Hongkong 1993: Holiday Inn Golden Mile

We checked in at Holiday Inn Golden Mile at Kowloon and to my surprise, their front desk staff was not as fluent in English as I would have expected from people living in a British Colony or maybe because this was the night shift?  In fact for the next 5 days, I found it difficult to communicate with most of the locals I encountered, either they could not speak English very well or they refused to speak it.

I was nursing a mild cold, was hungry and tired after almost 6 hours of travel time so that I was too tired to look around the hotel. The only part of the hotel I can clearly remember was the lobby.  After settling in, we went to look for food. The hotel is located at Nathan Road, the main thoroughfare in Kowloon which before WWII was known as the Golden Mile. This road is lined with street vendors, stores, restaurants, and other tourist attractions.  We had an early city tour the next day and not being very adventurous, we decided to just find a grocery store and have an early night.  We found one and bought some bread, coffee, cheese and of course, lots of junk food.

So where is the food? (Peking Road)

finally...food!

and junk food!

I liked our hotel room which was quite spacious for 3 people (my mom, brother and me) with comfortable beds and nice amenities. We also had a great view of Nathan Road.  The hotel is within walking distance to most places of interest in the area like the Hongkong Cultural Center (very new then) and Victoria Harbor.  It was really unfortunate that I wasn't well because I was not able to go anywhere for the next 2 days except for a half day city tour which contributed to my illness (the revenge of the travel agent) and of course, Ocean Park.  

Holiday Inn Golden Mile may be one of the older hotels in Hongkong but it gave good service and great value for our money.  It's central location makes it an ideal hotel for people who visit the country for business or leisure.  You only have to get out and everything is right at it's doorstep!  And of course, all those free brochures I got from the airport arrival area helped a lot in exploring the area.

my mom and brother

Next:  The City Tour, Ocean Park and Our Last Day