Hong Kong can be an incredibly expensive destination to visit. It can also be incredibly affordable. The key is finding a good balance of quality and price, particularly in lodgings. It turns out that with a little digging it can be done, though probably not where you would expect to find it.
The western branded chains all have properties available but, well, they really don’t do much for me. I’ve stayed in the Renaissance when the price was right (and the location certainly was right!) but the regular rates they ask are 2-3x what I’m generally looking to pay for a night. Then there are the Chunking Mansions. More or less glorified hostels (some not so glorified) these are low-rent and low-class. They work, but dealing with finding the correct property once in there can be a challenge and I’m rarely up for fighting to find my hotel after a long flight.
Get rid of both those categories and what’s left are the mid-range, mid-priced properties that suit me just fine. Priced at roughly USD $70-90/night they fit my budget quite nicely and there is at least one local chain that manages to do it with a bit of style, too. My last time through town I stayed at Mingle on the Wing. This time I stayed at Mingle at the Eden. They call themselves "boutique" which is likely just code for "small rooms" but it works at these properties, at least for me.
The rooms are simple (and certainly not spacious) but they are also clean. They include free internet (while the more expensive hotels charge for it) and generally just make it a reasonable stay experience. They are situated a 5 minute walk (a bit more if, like me, you get lost trying to leave the train station) from the Central train station, making for a quick commute to and from the airport or to just about anywhere in town on the metro system. Also a short walk away is the Lan Kwai Fong area, with plenty of bars to offer up an evening’s worth of entertainment.
Here are a couple photos from the room taken with my BB (which mostly explains the low quality of the photos).
Like I said, definitely not luxe, but if you’re looking for a clean, reasonably priced room in a good location it is hard to do much better than this in Hong Kong. They’re generally available for booking on hotels.com where you can get credits in their Welcome Rewards program so you’re not fully forgoing any point earning. Also try shopping them at wotif.com where the prices and inventory seem to be different from time to time.
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I just stayed at Mingle on the Wing, in no small part because of this post. I concur with what you said- clean, small, good location, great value if you can get over the fact that you aren’t at the Peninsula. Since I am solo traveling and wasn’t in position to drop serious cash on the HK portion of my trip, I am quite happy. Thank you for the blog post.
So glad to hear that it worked out for you, Coward.
The location and price are hard to beat, once you get over the fact that it is going to be just functional and not special.