Silka Seaview Hotel

Silka Seaview Hotel is conveniently located near the Jade Market & Temple Street Market. It's just only less than 5 minutes walk to Yau Ma Tei MTR Station. We've booked to this hotel because it's the cheapest of all the hotels around this area. During daytime, the streets looks normal, but when night time comes, it turns into a very busy market.

When we traveled to Hong Kong, we decided on staying in two hotels for convenience. Our first day will be spent in Ocean Adventure park so we had to stay for a night in the nearest hotel. Then the next day, travel from there to Silka Seaview. I have figured out long ago not to expect too much from a cheap hotel. Getting a good service or good room is 1 out 10. And when you don't have high expectations, you're less disappointed.

It's always advisable that you print our the name and the address of the hotel when you travel in Hong Kong because most of the taxi drivers don't understand English much. We just showed him the print our and he knows where to take us. If you're going to take a taxi, expect to be charged for HK$5.00 per luggage, whether it's small or large. And if you're coming from an island passing through the tunnel going to Hong Kong, you will pay the toll fee.  

When I saw the hotel building I thought it's not too bad. But still, not expecting much. As soon as we entered the hotel's lobby, we were not greeted or anything. I've stayed to many hotels and it still surprised me. Usually, the guards or staff at the hotel are very pleasant. Anyway, we went straight to the registration but no one assisted us. We had call to their attention a couple of times just to assist us. I'm not sure if they really are just like that or people in Hong Kong are really not very friendly.

We arrived at the hotel early in the morning so we just had to leave our luggage there. The hotel's lobby is small and they don't have luggage counter so they just put the luggage at the corner of the lobby and put a net or something to protect it. I was a bit worried about my luggage being lost but I had to trust them. They've been doing that for a long time now and they know what they're doing. The hotel offers a free shuttle service but it's has a schedule so we didn't avail of it. Instead we walked from the hotel to Yau Ma Tei Station.

After a day of exhausting exploration of the Kowloon Walled City Park & The Peak, we returned to hotel to finally check-in. The elevator is small and looks like it will stop in the middle of the floor. The hallways going to the room sis narrow but clean.  The room is also small an has a tinge smell of cigarette, which I didn't like. The bed sheet is smelly and has stains. The room is dark, and although there's a small window, you would not want to open it. The street below has a lot of trash and people will see you from the window from the opposite building.

With the price we paid, I didn't expect too much so even if the room, and toilet and shower room is small, that's okay with me. What I didn't like is their service at the Jade Cafe. There's only one person assisting all their customers, which is a lot, by the way. 

We've waited for almost 10 minutes just to be seated. Only 1 person is free of breakfast and the staff won't allow us to enter at first. I explained to her in a very simple sentences that we will pay for the extra person. But she still doesn't want us to go inside the Cafe. She probably didn't understand but it's kind of annoying because we're starting to make a scene. She allowed me to enter but she stopped my friend because she said only one person is free. I went back again and explained to her for the nth time that we're going to pay extra. She finally understand and pointed us to a free spot.

Since she's alone, we waited for her to finish assisting all incoming guests and ask her to clean the table. Now it's time for the food. I'm in a foreign country to I didn't expect the best but at least a good food. But to our dismay, it's not worth paying for HK$70.00. All the food taste bland! We're staying for two nights but while eating we decided that we're gonna out at Yoshinoya, where we had our breakfast prior to checking in at the hotel.

The hotel's rate along with free breakfast for 1 has only gave a free MTR Tourist Day Pass. That's the only thing that i like about this hotel. Oh and the free Wi-Fi! They also provide a cellphone at the hotel with free call to selected countries. You can even bring it out during your exploration, but make sure you read the rates posted just in case you lost or damaged the phone or even the just the case. 

I would still recommend this to my friends if they are looking for a cheap hotel, but I'll probably ask them to try finding a different hotel first. As for me, I would not book in this hotel if ever I get the chance to go back to Hong Kong. For more details and current promos, please visit their website: http://www.silkahotels.com/seaview/index.php