Hong+Kong

This page is about **Hong Kong Island**. Look above at **"Discussion"** to post or answer questions.Use the **table of contents** on the right to help you navigate through this page. If you want to **add stuff**, use the edit button on the right (also see tips on the Guidelines page).

=Hong Kong Hotels=

Ovolo
toc **Tripadvisor review**
 * Location**: Aberdeen/Tin Wan (100 Shek Pai Wan Road, Tin Wan), near Ocean Park and Ap Lei Chau (south end of HK Island). Just a few minutes (by car) down the road from Cyberport, with a giant mall and everything you need. 1 large city block walking distance to shopping centers and restaurants in the Aberdeen area.
 * Contact**: +
 * Description**: Serviced apartment hotel. All units are studios or 1 bedroom units.
 * Price** (approx): HK$ 900-1200 depending on season and room size
 * Kid Friendly Features:** Separate sleeping space for child, although the divider between bedroom and living room is essentially useless (light and noise easily gets in). Kitchen facilities (fridge, stove, microwave, all in-room). Playground just about 2 blocks up the road. McDonalds practically across the street. Breakfast is generally available downstairs in hotel lobby (simple toast, fruit, coffee/milk). There are several other playgrounds within walking distance, particularly in the Aberdeen public area near the water front.
 * Other Details:** Since this is an apartment unit, there are kitchen facilities and a separate bedroom. The bedroom separation is only created with a sliding glass panel, and there are open gaps between the bedroom and the rest of the unit (kitchen, living room). Don't expect to have a separate quiet space with these dividers, unfortunately. There are also laundry facilities on the bottom floor, that you can use for free. VERY easy access to the buses and taxis. Rooms have no dining tables, but just slide out tables that give you 'table' space while sitting at the sofa.

Concerto Inn

 * Location**: Lamma Island
 * Contact**: +
 * Description**: Midrange hotel on Lamma Island, across from beach
 * Price** (approx): HK$750-1280+
 * Kid Friendly Features:** There are a variety of room types available, but none are very large. Beach is across the walkway, and is calm and appropriate for children.
 * Other Details:** Nice cafe downstairs (although pricey). Hotel is lovely, and worth a short stay.

Novotel City Gate Hotel

 * Location**: Next to Hong Kong International Airport
 * Contact**: +
 * Description**: A good Hotel close to the Airport, one stop away from Disney via the Metro, an onsite Outet Mall, and within walking distance to the Nping Cable Car. Rooms were small, but OK for three to a room. Club floor rooms come with awesome views, the convience of breakfast on the first floor, and a club lounge that has afternoon tea and a two hour cocktail hour.
 * Price** (approx): 2400 in peak season
 * Kid Friendly Features:** Baby Beds which although reserved were not available for the first night of our stay (so double or triple check on your reservation!), High Chairs and Booster Seats
 * Other Details:**

CHI Residences (Sheung Wan)

 * Location**: Hong Kong Island, Western side
 * Contact**: [|www.**chi-residences.com**/]
 * Description**: A one bedroom apartment with kitchenette. The apartment was a decent size, with elevator opening into the kitchenette (only one apartment per floor). We got 'upgraded' from the CHI residences in Nam Cheong, I think they overbooked. The residence we stayed at was supposed to be monthly rentals only, but I'm posting in case they offer the upgrade to others. An absolutely gorgeous view of the harbor (we stayed on the 20th floor), it was peaceful watching the boats go by from the little balcony.
 * Price** (approx): HK$1100 (but again this was for the other place). They charge 10% service charge.
 * Kid Friendly Features:** They do have cots and baby cribs, but since they charged extra, we brought our own pack-n-play for the baby.
 * Other Details:** We have three children, 5, 2, & 1, so we wanted to have a separate bedroom. That being said, it wasn't really useful in the end for us as we stayed out later than usual and all went to sleep at the same time. It was a bit of a walk (1/2 mile) to the Sheung Wan metro stop, so we took the tram a lot. I think it would have been fine if we had been using an umbrella stroller, but the trams are very narrow, so it was hard getting the stroller on and off the tram while making sure three kids don't get run over. We also didn't find any restaurants in the area and ended up having to take the tram to get something to eat.

**Others**:
Chi Residences (Central) Shama apartments (Causeway Bay) Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza at Leighton Road (next to race course and Aberdeen tunnel, walking distance to times square) Excelsior Hotel (Causeway Bay) YWCA residences
 * Some places to consider that were listed in various places online, but not yet verified by any users (please add to the above listings if you stay there!):**

=Hong Kong Restaurants=

The Dog House

 * Location**:Wan Chai
 * Contact**: +
 * Description**: Sports Bar/ Grill Food (ribs, fish, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken wings, quesadillas, chili, french fries, etc) Very good food with something for everyone.
 * Price** (approx): family of four 200-300HKD
 * Kid Friendly Features:** Funny videos/pictures play on the numerous flat screens with dogs being the main characters.
 * Other Details:** For adults there is a full bar and sports playing on the other flat screen TV's.

Restaurant 2

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Restaurant 3

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Restaurant 4

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Restaurant 5

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=Other Information=

Shek-O "Big Wave Bay" Beach

 * Location**: West end of Hong Kong Island, about a 45 minute drive from central
 * Description**: Nice surf beach with good facilities, but the beach has waves so take precaution with children
 * Price** (approx):
 * Kid Friendly Features**: Beach has large bathroom/change facilities. Restaurant at the beach with convenient food. Playground near the beach.
 * Other Details:** Take a taxi, but be aware that the road can be long and windy. Motion-sick babies beware. While there are a handful shops at the beach, they do not seem to sell much baby or toddler sized clothing. There is some, but not a large selection, so be sure to pack everything. Surfboards are rentable at this beach. There are not many taxis waiting at Big Wave Bay, so be aware that if you do not have a car or taxi booked, or do not have your own transportation, you may have to wait for a taxi to arrive (or call one).

**Disneyland** []
 * Location**: Lantau Island, east end
 * Contact**: +
 * Description**: Disneyland in Hong Kong is a great place to take your young children to meet their favorite Disney characters, ride young children rides, and enjoy the beautiful grounds. We bought 2-day passes and it ended up being the perfect amount of time for us.
 * Price** (approx): Adults: HK$399/1 day, 499/2 day, Kids 3+: HK$285/1 day, 355/2 day
 * Kid Friendly Features**: They did a good job keeping up with Disney standards. The grounds were beautiful, and very enjoyable for the kids to run around in. The lines were not too bad, and with the fastpass features on some of the rides, we were able to spend minimal time in the lines. They do have stroller rentals, too, if you don't bring your own.
 * Other Details:** I highly recommend buying your tickets before you get to the park. There is a ticket station at Hong Kong metro station and would have saved us about 45 minutes as we stood in line to buy entry tickets, or buy them online. They have a lot of kid friendly food, but as with everything else about Disneyland, it is expensive (for Hong Kong at least, but not too bad if you have been to the U.S. parks). We also found the afternoon to be more busy than the morning, with longer waits and more crowds.

Lamma Island

 * Location:** Lamma Island, south side http://www.lamma.com.hk/
 * Description:** A 20min enjoyable (and cheap) boat ride from Aberdeen pier (or 30 minutes from Central pier) and you have escaped the urban jungle of Hong Kong Island to see another side of a greener Hong Kong. Laid back and lush, this tiny island offers hikes, decent beaches, seafood restaurants and cold beer (while the kids are shell hunting). The beaches aren't as nice as the ones off Hong Kong island, but enough to keep the kids entertained for a couple of hours. Our boat from Aberdeen dropped us off at Mo Tat Wan, the less developed side of the Island, which only has a couple of restaurants. We spent the morning and had lunch at "The Bay" which had decent western meals with many child friendly options at OK prices. The peace and quiet, even with the kids, was phenomenal. If you are feeling like walking, the island offers many child friendly (but not pram friendly) hiking routes. The other side has a plethora of Chinese style seafood places but tends to be noisier.
 * Price:** Boat ride from Aberdeen $13 HK (adults)/ $6HK (child). Lavish lunch for 2+2: $350-400.
 * Other details:** Bring any special items you need as there aren't many shops on the island. Carrying a strong mosquito repellent (no, none of your organic stuff is going to work) and itch soothers is highly recommended- these mozzies mean business!

=Getting There and Around=

Flights
For the most part, every airline seems to fly into Hong Kong. You can fly into HK and take ferries, buses, taxis, and even the subway to get into the city or even to Macau.

Transport in Hong Kong
Taxis are widely available and can be flagged on the road. You can also call a taxi service (sorry, don't have number here but you can ask a driver) who will send a taxi to your location, but there is a surcharge for this (sorry, don't recall the amount). Sometimes taxis can be impossible to find, such as if you are in Causeway Bay on a Friday night around 8pm! Generally, the best approach is to find a hotel and eventually get a taxi from there. It's possible that Octopus cards might not be able to be used for payment.

Buses are frequent and very convenient. If you can figure out the route you need, usually by talking to your hotel, then the bus can be a very reliable form of transportation, although it takes a bit longer than cars. Buses readily accept Octopus card payment, but also cash. Strollers can be put onto a bus, but you might want to make this a team effort, or fold the stroller up prior to getting on board. With airport buses, there is usually a big luggage section where you can store your stroller. Again, in busy times, the bus lines can be outrageous (Causeway Bay on a Friday night). Expect long waits at established bus queues.

Ferries are also quite common in HK. Central has many ports, but there is also Aberdeen Port which has a short frequent ferry service to Lamma Island (30 minutes, many times per day). You can even take the super short ferry ride from Aberdeen directly across the water to Ap Lei Chau (about 3 minutes) for about 1 $HK.