Last week on a lovely escape to Hong Kong for a few days, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Soho.
We chose the hotel on the basis of:
a) affordability
b) location
and, yes,
c) free wifi
and on all those 3 counts it couldn’t be faulted.
It is a smartly run, efficient hotel. No frills, no fanciness, but spotless rooms and bathrooms, good shuttle service.
And a great location.
And fast wifi.
I asked for a room as high up in the tower as possible, and our views from the 29th floor were pretty impressive :
The room and the bathroom were both small, it must be said, but spotlessly clean and with everything you need for a stay (except extra space…but this is Hong Kong, remember).
Choice of firm or soft pillows…
Liked the touch of providing an adaptor.
Long live no smoking hotels…
A buffet breakfast was included in the room rate, but the food wasn’t up to much and the buffet was ridiculously crowded – the hotel was packed to bursting with Mainlanders, Taiwanese and Israelis all 3 nights we stayed.
Sharing tables with strangers who pile their plates to danger levels with a weird mixture of food, just because it’s there and “free”, is not my way to start a day. It was the baked beans on top of lettuce, I think, at the table next to me one morning that marked a buffet lowpoint…
I managed to time it so that I never had to queue, but there were often long lines.
So, to be honest, chuck those free breakfast coupons and head out to a neighbouring coffee shop, unless you especially like buffet food.
The staff at the hotel were without exception kind, polite, and very helpful, drawing us maps of where we wanted to go, and in my case writing out in Chinese for me the address I wanted in Kowloon.
Front office staff all spoke good English.
What else ?
Oh yes, there is a shuttle bus that ties in with the Airport Express train, which makes life very easy.
I didn’t tell them I blog and write reviews, and we paid our own way.
Would I stay here again ? Yes, definitely.