Where to stay in Hong Kong

The tax that came back

• Hotel accommodation tax returned at 3% on 1 January 2025, after sixteen years at zero. It applies to hotels and guesthouses and is charged on top of the room rate.
• Check whether the quoted price includes it. Many booking sites still show the rate without, and it lands with the 10% service charge most hotels add as well - so the bill can arrive 13% above the headline.
• Guesthouses with fewer than ten rooms are exempt, which is a real reason the small places look cheaper than they should.

What the room is actually like

• Hong Kong rooms are small. A standard double in a mid-range hotel is routinely under 20 square metres, and the photograph was taken with a very wide lens. This is not a scam; it is what land costs here.
• A window is worth paying for. Many cheaper rooms have none, or face a light well a metre away.
• Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui is the budget end - a genuine institution, safe enough, and nothing like the pictures suggest in either direction. Rooms are tiny and the lifts are a queue.

Where to base yourself

• Tsim Sha Tsui - Kowloon side, the harbour view, the widest price range, the best transport.
• Causeway Bay and Wan Chai - Hong Kong Island, busy, well connected, good for eating.
• Central and Sheung Wan - business district, expensive, quiet at weekends.
• Anywhere on an MTR line is fine. Distance from the centre matters far less here than distance from a station.