Hotel Review: Hongkong Motel

We should be staying in Golden Crown Guest House located at Nathan Road because we're already booked there for January 1. But the hostel was already fully booked for January 3 to 6. So, we looked for more options via Booking.com and Agoda.com. We needed two quadruple rooms or 1 quadruple room and 1 triple room since we are 7 adults. Unfortunately, the options were very limited since most of the good hostels were already fully booked. Mind you, it's already less than a week when we did our search. Pasaway! I was cramming and pressured all over, not because of the travel but because of my work. So, hubby did the all the searching. And he found out Hongkong Motel.

When you look at the hotel (I'll be using "hotel" instead of motel... Hehe...) in Agoda website, it looks promising. They have very good reviews, the ratings are high, the rates are quite decent and the rooms look pretty based on the photos. We thought that this hotel should be more spacious and comfortable than Golden Crown Guest House since their rates almost double the rate of Golden Crown. So, we grabbed the deal.

Reservation / Rates

• We booked via Agoda.com.
• We availed 1 family room good for 4 persons and 1 triple room.
• We paid almost PHP 32,000 for 3-night stay of 7 adults and 1 child.
• There is no down payment. You have to pay in full. I paid via Visa Credit Card.

Location

• Reception: Eastern Flower Centre, 22 Cameron Road, Tsui Sha Tsui, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.
• Rooms: Located at Kimberly St. 
• To get there by MTR, take the Tsuen Wan lane, stop at Tsim Sha Tsui station and exit at B2. You will be in Cameron Road. From there, Eastern Flower Centre is just walking distance. 

View Larger Map

My Review

Good / Neutral

• Towels were clean and being replaced everyday.
• Toothbrush, toothpaste, glasses, cups, shower gel and shampoo were provided.
• With free WIFI inside the room but the connection is so slow.
• Flat screen television but we didn't mind opening it.
• Closer to many Chinese carinderia.

Bad

• Intentional or not - they are somewhat misleading. In Agoda, it stated that Hongkong Motel is located at Eastern Flower Centre, Cameron Road but it's only their reception. The actual rooms are located at Kimberly St. farther away from MTR station. Imagine how shocked I was when the receptionist told us to follow his assistant to the hotel located somewhere else!
• The rooms were constricted and small compared to what we paid for. And yes, compared to Golden Crown Guest House!
• We booked for 1 triple room and 1 quadruple room; but, given with two triple rooms. We complained about this but we're not transferred to a quadruple room. Instead, extra mattress and towel were given. 
• The walls looked dirty and stained. And so were the mattresses.
• The corridor was a mess - you can see construction materials, sheets and beddings.
• There was no provision for hot and cold drinking water.
• With private toilet but the door is made of sliding frosted glass with no lock!
• They have no website.
• No traffic in the elevator but sometimes, I can smell cigarette smoke! 
• Value for money? No way. Quite expensive compared to the hostels but the room quality is very poor.
• Location-wise, 8 to 10 minutes away from the MTR station.

Photos

Because I was so busy attending to my son and other things, plus the fact that we're always dead beat, they were so lucky I've forgotten to take pictures! The rooms look nice in the photos posted in Agoda, but in actuality, they're not! My husband and I were so upset. 

Final Verdict

DO NOT STAY in this hotel. I will say it again, DO NOT STAY. I thought paying more will give us better  rooms. But this hotel has greatly disappointed me and my husband. I am sure, there are quite a lot of affordable but BETTER hostels which are strategically located near the MTR station. You can also take a look at the hostels in Mirador Mansion.

Lessons Learned

• Research early to get better accommodations. It was already less than a week when we looked for a place to stay. 
• I am not sure about the integrity of Agoda.com when it comes to reviews. So make sure to research more.

Please see the full series of our Hongkong Getaway.

Got questions? Please leave a comment. I will try my best to answer whatever question you may have. *Wink*