Karaoke Tsim Sha Tsui

[Myra Krallman]

Thehotel is located in Kowloon in the Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district, not far from Victoria Harbour. For a business person in the city for meetings, they may find the Grand Hyatt across the harbor more convenient with its location in Central. All the same, if you are in town for sightseeing, business, or likely a mixture of the two this location would beat Sha Tin hands down. You are in the heart of everything with excellent transportation links to wherever you would want to go, see or do.

Just after the bathroom the short hall continues into the studio bedroom. There is an open luggage rack conveniently next to the dresser and television. Opposite is the bed (I had a king) which left little room for anything else. There was a small walkway next to the closest side of the bed, on the opposite side there was enough room to place a small sitting chair and ottoman opposite a completely serviceable desk.

The view up here is much better. The lounge is located on the 23rd floor. It consists of three rooms, the first being an ante room with seating, newspapers and a computer for easy boarding pass printing. The following room has large, two-story windows facing Victoria Harbour which has a fairly clear view despite the buildings in between the property and the waterfront. There are tables next to the window for two or four person parties, and a long elevated communal table which I found convenient.

While I was not able to join the evening cocktail hour, I did make breakfast on both stays. On this occasion I did not have time to order eggs from the menu but did help myself to cereal and a Chinese breakfast buffet item I have never seen or tried before (rolled egg noodles, pan-fried). The hot buffet items consisted of just congee, the aforementioned noodle dish, baked beans, and sausage (presumably to accompany the made-to-order eggs).

In the fridge they offered the Hyatt standard smoked salmon, I did not see a fruit option, but I was in a rush and would have been surprised if they did not offer one at all. There were some cold drink options, though limited. There was also a small salad bar, breads and imported cheeses.

That might seem like a lot if you are used to the Dubuque Holiday Inn Express, but for an international Hyatt, that is a pretty limited offering. By comparison, the Grand Hyatt is lauded for their breakfast buffet both in the lounge and their very popular restaurant downstairs. Service in the lounge was friendly though nothing that exceeded expectations for a hotel of this price point.

At checkin I was processed by a very polite and amenable agent, though there was no one downstairs to greet me and tell me where to go, however there were some boxes that appeared to be awaiting pickup by a delivery service. I could have helped myself if I would have liked, and that worried me. If I was there for business and needed to send something out, perhaps critical documents or to send something home, would my things be left outside unattended for any drifter to pickup and take with them?

While perhaps not exactly double the size of the Hyatt Regency TST room, the Sha Tin room is pretty close to twice the room, features the tub, panoramic views that you actually want to look at, a better lounge, and a staff that is genuinely happy to serve. The Grand also offers fantastic views, a better bathroom, arguably a better location (especially for business people) and an extraordinary lounge and breakfast option in the restaurant.

Kyle is a freelance travel writer with contributions to Time, the Washington Post, MSNBC, Yahoo!, Reuters, Huffington Post, MapHappy, Live And Lets Fly and many other media outlets. He is also co-founder of Scottandthomas.com, a travel agency that delivers "Travel Personalized." He focuses on using miles and points to provide a premium experience for his wife and daughter.Email: she...@thetripsherpa.com

We stayed there last year for 7 nights. I had a suite upgrade and had an amazing room with a great view. Service was great. We even used the happy hour as dinner a few nights. Here is our review: -hyatt-regency-hong-kong-tsim-tsa-tsui/

There seems to be a lot of consensus from commenters that prices are closer to $400/nt than $280. Perhaps there has been a change but I routinely shop the market for 1-5 night stays about a half a dozen times every year and have only seen it crest $400USD once with the exception of a sold out hotel in which prices are $500+ (but offering rooms to Globalists anyway because of status).

Stayed for a couple of nights this year largely because of the location and loved it; service was really good. I also had a nice view of the harbor. They have a nice open area (on floor 9 I think) that is worth a stroll, especially if you want a cooling breeze.

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