If you’re looking for a Hong Kong hotel and you want to stick with a US brand to earn or redeem points Holiday Inn Express Mong Kok is a pretty strong contender for most travelers. Whether you want to stay at one of two HI locations on the Kowloon Peninsula or in the heart of Causeway Bay the brand provides high quality rooms for a very moderate price.
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During my stays I booked the Causeway bay location as low as $88 a night (not uncommon as 88 is a lucky number in China) and I reserved the Holiday Inn Express Mong Kok for 13,500 points per night. ($67.50 If you buy points at half a cent each).
For the room size, quality and location that’s a fantastic deal. Check the current price on Expedia.
Holiday Inn Express Mong Kok Location
The neighborhood is in the heart of Hong Kong’s Kowloon Peninsula. If Central is downtown and TST is Midtown you can think of it as “upper midtown.” The Holiday Inn Express Mong Kok is about halfway between two MTR stations, both on the Tsuen Wan (Red) line. Together with Yau Ma Tei just to the south Mong Kok is a bustling retail and restaurant district with two night markets in easy walking distance.
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If you’re coming for a vacation and planning to see sights all around the city you’ll be riding the subway often, particularly the Red and Blue lines. Staying anywhere along these lines will do and in that respect the Holiday Inn Express Mong Kok is well located.
Holiday Inn Express Property
Similar to the HI Express in Causeway Bay this is a high rise building without a ton of amenities. The upper floors of the building are an office building with the hotel existing between some parking levels at the bottom and going up to the 17th floor. There’s a breakfast area and meeting room above the lobby. The breakfast is free with a menu of six choices. It’s not large and it’s not good.
There is a laundry room here, and a little open air seating area nearby on the 18th floor. But that’s about it. No pool, no gym, no ice machine.
Holiday Inn Express Mong Kok Rooms
The rooms here are overall clean and very nice. Definitely a bit more modern in decor than the Causeway Bay location. A long banquette provides lots of seating room and is pretty comfortable when paired with a bed pillow or two. The angled widows afford a pretty nice view over the expressway of several high-rise buildings including the 118 floor Ritz Carlton.
The bathroom door is a very unusual design where it closes off the bathroom when closed but is also the shower (closed) when the bathroom door is open. You can get by having a shower with the shower door open if you prefer. It’s big enough not to be spilling water everywhere. The decorative glass block is a unique and very cool feature and overall this is a great bathroom. It might be the best you’ll find in this price range.
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I thought the TV could be a little bigger based on the size of the room and there was a bit of wear and tear evident on surfaces but overall it’s a great room that most people would be happy with anywhere.
About Mong Kok
While the location of the Holiday Inn Express Mong Kok is overall good, its situation within Mong Kok is not ideal. It abuts a freeway and there’s nothing of interest on the other side. The character of the neighborhood immediately around the hotel is defined entirely by shops that sell specialized construction equipment. Think pipes, nails, giant coils of rope and chain, etc. There’s also quite a few little laundries and pawn shops scattered around.
A visitor needs to walk 4-5 blocks to reach either the subway or Nathan Road. The east side of Nathan Road in Mong Kok is a much livelier, friendlier environment with plenty of modern retail and restaurants.
Walking south into Yau Ma Tei will take you past the famous Jade Hawkers’ Bazaar and Temple Street Night Market, a must visit in Hong Kong Kong. That area is likewise much more desirable.
Bottom Line
Not the best hotel in Hong Kong but definitely far from the worst. The Holiday Inn Express Mong Kok is right next door to a Hilton Garden Inn that’s a similar building type with similar rooms but significantly higher rates. It would be hard to imagine paying $30-40 more per night just for the Hilton name.
If you’re looking for value Holiday Inn Express Mong Kok should definitely be on your radar. You can find it here on Expedia for as low as $88.
