Hong Kong Hotels

Seek, and ye shall find just about anything in Hong Kong hotels. This so-called Wall Street of the Orient is, by many visitors' accounts, one apparent contradiction after the next, a phenomenon resulting no doubt from the collision of British and Chinese cultures. Thus, Hong Kong hotels are home to eternal travelers, traders, prospectors, marketers, and a crush of tourists eager to get in on the fun.

Since its handover back to China from England in 1997, Hong Kong has undergone less change than many expected. The influences of both cultures are still firmly present, even if the Union Jack has been replaced by China's red stars. One can still find Mandarin spoken widely throughout the island, though English is as commonplace in Hong Kong as it is in Oxford. That means you, the tourist, should have no anxiety about calling ahead and booking your Hong Kong hotels; you'll be understood just fine, which is more than you can say about Kuala Lumpur.

What You'll Find in Hong Kong Hotels
Apart from lots of bamboo, you'll find sumptuously appointed Hong Kong hotels that feel downright dynastic in their designs. Americans often speak of feeling as though they were in a mystical land or a movie as they look out from Victoria Peak or clatter into Hunghom railway station each time they visit Hong Kong. Then there's the hospitality--doting, attentive, almost embarrassing at times, which for some travelers is the very reason they choose the island as their holiday destination.

Hong Kong can be expensive, though, whether you're staying put or riding the rail lines, cruising the harbor, or taking advantage of duty-free shopping. The hotels themselves have familiar names like Le Meridien, InterContinental, and St. Regis, yet another reason so many Westerners feel as though they've barely left Southern California. Once they set out on the Star Ferry, however, it's clear that it's not Catalina that's hiding out there in the fog.