Hong Kong-Macau 2016 Travel Diary: Accommodation in Causeway Way via Airbnb

Well, this is a super overdue post. I was thinking if I should write about my Hong Kong-Macau trip back in October of 2016; I kept procrastinating and then one day I decided “Ok, let’s share it anyway”. This trip is also my birthday gift to myself, I was supposed to go to Bangkok and Cambodia after my best friend’s wedding but that got postponed later this year so my college friends and I decided to just go with another college friend to her family trip to HK. This trip was a bit impulsive and expensive since we booked our flights only one month before the trip date, and you know how airline charges can be very steep especially when the holidays are approaching.

During our flight, there’s a massive typhoon happening in the Philippines and is on its way to Hong Kong too. Our flight was delayed for an hour (though not a surprising thing with Cebu Pacific) and it was drizzling too when we got to Hong Kong. Our trip was 5 days and 4 nights, but we kind of lost a day because of the typhoon. In Hong Kong, when there’s a big storm, almost all of Hong Kong is shut down so you can’t do anything really. The only places that are open are 24-7 convenience stores.

But all in all, it was a very nice trip; especially that I got to do my very first trip out of the country with my best college friends (I was supposed to go to HK back in 2011 but that got cancelled because of some unfortunate events). We’ve been planning a trip together but only that this time around that we finally got to do it. It was almost a decade in the making but was a memorable one especially that I got to spend it with people that meant a lot to me.

 
I will try my best to recall what transpired during this trip; the places that we went to, the experiences that we had, the things that we did etc. Though I might do blog posts that have more photos than words in it. This will probably be more like a photo diary and sharing of experience than reviews or how-to’s. 

OUR HONG KONG ACCOMMODATION Hong Kong being a twenty- first century country, cost of living there is quite expensive than in my country. So staying in HK for 4 nights and 5 days required us to do a lot of budgeting. Finding a decent hotel in HK that comes with a reasonable price, well if we would base it on my friends’ and my standards, the hotels that we saw based on our budgets would not cut it. We decided to look for places where we can stay via Airbnb instead. After a few days of looking around, we deliberated and settled that we would stay in this condo unit in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay.

The owner of the place is very accommodating, helpful and responds to messages promptly. He even waved some fees for us because we’re staying for 5 days. The unit is located at Sugar Street and Gloucester Road which is a good 3-5 minute walk to the Causeway Bay Station of the MTR and just right across Victoria Park. Other transportation is very accessible too, buses and ding-dings. The malls and restaurants are a stone’s throw away too. Just outside the building are a handful of convenience stores and eateries. Ikea and  Wellcome are like 2-3 minutes’ walk. So just the location itself is already a jackpot.

 

The building has a guard 24-7 so you can enter and go as you please since someone can always open the gate for you. The neighborhood is a bit upscale and commercialized so I think this area is safe. Well HK is also a city that never sleeps, no matter the time of the day, you can always see a lot of people around.

  Living Area The living area ain’t that big but is well-lit and decorated. There’s a flat screen cable TV, wi-fi, AC and a sofa bed for additional sleeping area. The entire unit is well-ventilated, modern, clean and very homey. The owner also provided us with a multi-socket plug, because our connectors and plugs are different from the ones in the Philippines. Their plugs are three-pronged unlike in the Philippines where we use only 2 prongs. I didn’t notice if there’s was an iron available but there was a hair blow dryer which was very helpful because I didn’t bring mine.

Bedrooms Our unit had 2 rooms with double sized-beds. Both rooms had decors too that made it feel homey as well. The mattresses were comfy and the linens were clean. The AC in one of the rooms wasn’t giving out enough cold air though, but we were ok with it. There’s no closets were you can put your clothes but there’s a rack in one of the rooms. By the way, there’s also bunk bed near the dining area. So all in all you can house 7 people in this unit. Though we used the bunk beds as a place to put our things and luggage.

Kitchen and Dining There’s a table and couple of chairs available. Our dining table is small but we were able to manage. But the very nice thing about that place is that you’ve got everything you need if you want to save money and cook there. The unit is furnished with cooking ware and utensils, dining ware, electric stove, microwave oven, refrigerator and electric kettle. There were also a lot of bathroom tissue papers, trash bags and dish washing liquid provided. 

Toilet and Bath Whenever I stay in a place, the comfort room is always a concern for me. A place's CR will always give away the standards and quality being set in that establishment. Here you can notice that the place is quite dated because of the bathroom, I guess when they renovated and redecorated this place, and the bathroom was the last thing on the owner’s mind.  It was clean anyway, which is a very good thing. Bathroom essentials like body wash, shampoo, conditioner, towels etc. are provided for free. There’s also a water heater available in the shower area which is always a nice treat.

The place was aptly-sized, just enough space to move around even if you’re with a large group (we were 5 adults and 2 kids). The price for the place is very reasonable especially that it is smacked right in the middle of the commercial area in Causeway Bay. Transaction with the lessor via Airbnb was a smooth one too. This place is highly recommended. You can contact Lex via this link: Causeway Bay SOGO Area

Read more about my Hong-Kong and Macau trip here: - Hong Kong-Macau 2016 Travel Diary: My Two Cents - Hong Kong-Macau 2016 Travel Diary: Accommodation in Causeway Way via Airbnb - Hong Kong-Macau 2016 Travel Diary: Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel - Hong Kong-Macau 2016 Travel Diary: Hong Kong Disneyland - Hong Kong-Macau 2016 Travel Diary: Delicious Kitchen - Hong Kong-Macau 2016 Travel Diary: Macau Giant Panda Pavilion - Hong Kong-Macau 2016 Travel Diary: Eiffel Tower at Parisian Macau

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