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Metropark Hotel Kowloon - Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
by anwar7
I have just returned from a wonderful trip to Australia. As the flight is a very long one, we decided to stop over in Hong Kong for a few days on route. I wanted to stay in a hotel that was centrally located but not too expensive. I was also interested in hotels that offered a pool to cool off! I spent some time looking on trip advisor ... before deciding on the Metropark hotel in Kowloon.
I then set about price checking and found the cheapest deal was by booking through booking.com.We paid around £150 a night for a family room without breakfast. The room information stated that it slept 2 adults and 1 child.
The hotel.
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We arrived at the airport after an exhausting 11 hour flight. I was really impressed by how clean and efficient everything was! We had intended to take the hotel shuttle bus to the hotel, but the helpful man behind the information desk suggested a taxi would be cheaper for us. The taxi system is also very efficient and we were soon on our way to the hotel. On arrival the taxi was met by a member of staff who took care of our luggage.
We arrived at about 10 am, long before the official check in time. However we were told our room was ready. The check in process seemed to take forever! We took the lift to our room and I was dismayed to find just 2 single beds! The room was small and I really didn't think there would be room to add another bed! I left my tired and grumpy children in the room whilst I made the trip back to the reception area. There was now a long queue so I had to wait for about 20 minutes! I explained the problem and that I had paid for 3 beds! After a lot of discussion with her colleague it was agreed we would be given a bigger room with an extra single bed- result! However the check in process had been slow and not particularly friendly! Not the best start!
The new room was much bigger. The room contained a double and single bed with desk and chair. The room was airconditioned, essential in Hong Kong! The bathroom was quite spacious with a bath and shower over. There was a good selection of toiletteries and lots of large white fluffy towels. There was a mini bar and tea and coffee making facilities. I was a bit disappointed that there was no fresh milk but only sachets of powdered milk. The décor was a little tired but the room was really clean and the beds comfortable with cotton sheets. Overall I was happy with the room!
Other facilities.
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This is a large hotel with 487 rooms and 19 floors. There is a good lift to all floors. On the top floor is a small rooftop swimming pool and fitness room. On arrival at the pool area you will be asked to remove your shoes and given slippers to wear. There are also pool towels for guests to use. The pool surround has loungers and tables and chairs with sunshades. The pool itself is really clean and it was lovely to swim in the cool water after the heat of the city. The fitness room is small and has a running machine and weights from what I could see. When we were there the fitness centre was always empty.
The hotel offers a free ½ hourly shuttle bus service to Mongkok and Tsimshatsui. We went to the latter as it is close to the ferry port. A trip on the famous star ferry is not to be missed! The Mongkok area is home to the shopping district and many of the markets including the well known ladies market.
The hotel is well situated and just a 15 minute walk to one of efficient MTR stations. It is also near to restaurants and shops. However bear in mind that Hong Kong can be really hot with high humidity and walking may not be fun!
The hotel has several restaurants including the expensive house of Tang and the cheaper palm court. We ate elsewhere during our stay as I find hotel food is often overpriced! We did take the buffet breakfast on one morning and it offered a good selection of all you could eat including cooked breakfast, cereals, pastries and lots of fruit bread and toast. At a cost of 110 dollars each (about £10) it wasn't cheap! There is a cake shop next to the hotel where you can buy reasonably priced yummy pastries for a cheaper breakfast option. There is also a supermarket about 5 minutes walk from the hotel where I bought fresh milk to keep in the mini bar fridge!
The hotel offers free broadband in all rooms. There are also computers located in the reception area that are available for a small charge.
We decided to take the hotel shuttle bus back to the airport and paid 110 dollars each. The bus is fully air-conditioned and the journey was hassle free although a local taxi would have been cheaper I didn't want to wait whilst one was ordered.
During our stay the staff were really helpful and friendly with the exception of the reception staff! When we checked out I was surprised to find items had been charged from the mini bar. As I knew that no items had been taken I questioned the charge. It took a long phone call to housekeeping before the mistake was admitted and the charge reversed!
Overall we all enjoyed our stay at the Metropark although first impressions hadn't been good! The hotel offers good value for money and is conveniently situated to many of the cities attractions. The free shuttle bus is a real bonus as is the lovely roof top pool. I would definitely stay at the Metropark again and just hope they retrain the reception staff!
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Bangkok Palace Hotel (Thailand)
by thefund
I stayed here on a trip with my college, where we travelled all over thailand and cambodia. We stayed here on 3 or 4 seperate occasions for 1 to 3 nights at a time. So I think I am in a good position to tell you about the hotel, as I have been in a lot of different rooms!
The position of the hotel isn't great. It's just under ... a freeway, so from the outside it looks rather ugly. It is in central Bangkok though which is great because pretty much everywhere is easy to get to. However the inside is pleasant although there are some grubby areas. There is a small cafe in the lobby which serves drinks and cakes. The drinks were good and the milkshakes some of the best you'll ever taste but the cakes were abominable. Do not buy them!
The rooms themselves were of a reasonable size as were the ensuite bathrooms. The rooms were equipped with a hairdryer and 2 bottles of complimentary water, which was good because the tap water in thailand should never be drunk, so it was nice to have some bottled water in our room when we arrived. The minibar like the rest of thailand is very cheap, so even though it is more expensive than in the local shops it is still cheaper than your local shop in England, so no complaints there. The view from the rooms though was disappointing. From one side of the hotel you have a view of the freeway, and from another you have a view of some old run down buildings. To be fair to the hotel though, finding a good view in the centre of Bangkok is difficult if not impossible. I've stayed in many hotels in Bangkok and even the best hotels cannot avoid views of the abundant slums and ugly buildings.
The beds were comfortable and I had no problems with my sheets. However my friends were not so lucky. Brown stains were commonly found on the sheets and one of the people in my room found that their sheet was covered in what was unmistakably semen. We were horrified! However after contacting the lobby this was quickly rectified, but from then on we had to rigorously check the sheets each time we stayed there, and often found something unpleasant! After reading reviews on tripadvisor we considered ourselves lucky after many people have found bed bugs in their room, so it could have been a lot worse! I'm not sure if bed bugs are still common in this hotel, but after having stayed in many different floors and rooms in the hotel I never had a problem and so can only assume that this problem is no longer apparent.
The food at dinner and breakfast was fine. There was a buffet for every meal with water, juices, salad and typical thai food as well as an 'english' breakfast. There was also a grill where chefs would cook meat in front of you from a wide selection. I always stuck to the basic thai food, which was pleasant, but not great. The food isn't very spicy here so if you want a taste of thai but don't want the traditional very spicy thai food, this is a great introduction! Since it's a buffet you can always go back and get something else if you don't like what you chose, so that's a bonus. However being in Bangkok I'd advise eating out of the hotel for most meals other than breakfast, and getting a better experience. I recommend the Silom Village Restaurant for some great thai food with a good show, all at a good price. It's the perfect way to indulge in some Thai culture with good food and an introduction to some Thai folk tails and the famous finger nail dance.
The pool is fine for an inner city hotel, and you shouldn't expect much. It is right next to the freeway so it's not the best of places to relax, but for a quick dip after a long day in the Thai heat it's good. The pool is large and much bigger than a lot of other Bangkok hotels, and has a bar by it where you can buy cocktails and other drinks.
One of my favourite places in the hotel was the bar in the evening. The bar is large and spacious with loads of comfy chairs. They sell a huge range of cocktails and other drinks. There is also live music every night and you also have an option of karaoke from a massive list of English, American and Thai classics. We enjoyed this most nights that we stayed at the Bangkok Palace Hotel, and it was a great way to spend the evening after a day travelling over Bangkok and beyond.
All in all, the hotel is fine but I would advise you to check your sheets! It's not the sort of place you would want to stay if you were spending a lot of time in the hotel, but then again, Bangkok is not a place you should stay if you don't want to explore. Bangkok is full of excitement and interesting sights, so if you want to go somewhere and experience the culture and the city, staying at the Bangkok Palace Hotel is a good choice! I would give it 4 stars but until the hotel invests in new sheets, I'll have to stick to 3!
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