Goddess, I Am.

We got back from Hong Kong early this morning, and I’ve been spending the whole day recuperating. I think my poor feet are now on strike! They’re certainly refusing to walk more than a few meters at a time right now. I’ll blog about what we were up to the 3 days we were in HK that got my feet in such sorry shape, but for now, I just want to write a quick review of the fabulous hostel we stayed in.

When we first visited HK in 2007, we had the misfortune of staying at the Travellers Friendship Hostel in the famous (and grubby) Mirador Mansions. On our first night, we were ‘upgraded’ to a deluxe room at the USA Hostel (they’re the same company, apparently) because our room at Travellers Friendship was still occupied. We were supposed to move in the morning – quite inconvenient, but we didn’t bother complaining about something so trivial. The room looked fine, though, so were expecting our ‘real’ room to be okay, at the very least.

How wrong we were! It was actually more of a closet than a room. It was just wide enough to fit a filthy double bed. The only way on or off the bed was via the bottom, where we had about no more than 2 feet of floor space before we reached the bathroom door.

And don’t get me started on the bathroom. It was beyond icky with cracked and yellowing tiles and the grubbiest grout imaginable. Cold water just trickled out of the shower, so we had to spend more time in the bathroom than was necessary. And the toilet . . . ugh! We had to pull a chain dangling from the ceiling to flush it, imagine that.

It was bad. No, scratch that. It was BEYOND bad! And when we tried to complain about it, the really rude staff actually had the nerve to tell us to move elsewhere while refusing to give us a refund on the same breath!

We vowed never to stay there again, which was why I spent the last few months looking for more suitable accommodation for our second visit without ruining the budget we’ve set aside for accommodation. As a rule, we make it a point not to spend more than US$200 total on accommodation, and since HK is an expensive city, our choices were limited to hostels. I did consider staying in yet another hostel in Mirador Mansions (Cosmic Guesthouse), but I just couldn’t forget our last trip, so I kept looking.

Thankfully, I stumbled over the Hop Inn on Trip Advisor. It was only a tad pricier than Cosmic, but a hell of a lot prettier and better recommended. I figured the US$60 (or so) difference was worth it – and it was!

Like all HK hostels, the Hop Inn had small rooms, yes. But one could really see the love and care put in to the venture. It’s run by two brothers, Simon and Wilson, and they did a fantastic job of making the best out of the available space by commissioning local artists to paint pretty murals on the walls. This made the rooms cozier and seem a lot larger.

Photo Taken from the Hop Inn Site

I especially loved the uber cool glass bathrooms, the LCD HDTV, the hot and cold shower, and the very modern toilet. Also, the location was absolute perfection. It’s no more than a few blocks’ walk from Victoria Harbour, the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station, the Star Ferry terminal, and all the best that Tsim Sha Tsui could offer. There was even a huge HMV right across the street, and as far as The Husband was concerned, he was in Blu-ray heaven.

The View from Our Window

They also had free wifi. And if you didn’t have a laptop, you could borrow one from reception – FREE! There’s free drinking water in the common room, and you could refill your water bottles all you want. There’s also a tiny but comfy reception area where you could read books and magazines, or chat with whoever’s tinkering with the iMac behind the reception desk.

My only gripe about the whole Hop Inn experience is probably the lack of sufficient surface space. We really could’ve used maybe a small table in the room to put odds and ends on. Instead, we ended up putting things on the windowsill or the floor. But no biggie; we made do with what was available, and we were still perfectly comfortable.

Our 3-day stay at the Landscape of the Traveler’s Palm room worked out just a little over US$180 at US$62 a night. It was worth every penny. In fact, we’ve already decided to stay at the Hop Inn next time we’re in HK. Which will be, what, early next year?

I honestly can’t wait to be back. And to think I’ve only just left! God, I ♥ Hong Kong!