Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn?
Friday, November 25th, 2005In case you hadn’t heard, Hong Kong is expensive. We were aware of this fact so we were very careful to do a bit of research before booking our hotel room. After four or five websites, guidebooks etc. we settled on a place that advertised itself as CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN.
As much as I can’t stand Martha Stewart (she cost me at least 5K extra on my wedding) I am compelled to share her words here and emphasize that in the world of budget accomodations, CLEAN is a GOOD THING.
So clean it was. And that was about it! We may not be the hardcore travellers we fashion ourselves to be. Maybe we are just getting a LITTLE older and have grown accustomed to different standards but…
The guesthouse was on the 16th floor of a “Mansion” (subsitute dilapidated high rise). When we got off the elevator, it looked like the classic scene from television/movies where the pastel sweater wearing couple inadvertently finds their way into a biker bar and the record screetches to a halt. Needless to say, we were the ones wearing pastel sweaters. No offense here to anyone currently wearing pastel. The fact that we where white (thanks to some of you for pointing out that I am still very white in spiteof the copious sun I have recieved), carrying large packs, sweating profusely and wide-eyed at what we were witnessing, didn’t exactly make us blend in.
We were escorted to our cubicle by a shirtless gent who emphasized that we were getting the best room because ours had a window. I kid you not, I could stand in the middle of the room, arms outstretched and nearly touch both walls. The toilet/shower combo was a sight to behold (I might actual throw up an action photo for you later). It couldn’t have been more than 4 feet by 4 feet and contained all of the essentials…toilet (wall mounted flusher above, plastic accordian style door, detachable shower head. Come to think of it, it was very efficient. I can think of several things that can be accomplished in that little room in about 30 seconds (give or take).
However, Braesch, Hawkins, Mike D, Uncle Frank etc would have a snowball’s chance of acocmplishing anything in this little room. way too small.
So there was much comedy that helped to lessen the blow of the room. Unfortunately, we were stuck there as our frantic efforts to find another hotel fell way short. The Holiday Inn two doors down was a paltry $300 USD per night.
Oh well!!!!
Weiser Wander