Stay Report: Holiday Inn Golden Mile Hong Kong
This Holiday Inn property is located at the busy district of Tsim Sha Tsui of Hong Kong, after a zig-zag turn around from the narrow alleyways you would be able to find it across the streets of K-11 - an art-gallery shopping mall. For an Holiday Inn, they have a wonderful lobby and even somewhat a grand entrance, the doormen were not extremely attentive, after opened the lobby door myself, I saw the check in area on the left, only to be told that Platinum members get a dedicated area to enjoy a better check-in experience, she showed me the way to the right side of the lobby which I initially thought that is a lobby cafe, but it turned out you get a sit-down check-in experience as well as refreshment beverages from the attentive staff.
Check-In:
Unfortunately, the male staff didn't know anything he was doing, he had to ask his colleague on the other desk for every process, but overall it was great check-in experience. It took around ten minutes but since I got to sit down and drink some soda while I wait, I didn't mind the wait, as he was anxiously trying to make sure everything is okay.
The First Room:
At first, I was assigned a room on the higher floor, which I was told that they had renovation going on several floors above, but when I opened the door, all I hear was the noise of drilling, it not a light knock on the wall, it's literally banging on my room's celling every five seconds, and then from time to time, a hammer would be smashing down without notice, and whatever I was doing, I would stood there for a second just to recover from the shock.
I know that it would be some noises, but I do not expect it to be something like this, this level of noise to me it's like I was standing on a demolition site where the wrecking ball would just randomly smash into things.
It is a deluxe king room I was upgraded to from the basic guest room, the hotel is not young as you see from the older furnishing styles. The room was quiet nice to stay at if it is not for the noise, but as it become unbearable for me,
I called them right away and request to change to room.
They apologised for this matter, as I barely can talk to them on the phone, because that's how loud the noise was, they can even hear it clearly on the telephone line.
After another short wait, a male staff came up to handed me the new room keys, and he followed me all the way to the newly-assigned room just to make sure that I am satisfied with everything.
The Second Room:
The second room is called a premier family room, which has two beds, on single and one double. I obviously do not need two beds to sleep on, but fine, I guess that's at least another categorical upgrade in their gesture, the room is definitely newer and looked clean and neat.
Both beds are clean and comfortable, as eventually I did try out both of them, one of them for laying down with my computer and another one for sleeping.
The nightstand with the an alarm.
The desk area in the room.
Amenities:
They have a great selection of snacks and mini-bar drinks, as well as other standard amenities.
What's nice is that many hotels in Hong Kong have been equipped with an android system handy which give you free wifi and free call to around twenty-ish countries. It's very practical to have when you are a visitor and it also saves you some costs if you are trying to get that on your own.
Safe and the bathrobes in the closet.
Three slippers since it is a family room.
The Bathroom:
The bathroom was bright and big, but nothing so special. It does not has a bathtub which is okay, since it's just a Holiday Inn. They've kept everything clean and in order, so I didn't mind it.
They've also placed three sets towels and shower amenities, as well as three bottles of complementary mineral waters.
The shower facility in the bathroom.
Shower amenities and the toiletries.
I've drank one of the bottle of water before I took the pictures, so just so you know.
The view outside of the window, the streets are always busy in Tsim Sha Tsui, but the noise level at floor level five(my room) was not that bad, you do hear some distant traffic nosies, but it was not that serious.
Bottom Line:
This Holiday Inn property is at great location and close to all kinds of public transportation. The pricing is not necessarily bad in most of the days, but there is indeed a reduction in terms of the quality you will be getting compared to other mid-range brands, but it definitely is not as bad as you think.
After all, it's only a Holiday Inn.
