Late next week I set off for a few days to Hong Kong. Over the past year I’ve been able to visit twice and it has become one of my favorite places in the world to see. Being a native New Yorker, I never thought I’d find a city that I enjoyed more than NYC, but Hong Kong has given it a run for it’s money as far as I’m concerned. There’s no one thing that I can pinpoint that makes the case for Hong Kong being a favorite. I think it comes down to a confluence of several things including ease of navigation, breadth of cuisine, cleanliness of the city and the extremely friendly and helpful residents. Being one of United’s best “cost per mile” destinations only helps the argument.
On my previous visits, I stayed at the Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency. This time, I’ll return to the Hyatt Regency simply because it’s location in the heart of Kowloon makes it very easy to reach most of Kowloon and Hong Kong. I love the fact that I am only a few steps from fantastic noodle shops, shopping and transportation the moment that I step out of the hotel.
Fortunately on previous trips I was able to take in several of the “Must See” places that new visitors are encouraged to see. This time I hope to expand my exploration to take in new places and sights. I’ve also been armed with a holiday shopping list by my wife that includes Chinese Puzzle Balls, Pearls, Tagua Nut Figurines and Jade Dragons so no doubt that will take a few minutes of effort!
🙂
I’m trying to actually do less planning for this trip in the attempt to do more things on a spur of the moment. I think this way gives me much more flexibility and spontaneity than sticking to a pre-meditated itinerary of places to go. The only “Must Do” on this trip will be Plane Spotting from the HAECO hangar area just off the airport campus.
For the outbound flight, I chose the traditional Grand Rapids-Chicago-Hong Kong route so that I can enjoy 16 non-stop hours in the bubble top of my beloved 744 and hopefully more great views of Siberia. However for the return flight I was “dared” to be a little more creative so instead of the easy Hong Kong-Chicago flight, I’m going to make my way from Hong Kong to Guam (yes Guam), then onto Honolulu and onward to Chicago and finally Grand Rapids.
In all, it’s a couple thousand more miles for the Frequent Flyer account with this more creative routing but I’ll have the new experience of stepping on Guam’s terra firma and perhaps adding a GUM stamp to my Passport. My understanding is that US citizens take care of Immigration in Guam and Customs in Honolulu. Something tells me I won’t find a Global Entry kiosk in Guam, but no matter, I’d wait in line for the stamp anyway.
Of course I’ll have my trip reports and photos to share once I return!
Related Posts:
@LufthansaFlyer i think so. go Grand HK 🙂
@srptraveller thanks for your info!
I’ve pass through Guam on transiting on a flight to Manila. The lines go by fast (depending on how many flights) and they have a food court for those transiting.
At GUM the line to go through security is no longer than 5-10 minutes. If you have several hours to kill I’d take a cab to Tumon. It’s a nice touristy/beachy area with good eats.
@Teri thanks for the idea, but I only have an hour between flights.
@AndyF
The Grand Hyatt is not always more expensive than the Regency, it just depends when you look. I don’t think either is obviously a better hotel, they’re just different.
The Regency is almost brand new, in a great Kowloon location, very convenenient for shopping and dining and markets. It is also directly opposite a subway station.
The Grand is “Grander but Older”, older but extremely well maintained, in a *slightly* out of the way Hong Kong Island location (10 mins walk to subway), has a nice club lounge.
I honestly don’t think you can go wrong. I have stayed in both this year. I prefer the Regency as I like being in Kowloon which a little bit more chinese, and the hotel is so new.
I just got my two free night from Hyatt visa. It seems like you prefer Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui? I found the rate of Grand Hyatt Hong Kong is much more expensive. Considering it will be free nights.. While lots of people recommend the Regency as its more convenient shopping and food choice. Im a little bit lost. Help.
@Andy, if you have 2 free nights, I would use them to experience the GRAND HKG since it is a better value when redeeming for free nights. Like SRPtraveller indicated, it is a more formal/grander property that should be experienced. The location is a small inconvenience, but with the low cost of taxis in HKG, its not really a big deal. I chose the Regency this time because the price was nearly half, but also because they had Suites available and I have suite upgrades that I get being a Hyatt Diamond. You can’t lose staying at either, but try the Grand this time out.
Nice, I’ll be there next weekend as well.. for the first time!
3 stops? Ur crazy
@Andrew- Most likely! 🙂
Grab dinner or a drink at Hutong – great location to watch the 8pm harbor light show.
Thanks for the tip, I enjoy watching the sunset over the harbor!
HK is eminently walkable. When I have guests in HK I mostly take them walking until they are too sore. Have a great time here and hopefully you’ll find everything you need to buy!
I enjoy walking HKG as well. I discovered a lot of great things by getting lost for a couple of hours!