Monday, August 5, 2013

Mini Hotel, Causeway Bay

Like any other budget hotels in Hong Kong, Mini Hotel is tiny and without any other facilities such as restaurant and coffee shop thus you need to go out whenever you are famished. In short, you may consider this place good for night stay only. However, the hotel's location is truly ideal if you intend to shop at Hong Kong's high-end boutiques since it is a few minutes stroll from Times Square, Forever 21 and SOGO, to name a few. You can even travel by MTR to nearby Central Station where more upscale brands are being sold.







At the small lobby, the waiting area is tastefully decorated with several artistic photography with matching comfy sofas and leather sets. Forget the tiny reception area. When we were there, the two small lifts were working fine thus we didn't encounter any queue at all during our 4 nights stay.





I booked through Booking.com a family room at Mini Hotel a few moons back. The room has 2 double beds and 1 single bed. Its website claims that the family room is good for 4 people but 5 of us are able to squeeze in and sleep conveniently albeit the small walking area. On my first use of the miniscule toilet, my knees bumped the sliding door due to narrow space thus I need to spread my legs on my next use. Moreover, before entering, you have to turn-off the light because your reflection is easily distinguishable from outside since the toilet sliding door and partition walls are made of smoke glass. My daughter was the first one who used the toilet and we all laughed upon seeing her reflection in an awkward position. Fortunately, we had a strong centralized hot water otherwise this toilet was a let-down.


The beddings are in good and pristine condition, same as the fluppy pillows. I requested for an extra pillow since the room was prepared for 4 people only. The towels are in good condition too. Toiletries such as soap, shampoo and disposable toothbrushes are also provided. Several pairs of disposable slippers greeted us as well.


There is no cupboard or cabinet thus we end up arranging our clothes inside our luggage whenever we arrive and depart from the hotel though there are several hooks where you can hang your clothes. The a/c is centralized and the flat screen has several English channels. Aside from water heater, we have a small cooler enough to cool down several bottles of water when placed overnight and a small electronic vault. A small round table with a chair complimented the entire room. Daily housekeeping is done professionally. By the way, the free wifi was fast.

The service is quite superb; all staff that we have encountered are polite and can communicate in English. During check-in, the reception staff informed us that our room wasn't available yet. He secured our luggage and issued us a claim receipt. In addition, they normally welcome us with a smile whenever we arrive from our day tour.

Hey. Are we on vacation or what?
Upon check-out, I paid our balance in cash and forgot to ask for the receipt. Remembering that I used my credit card for hotel deposit, I inquired by email about this matter. Mini Hotel management promptly replied confirming that there won't be any deduction to my credit card since I paid in cash. They also sent me a copy of my invoice. I paid a total of 5,700 HKD (734$) for 4 nights stay. The promo rate was competitive considering the location, comfort and service.

Make no mistake about it: Mini Hotel could be lacking in facilities but their service is at par with several stars hotels services.

The main drawback, aside from lack of facilities and tiny toilet is the unavailability of taxi. You need to carry your luggage to nearby Lee Gardens Mall where there is a taxi queue. If you intend to travel by bus or MTR then this hotel is a few hundred meters away from the nearest stations.



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