Use this guide to help you book the right Hong Kong hotel in the best neighborhood for you.
In the north of Hong Kong Island, glitzy Central is where the gleaming skyscrapers of international banking headquarters overlook Victoria Harbour, close to the Star Ferry pier and Airport Express train. Victorian street lamps dot Hollywood Road, remnants of colonial times. Cat Street hides antiques and retro jewellery stalls. Central’s districts Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo are the hub of Hong Kong’s famed nightlife with chic restaurants and cocktail bars. Further east, bordering the Admiralty neighborhood, Hong Kong Park is the city’s lungs, housing an aviary and terrapin-filled lake. The hub of the Western District is Sheung Wan, with traditional Chinese shops, and the start of the world’s longest escalator to the Mid Levels area.
East of the Central and Admiralty neighborhoods, Hong Kong Island’s colorful Wan Chai dazzles with neon-lit signs for bars, budget shops and restaurants. Look up to the 374-metre-high granite-and-glass Central Plaza, Hong Kong’s tallest tower. Curvaceous Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre nestles on the waterfront, by popular promenade spot Golden Bauhinia Square where a dazzling gold monument marks the 1997 handover from Britain to China. To the east is the Star Ferry pier, with boats to Tsim Sha Tsui in mainland Kowloon.
Lying east of Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, busy Causeway Bay is a shopping hub, with much-loved department stores Seibu and Sogo, as well as mammoth mall Times Square. The vast Victoria Park, Hong Kong’s largest green space, sees early morning tai chi enthusiasts practicing their graceful motions. The colonial-era Noon Day Gun blasts daily from the Typhoon Shelter, home to well-worn houseboats. Just south is Happy Valley and its famous racecourse.
On the mainland side of Victoria Harbour, opposite Hong Kong Island is Kowloon. Vivacious Tsim Sha Tsui is its southern tip, where the ferry docks at the Star Ferry pier. The Hong Kong Museum of Art showcases Asian art and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre puts on orchestral concerts and Chinese performing arts. Top-floor bars are perfect for gazing at the neon-lit Victoria Harbour panorama. The colonial-era Peninsula Hotel is popular for its decadent afternoon tea and chic Felix bar. Inland, in the thick of this intense and exhilarating neighborhood, Nathan Road heads north from Tsim Sha Tsui, packed with jewellery, electronics and tailoring shops.
Nathan Road’s buses head north through Kowloon from Tsim Sha Tsui into busy Jordan, where the open-air swimming pool and secluded Chinese garden are treasured oases in verdant Kowloon Park. At the Temple Street Night Market, backstreet Cantonese Opera, local food hawkers and souvenir stalls buzz all evening. Heading north into Mong Kok, the area becomes increasingly traditional. Signs are in Chinese only and bargain-hunters jostle at no-frills markets like Flower Market, Jade Market and Ladies Market.
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