Stay Report: Hilton Garden Inn Mong Kok Hong Kong
It might come as a surprise for you, but there isn't a Hilton in Hong Kong, and It haven't been any hotel with the name "Hilton" for 22 years until this Hilton Garden Inn property opened in Mong Kok in late 2016.
Mong Kok is one of the busiest district in the world, it has something unique to offer, so I think the middle price range Hilton Garden Inn is a perfect brand at a location like this. The hotel is more at the outer area of the busy blocks in Mong Kok, as the uniqueness of Mong Kok markets are specialisation, which mean every street only sell one particular products, for example, there are sneaker street and then there's light street. For Hilton Garden Inn, is more around the quieter housewares repairing district.
The property is a short walk from the MTR station as well as the forms of transportation, it is literally at the side of the highway. From the airport to the hotel, it would be cheaper to take a bus to Mong Kok and walk from there, but it does take around 20 minutes longer, but unlike MTR, you do get to see the city a bit on the double-decker buses.
When I walked to this tumbledown but still lively block, I saw a banner hang on the left lower building showing the hotel is right in the end of this lane.
Here as you can see, the entire building is renovated and the entrance does looked much better than all of its surroundings, and the lobby fragrance also smelled pleasant.
On the left side of the building block, another entrance is available if you are coming with a car. The lobby looks new and very-inviting.
Check In:
The front desk seemed a bit busy during my early morning check-in, I was not expecting any suite upgrades here as they only have limited amount of those. Since I checked in around 11 am where the normal check in hour is 3 PM, thus a normal one category upgrade to king guest room with garden view.
The hotel itself is extremely cheap especially in Hong Kong, and a busy district like Mong Kok, it certainly doesn't have the best location, but with all this new amenities, it could have targeted themselves a bit higher if they wanted to. You can manage to find deals around 700 HKD a night if you plan ahead.
The check in experience was great for a garden inn, the receptionist was friendly and informed me upon all the benefits of a diamond member, in addition to that, diamond member can enjoy one dish plus one drink for free at the lobby bar during 3PM to 10PM. This is a nice gesture for them to offer.
My original booked room is an accessible room with handicap facilities, that was the cheapest rate available so I decided to go with it. The front desk agent gladly helped me
change the room to a upgraded king guest room.
The Room:
The room definitely is not big, but it's of decent size. The design is simple and playful with the purple lounge sofa near the window, but honestly, it was impossible to sit on it, I felt like sitting on a stone.
King guest room with garden view overview.
They've even managed to sandwich the tiny desk working area into the corner.
A decent-sized TV and you can feel everything in the room is of minimalistic and simple design.
The bed was of good size and comfortable, I had no problem sleeping at night.
I especially liked the art wall with all the skyline of Hong Kong sketched onto iy, and the flower branch is definitely a highlight, it does suits the name garden inn here.
The backrest was quiet hard, if you put it behind you on the narrow bench sofa, it will literally push you out of it.
The mini bar in this room was empty though I didn't mind that at all.
Tea and coffee and kettle sets, plus two complimentary bottles of water. Nothing special here.
Everything about the room was fine, except for one thing, there's this smell of some sort of mouldy furniture, the air condition was on maximum the whole time but the smell didn't go off a bit. I decided to ask the front desk about this smell, as I am sure they could send a air humidifier up or something. They were very honest about the issue and ask if I wanted someone to come up to the room to check. I kindly declined and ask them for the possibility to change to another room later during the day.
The Bathroom:
The bathroom is quiet big in comparison to the bedroom space, a spacious counter and well-stocked towels.
The shower space is also big.
Toiletries next to the sink, there's only one set of shower amenities, but when asked about it, they are happy to deliver more.
Shower looked clean and the water flow was also good enough.
The Room Change:
I went out right after check-in and emerged myself into the busy streets of Hong Kong, when I headed back to the hotel around 4PM, the smell is still there, so I decided to ask them about this again, if it is the situation with every room here.
The lady on the phone quickly apologised for the inconvenience and told me to come down to the front desk and get the new keys for the harbour view room which is one more category upgrade.
Everything with the harbour view room is the same, except since it's at the end of the hallway, it's slightly bigger, as it's bigger enough to have a space for this convertible luggage stand on the picture below.
I don't necessarily need this extra space, but man did that made me feel good.
Another difference with the harbour view king guest room is that the mini-bar came with four complimentary soft drinks.I haded to call them and confirm this with them since there isn't a price list in the room.
Another feature in this room is that the closet doesn't came with doors, I don't mind that either, but it looked strange to me at first, but I don't mind it anyhow.
Since it's called a harbour view room, you would expect to at least to see part of the harbour, right? Nope, the window view showed you the buildings around the hotel, nothing special except the famous skyscraper of Hong Kong in the far left.
Here's a free dish and drink I've chosen from the lobby bar during dinner time, and it tasted alright, I am not going to complain about free food.
Bottom Line:
This Hilton Garden Inn is definitely one the most cost-effective hotel chain property in Hong Kong, with close proximity to anywhere you need to go, and a great neighbourhood, you would have a great time. I for sure will recommend people trying out this property, and during one of those time where the hotel price in the city just went through the roof, don't forget to check with them, as I am sure they will be of great caretaker for all you accommodation needs.
Check-in Experience: 7.4/10
Status Recognition: 7.2/10
Room Comfortability: 6.2/10
Staff Treatment: 6.5/10
Overall Rating: 6.83/10
Are you going to give this one a try soon?
